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I am a third generation antique dealer. I have seen truck load after truck load of antique dressers, chairs, beds, and chests pass through both my father's, and grandfather's possession. Only a very few of these pieces were ever made part of a collection. For the every day person looking for antique furniture you have to initially make a decision about how you would like to approach it.

There are really two options. There is the purist approach. This person has moderately deep pockets, and looks for authentic pieces, with good to great paint, and little to no restoration. A set of 6 chairs that falls into this category can run on average $8,000-20,000, just as an example. Of course depending on the condition, quality, age, and paint on those chairs the sky is the limit. I have seen small end tables that have sold for over $40,000.
If you are looking to decorate your home this may not be the best option for you. There is however another type of antique furniture buyer. This is the category of buyer that is buying a "look". They want early pieces, but are less concerned about restoration, and original paint. They are looking to decorate their entire house, and want a classic feel, rather than a $20,000 piece that they are afraid to use. For this buyer there are many pieces that are available at a much more reasonable price. This buyer should still be aware however because not all restorations are the same. The best thing to do is to accept the fact that you are getting an original piece that has had some work done on it, and then buy according to the quality of the restoration, and the overall look for your home. This will help you add very quickly to your collection, and provide you with a quality authentic "look" without strapping the bank account.
The key for both buyers is to watch for dealers that claim a piece is completely authentic when in many cases it has had extensive restoration. An example of this happened to me not more than a month or two ago. I was looking at a beautiful grain painted stand. It seemed clean, but not too clean with some paint loss and wear in the right places. It did look as if someone had cleaned up the paint, but they had done a good job, so that was OK. The underneath of the piece( always look at the underside of any piece of furniture it will often show restoration that you would not see otherwise)was early, with the original square head nails intact. Then just by chance as I was turning it back over, my finger landed on the lower right hand side and i felt something sticky. It was wood filler, that had been painted over. It hadn't even dried all the way, maybe because it was painted over while still tacky. But it became obvious to me after a more closer look that it was not the only space that had been worked on. Now if this piece had come with a price tag that reflected the restoration work, I could understand, but this piece was being sold as a %100 original and the price tag reflected that.
It is unfortunate but with price differences in the thousands, it happens. Only experience can help you limit this, and I am sure after your first mistake you will be much more careful in the future. If you are not sure or you are just starting out, ask the dealer to hold it for a day for you (most will) and go home and study up on what an original should look like or better yet call a buddy that has more experience and ask them. There is no better experience in this area than hands on experience.
Good luck to whatever style of shopper you become! Be aware, be picky, and happy hunting!

Learn more about this author, Joel White.
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