Home Furniture Reference

David H. Urmann asked:




UK has many popular antique shops. These establishments present a huge array of products from furniture, to instruments, to clothing, to paintings.

For people who are visiting the UK to search for antique products, here is a list of UK’s most popular antique shops.

The Uzella Court Antique Centre presents more than 20 dealers offering a wide array of collectibles and antiques. Located in Cornwall, this shop specializes in fine silver, paintings, jewels, and vintage furniture. Prices of these antique products start at around five pounds. Furthermore, the shop itself is a historic building, being a part of the Duchy Palace.

Nanadobbie is another popular antique shop in Cornwall. This shop focuses in all things retro, from ceramics, to lighting and furniture, to glass items. Other related products such as instruments and devices from the 60′s and 70′s can also be purchased from this antique shop. Nanadobbie lets its customers purchase most of its products online through its website.

The Antiques Centre York is the largest antique shop in York. With five showrooms in three floors, visitors can definitely find the item they are looking for. This shop features Products taken from eras that range from Ancient Rome, to Victorian, to Edwardian, to modern day. After browsing through its catalog, guests can relax in the coffee shop in the center.

If you are looking for antique books, you can visit Kingdom Antiques in Scotland. This shop has a wide collection of books which includes the famous Hammond’s World Atlas. This shop also features oil paintings, pastels, watercolors, and other artistic prints. Other products include antique mirrors, China, brassware, and vinyl records.

The Romantic English Woman is an antique shop which focuses on feminine products. Situated in Cornwall, this store is perfect for ladies who collect antique items and men who are looking for splendid gifts for a woman. Some of its products include baskets, hand-made photo albums, stuffed animals, and paintings.

For people who are searching for busts and other figures, the Aberdeen Antique and Art Centre is a good place to find such items. Located in the heart of Aberdeen Scotland, this shop has a huge selection of statues, busts, ceramics, and antique clocks. The Buddhist Temple Monks is one of the shop’s most notable figures for sale.

Another popular antique shop that specializes in figurines is West Yorkshire’s Hebden Bridge Antiques Centre. This shop has two floors full of figures of various types such as the famous plaster lion figurine. In addition, this store also has vintage clothing, jewelry, pieces of classic furniture, and other collectibles.

For collectors of antique musical instruments, there is Harbour Antiques in North Devon. Showcasing many products from the 18th and early 20th century, Harbour antiques has gained much recognition from people who are interested in grand pianos and other smaller musical instruments. Apart from this, the shop also has antique items from the Regency and Georgian periods.

Old Palace Antiques is a shop in Lostwithiel that buys and sells various types of items. The main feature of this shop is its diverse set of antique products. It presents pine and oak furniture, curios, kitchenalia, old toys such as dolls and bears, and textiles. This shop also performs valuation of products brought by visitors.

Finally, an antique shop in Cheshire England known as The Source offers products ranging from decorations and ornaments, chandeliers, silverware, architectural items, and most importantly, period clothing. Some of its most famous pieces of clothing are the silk jersey dress, the magenta shawl, and the mink coat. All of the said items have a historic significance.

Amy Spencer asked:




Many new modern and synthetic products were introduced in the 20th and 21st century, leaving much of the traditional ways of finishing wood long forgotten. However, woodworking and finishing is an ancient craft and the oils, waxes, and resins historically used, still produce beautiful results that are hard to achieve from most any other process. Whether you are restoring an antique or building a new piece of furniture, consider using a traditional finish.

Following are finishing techniques dating from the mid-1600′s to the mid-1900′s.

OIL FINISHES

Linseed and tung oils are most commonly used, but other oils include walnut, soybean, sunflower, safflower, perilla, oiticica, and poppyseed. Linseed is pressed from the seed of the flax plant while tung oil is obtained from the nut of the tung tree. Oil finishes bring out natural characteristics of the wood and are relatively easy to apply. While it generally produces a satin sheen, applying many coats can produce a high gloss.

VARNISHES

When natural resins produced from plants, trees, and insects are added to the oil or to alcohol (spirits) a varnish is created. In most cases, spirit varnishes are more transparent and colorless, but an oil varnish is tougher and more water-resistant. Oil varnish is difficult and dangerous to make due to the hazards of heating a mixture of highly flammable materials, so consider ready-made traditional varnishes. Shellac is by far the best of the spirit varnishes and is much more flexible and durable.

FRENCH POLISH

Earlier recipes used other combinations and natural resins, but since the 1800′s, shellac, dissolved in alcohol, has been the main ingredient in a French polish. Applied with a pad, a good French-polish finish is very desirable and closely associated with fine furniture.

Shellac is made from the secretions of a lac bug and varies in color. Since it is solvent in alcohol, be careful of wine spills.

STAINS

Classic stains consist of dyes or pigments derived from plants, trees, and insects and are used to color the wood. Dye stains are transparent and soak deep into the wood, while pigment stains contain crushed minerals resembling very thin paint. Colors will fade with prolonged exposure to sunlight. However, the newer developments of synthetic aniline dyes are more lightfast and often cheaper.

Stains which chemically alter the color of the wood have also been used for centuries. These stains can be very beautiful and enhance the natural beauty of the wood, rather than obscure the grain patterns, but dangerous chemicals are used such as ammonia and tannic acid.

WAX FINISHES

Wax can be used alone as a finish or as a final protective coat. It is the most impervious to water compared to other natural products, but is relatively soft and damages easily. However, it is quickly repaired by adding another coat, protects against humidity, and produces a beautiful finish that is still preferred by many woodworkers.

Types of wax include beeswax, paraffin, carnauba wax, candelilla wax, lac wax, japan wax, and other waxes produced from trees, petroleum, minerals, and insects.

MILK PAINT

Paint has been found on early Egyptian furniture and used for centuries to protect, decorate, and to hide crude joinery. Milk paint is one type from ancient origin that is very durable and has a distinctive look not easily replicated. Colors will fade with exposure to sunlight and the natural pigments of the earth are more subdued than other types of synthetic paint.

The main ingredients in milk paint are milk, lime, and earth pigments. You can purchase milk paint in dry powdered form with authentic pigments and correct coarse texture.

While there are advantages and disadvantages to each type of finish, it is these characteristics together that help make an antique look and feel old. Before disregarding a finish based on what you might think is an undesirable effect, remember that the faded colors of a stain, the dirt embedded into wax, or the rougher texture of milk paint is was gives furniture the distinct feeling of character, age, and patina.

Benedict Smythe asked:




Putting value to any antique is a complex process whether to a buyer or a seller. Treasured for its age, form and rarity, an antique requires meticulous study and expert handling. While antique experts and seasoned collectors have acquired the skills to detect the authenticity and significance of antiques whether historical or artistic, first-time collectors or first-time sellers need the help of an antique appraiser.

For owners of antiques, appraisals do not necessarily mean that the items have to be sold. Having the antiques appraised will only tell the monetary value and artistic or historical importance of the items, or for insurance purposes. Insurance protects antiques but note that some home insurance policies do not cover antique collections in the home. Therefore, having an antique appraisal will help the owner decide if he or she needs to purchase a separate insurance policy for the antique collection.

The Process of Antique Appraisal

Antique appraisal is a method of determining the value of antiques. Generally, an appraisal refers to an educated opinion of a knowledgeable individual who has no interest on the value of the item. The process of antique appraisal may take about a month to provide detailed information on the item. The appraisal, which is a legal document, describes the item appraised, provides an analysis of the market, place and date of the appraisal, value of the antique, ethical laws, fee policy and an appraisal certificate.



An antique appraiser gives considerable importance on the market analysis because some item may not be as significant from one place to another. Therefore, it is important that the appraiser is aware of the different market valuation.

Looking for the Right Appraiser

Antique appraisers, are professional experts in antique appraisals. They have different areas of specialization, either to a kind of antique or a particular era. It is advisable to seek and match the right antique appraiser who specializes on the antique that requires appraisal.

To get an accurate evaluation of an antique, an appraiser must see the item first hand. A good and experienced antique appraiser should have in-depth knowledge about antiques which he or she may have acquired through education, extensive research on books or in the internet, or by direct process like the repeated and actual buying of antiques.

A trustworthy and meticulous antique appraiser would be able to provide significant details about an antique item such as its era, style or form, uses, rarity and sometimes, even the artist or maker.

Through these details, the antique appraiser would be able to identify the value of an antique. If a collector is looking for a specific antique, an antique appraiser is also a credible source of information on how to locate antique shops holding that particular item.

Nowadays, online antique appraisers are available. If an antique owner desires to have an item appraised immediately, he or she may contact online antique appraisers. Mostly, these types of appraisers rely on photos of the item and through descriptions. Online antique appraisers should have the qualified skills and knowledge on appraising antiques. However, they may provide limited information on an antique object because of the inability to see the antique personally. Hence, it is important to research for credible online antique appraisers backed with extensive experience on antique appraising.

The process of antique appraisals is expensive and lengthy. Thus, it is recommended that the antique owner should take considerable effort to search for highly experienced antique appraisers so as not to waste time and money.