Purchase of antique furniture

When we should buy furniture? During winter or during summer?
Period when the furniture should be bought is connected with who is selling. It means:

If the antiquary is selling the furniture which is in heated shop for longer period, you don’t need worry and you can place the furniture directly at home. Before transportation you put it in to the car and you pack it in the most suitable way to prevent damaging of surfaces.

If you buy the furniture from someone who had it some where in garage, barn or anywhere else in not heated space, we can be sure that the furniture will dry up or crack caused by increased temperature. Panelling, side panelling, top board will unglue...( in this case we recommend you to buy this type of furniture in summer months ). By purchasing the furniture in winter we place it in room and we rise the temperature slowly ( from the same temperature in which the furniture was located ) to final room temperature. We recommend to ventilate often but just for short period. It is suitable to place sheets of newspapers ( no magazines ) in the furniture and change them daily. After a week of such quarantine your furniture is ready to be placed in room without being damaged by temperature and humidity.

Why there are so big changes on the surfaces of the furniture caused by different temperatures? The furniture which was handmade was glued by casein ---XXX---. This material is very hygroscope, it means when the connection is humid ( can be also caused by air humidity ) is getting weak. After that is drying up – original surface layer is contracted and crack. If this cycle is repeated - first bunions are created and then unglue or crack of veneer is a consequence.


What type of furniture we choose – original or forgery?
Nowadays is very complicated by decided what is original and what is forgery. In general I can recommend you following:

1. During purchasing don’t hurry and visit antiquary couple times and check chosen furniture properly.

2. I recommend to concentrate on quality of surfaces – striking should be part with the shiny glitter which must be same even among ledges and carvings. The screws and ironworks should also look according the age of whole part.

3. Useful can be look to the back part and bottom of the furniture. Legs in good conditions, screwed by new cross screws which are in different colour shade. This type of furniture is damaged by unsuitable and unprofessional reparation or whole is forgery. We don’t recommend you to buy such a type of furniture.

4. Nowadays is very popular original old rustic furniture, but this should be connected by nails from wood carved to irregular diamond. New type of this furniture can have iron nails made by blacksmith and later nails with irregular flat head and all parts should have around them bleed dark stain which is made by chemical reaction of wood and iron.

Prevailing parts of this type of furniture was painted by colour. This was also reason why producers used material of worse quality even this look good today. It was no exemption that filling parts were made from one piece of wood. Nowadays material is much thinner and have not so many knots and resin stains. That’s why if is from such a material glued board ( side or back filling ), is made from two or more glued parts. Furniture from this type of material which don’t have even in hardly reached corners small parts of not removed colour is repaired or new.

Another question I will answer on my email address: info@opravyhistorickehonabytku.com