Antique Furniture

Collection of Antique Furniture:

If we happen to go back to the early humans, we get to see that early humans were basically nomads. They used to move from one place to another in search of food and they survived on what nature provided. There was no need of any furniture for them and what they understood about furniture was may be a piece of log to sit on.

But as they came to know about agriculture rather cultivating the soil, there survival activity of hunting got ceased and the desire for community work grew among them. Then they established huts to stay, perhaps made of clay and straw, stone and baked bricks. After this gradually community was formed which created the need for furniture.

The earliest furniture's were very primitive and only served practical uses. But slowly and gradually the importance of furniture increased and it became more decorative. Such pieces of antique furniture's from the 8th century B.C have been excavated in Gordian and Turkey. Those antique pieces included tables and inlaid serving stands. An ancient Egyptian bed of the 3rd millennium B.C has been discovered in the Tarkhan Tomb.

We all need something to sleep on, chairs to sit, and a cabinet to keep our belongings. The basic requirement and categories may be few but the sub categories within this are varied and enormous. Storage furniture may range from drawers, chests, wardrobes, cabinets, bookcases. Writing furniture may vary from bureaux, secretaries and desks. A wide variety of construction techniques has been applied for shaping and decoration of such furniture. These have also been affected by the region or country of origin, the maker or the period of manufacture. All these factors affect the collection of antique furniture. But the most important factor is perhaps the aesthetic qualities of the timber used in making such furniture. It may be hardwood or softwood, stained or polished, but proper care increases the durability and value of such antique furniture.

Collection of such antique and unique furniture generally depends on the taste and also money available. Such antique furniture includes dining table, chairs, chests, bureaus etc. The common woods used in making such furniture are mahogany, oak, pine, walnut and rosewood. Every piece of furniture has its own distinctive wood colour. In the modern days we come across furniture's which often use laminate or wood veneer to get that antique effect. There are different forms and styles of antique furniture depending on when and where it was made. Some of such antique furniture's includes Arts & Crafts, Georgian, Regency and Victorian.

If a person wants to purchase a piece of antique furniture he should have some idea about the various styles, techniques of construction, finishes and the variety of wood used. This will help you to identify a particular piece of original antique from a duplicate or an altered one. Once a person is knows about the basics of buying antique furniture he can easily go to an auction or an antique furniture dealer and collect a good one for him.

It is always good to inspect before one pays huge money for antique furniture. For instance one should never ever hesitate to pull the drawers and bend down to see the underside of tabletops or lift a chair to have a look at the legs. A person has to get down and dirty himself; otherwise he won't learn and may be misguided. You should always have a good perception about woods. Some of the woods used in antique furniture are beech, cherry, chestnut, ebony, elm, mahogany, pine, oak, satinwood, walnut etc.

There are certain features which are significant while determining the age, authenticity and price of such antique furniture. A rich subtle colour or the glow of the wood is an important characteristic of antique furniture. An antique feature should always be proportionate. As far as construction of such furniture is concerned, before the late 17th century furniture was made using mortise and tendon joints and pegs were handmade.

It is said that antique furniture in its original condition has the highest price. One should never ignore pieces with marks or blemishes. A good restorer can easily undo such surface spots. Altered piece of furniture is less desirable then the original piece and also priced less. Large pieces of such furniture may be reduced in size, surfaces may be cut, holes may be plugged or handles may be repositioned. But the value of such furniture is less.

These antique pieces of furniture's can be easily collected from an antique shop which specializes in the selling of antiques. Normally the sources of such antique shops are auctions or house clearances. These antique shops sell unique and antique furniture's as well as buy such unique pieces from individuals who are ready to sell such furniture. Antique furniture is distinct from other categories of antiques because you may not collect the same type of object repeatedly. In the sense you may not collect only desks and tables and fill up your homes. But the thing is that you may have a specific liking for a particular kind of wood or antique style.

Apart from the auctions and dealers you can always have a look at the classifieds section in the newspaper to see if anybody's selling such antique furniture. In this way you can even find a good bargain. Apart from this there are many sites that sell antique furniture on the internet. Sitting at the comfort of your home you can easily search such sites and find your piece of antique furniture.