The
provenance or background of an antique can increase
the value enormously. There was a famous sale
of the furni-ture from the Davanzati Palace in
Florence in 1916. The Davanzati Palace, built
in the Renaissance period, is a beautiful structure,
and most of the furniture from the palace was
Renaissance furniture of the same period The examples
sold for the most part were excellent, and the
prices realized were extremely high, particularly
for that year.
When a piece occasionally appears on the market
today, it still sells for 50 per cent above the
current value because of its background alone.
From time to time antiques come onto the market
that were originally owned by Lord Beav-erbrook,
J.P. Morgan and William Randolph Hearst. The collection
of each of these tycoons contains many good items
but at the same time the fact that a piece belonged
to one of these collectors does not necessarily
make it distinguished.
However, they invariably sell for a high price,
both the good and the bad. One only has to re-member
in recent years the sale of Andy Warhol's possessions,
(and more recently, Jackie Onassis) which ran
into the millions, to realize how connections
to celebrities or aristocrats enhance an item's
value.
In the 192Os historical connections were vastly
important in increasing antique values.
If
a set of Chippendale chairs could authoritatively
be stated to have been owned by William Lyon McKenzie
or say George Washington, those chairs might be
worth three times what they would be worth without
such historical connections.
Patriotism,
and the early struggle of the pioneers, is a factor
in the success of early American and Canadian
primitive furniture made of pine, maple and cherry.
Perhaps the most important single element in determining
the value of an antique is original condition;
or, rather, what is left of the original condition.
The vast majority of antiques on the world market
are well over 100 years old, the best and highest
priced ones dating back to the 18th Century and
earlier. Thus, there must, of necessity, be some
wear.
Original condition can vary all the way from a
deep scratch on the top of a table to only one
piece of original wood left in an entire chair.
The details of defects in any antique involve
the number of alterations, and how they are done.
It is generally accepted within the antique trade
that a piece may have up to 25 per cent restoration,
without seriously affecting the value of the antique.
However, without knowledge of how altera-tions
change quality and value, antiques cannot he intelligently
valued or purchased.
Minor alterations such as the replacement of new
drawer runners, the removal of surface stains,
the fixing of serious surface dents and cuts,
the small additions of wood where original wood
has chipped off or rotted away, and the replacement
of new seat blocks under the cush-ion where the
seat rails join each other, are some of the repairs
which would be categorized as the least important
type of changes to the original condition. However,
once you jump past this point, you may end up
repairing at your own financial peril! So many
times people will try selling something they got
from their Great Grandfather, but didn't like
the worn edges, subtle dings and minor scrapes
it came with, and ended up sanding the first ½
inch off the top of a 150 year old harvest table.
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