In most cases only a professional will know how to date an antique bed. With so many copies and reproductions being made, sometimes only a well trained eye can tell the difference.

However, while you might not get an exact date there are several steps for how to date an antique bed.

If you’re buying a antique bed from an individual, it’s always a good idea to inquire about the beds history. If the bed has been in their family for a long time, they should be able to give you a good idea of when the bed was made.

They may even be able to tell you exactly when the bed was purchased.

Check for any labels or identifying marks

One of the first steps that you should take to determine the beds age is to check for any labels or identifying marks. In the nineteenth century, manufacturers began assigning numbers to each new patent.

If the bed has a number, you can search for it at the patent office to find the manufacturer and date.

Look at any hardware used on the piece

Another excellent way of dating a piece of furniture is to look at any hardware used on the piece. Prior to 1830, very few furniture makers used screws.

Instead, pieces of furniture were held together with the use of dowels or pegs. And, since they were made by hand they won’t be uniform in size.

The earliest screws were fairly short, generally no longer than one half inch and had flat heads.

The tips of the screws were blunt and the threads were barely visible. The slots in the screw heads were all cut by hand, so they aren’t generally centered.

Glue wasn’t used until the early eighteenth century.

Nails

If there are any nails in your antique bed, examine them closely even if you have to use a magnifying glass. The nail head should be square, but not perfectly square and it should be slightly worn down from age. If the nails show these signs, the bed might have been made before 1820.

The circular saw wasn’t invented until the end of the eighteenth century. Before that all wood was cut by hand and there should be visible signs of saw marks.

Often, the cuts weren’t completely straight and there may be slight gaps between wood pieces.

Veneer panels

If the antique bed has any veneer panels you might be able to get a close estimate of the date it was made by examining them closely. The earliest  veneers were made of walnut and were usually about an eighth of an inch thick.

And, often the grains in the veneers didn’t match perfectly.

The earliest pieces of furniture were constructed of solid wood. From around 1680, veneers became a really popular way to add decorative touches to furniture.

They were either cut with the grain of the wood to look fairly plain, or cut across the grain to be more decorative.

Because antique beds were made entirely by hand, they’re not completely perfect. And, since they are so old, they will generally show lot’s of signs of use.

Although, you can find some antique beds that have been kept in mint condition, if it looks almost new, it’s probably not very old.

These are just a few of the numerous ways of how to tell if a bed is antique. If it’s really important for you to know the exact age of a piece of antique furniture, you will probably have to have a professional dealer inspect the piece.

They will be able to distinguish whether you have a valuable antique, or just an older piece of furniture.

There are various types of furniture that you can get in all different styles dating back hundreds of years, but how can you tell which pieces are the real McCoy, and which ones are replicas, or later models?

Also, when is a piece of furniture classified as an antique, vintage, or just old?

Well here some things that you can look out for when you want to buy an antique or sell one that you think is an antique so that you don’t get taken for a ride:

When looking at a piece of furniture there are certain categories that yours can fall under. The first is second hand furniture, which is dated from the 1920’s through to the 1950’s and many people do mistake these styles for antiques, as many designs were reused during this time.

True antiques are more than 100 years old are found in the following conditions. Then you get utilitarian furniture, which are old pieces that are ideal for everyday use, but that museums have no interest in such as joint stools and dry sinks.

The next category is the decorative, which are items that are intricate and usually better quality than furniture of today, normally Louis XIV revival, or Baker furniture.

Then you get the museum pieces which are too fragile to be used and are just displayed as part a collection. These are normally medieval, French, Tudor style or Louis XIV.

When you are looking to buy an antique there are many things that you must look for and if you are not sure about where to start or if you are concerned that you are looking at a replication and not the real thing, then you should get an appraisal expert to help you.

Sometimes you will also find true antiques sitting in your grandmother’s attic or perhaps a local second hand store will have something antique that they don’t know the true value of. This is the perfect time to buy as you will be making a sold investment. When you choose to buy something antique, however, remember to always look for the quality of the piece and if it needs to be refinished find out exactly what needs to be done first.

As mentioned above a true antique is more than 100 years old, but some stores value furniture older than 50 years as antique and fine antique dealers will label items antique if they are more than 150 years old. The best way to find out is get the exact age of the piece.

The value of the piece will be determined by various factors including the artistry, the conditions of the piece, and the country it comes from. Most antiques you will find come from England and France, but this will also depend on where you are located. In the West people consider antiques any pieces that came across the mountains, in the East, the Queen Anne furniture are considered antiques, while in the South of America, an antique is something dating back to before the Civil War.

When looking at antiques you will not find any pieces (or maybe very few) that are originals from the 1500 or 1600, but you will find genuine reproduction pieces from this era which are also very valuable. To spot an antique you can also look at various things like the joinery. You will be able to tell if a machine was used or not, and machine made furniture was not made until the 1860’s.  You can also look at the saw marks, because any rounded or circular markings could not have been made until this time as well. Before 1860 a plane, drawknife, or spokeshave was used which all cause straight saw markings.

Beautiful antique furniture is a priceless possession and should you decide to sell it, you will find it fetches you a significant price.

If you have an antique chair piece and are wondering how to tell if it’s really unique, you need to do some tests on it, to determine this.

A piece of furniture is classified as antique, only when it is more than 100 years old or 150 years old. Furniture that is younger than this is not an antique piece.

If you have an antique chair how to tell if a chair is antique?

Check out the materials used to make it

In order to determine if your antique chair is really 100 to 150 years old, you have check out on the materials that have been used to make it.

Furniture that was made 100 years ago was done using cuts and polishes that are not what you see today. Much of American antique furniture was made using pine wood. The finish of the piece shows the difference and it is the finish that must be examined to determine the age of your antique chair piece.

Craftsmanship

One of the easiest ways on how to tell if a chair is antique is to look at the craftsmanship. Old antique furniture is definitely made by hand and machine cutting was introduced only in the 1860’s.

Furniture that is made by hand can be clearly made out in the way the edges are cut, in the shaping and in the joints. Joints will be dovetailed by hand.

You can find this out easily as they will be few in number and they won’t be evenly placed. If you see nicks and cuts on the furniture area, say in the sides or the bottom, it’s yet another indication that it was hand-made. Such cuts would have been done by spokeshave, or a plane and if you see straight saw marks is a sure indication that the furniture is an old piece.

Symmetry

The next point to check is the symmetry. It is not possible to get the perfect symmetry in hand-made furniture, though such differences are really hard-to-spot.

However, they do exist and you can see that pieces such as slats, rungs, rockers and so on, in the furniture piece are not uniform in their shape.

There is no perfect cutting here. When you look at reproductions of antique furniture, you will find them to be cut by machine and that’s why though they look just like the original, they can never replace the original because of the way they are made.

In old pieces of furniture, what is a main give-a-away is the size. With age, wood will shrink in size and this shows in the lack of uniformity in the piece’s dimensions, though you have to inspect the piece carefully to find this out.

Color differences

Another factor that shows age is color differences on the surface. This happens when it is exposed to sunlight in an uneven form. Another giving factor is hairline cracks, which can be found out only after clean inspection of the surface using a flashlight.

Check the finish

The final thing on how to tell if a chair is antique is to check is the finish. Antique pieces that are dated prior to the times of Queen Victoria have a Shellac Finish.

Sometimes you can also find them to have a French-polish finish which is another form of the Shellac Finish. Furniture that came after the mid 1800’s has a lacquer and varnish.

The best way to find out Shellac Finish is to test the furniture surface using denatured alcohol. After a small application, if the finish dissolves, it is made from Shellac.  Furniture pieces that are made prior to the 1850 also used oil, wax, or milk paint which can be determine by applying ammonia.

If you thought that maintaining and cleaning antique furniture is difficult wait till you have to identify the manufacturer of an antique table.

Most professional appraisers also have to specialize in only one style or period of furniture. So the simplest way to find the manufacturer would be to hire the services of a professional appraiser but if you are not interested in selling the piece and just want to find out about the maker out of curiosity here are a few tips that will help you.

Is genuine or just a new piece with a faux antique finish?

The first thing that you need to do is find out if your furniture is a genuine antique or just a new piece with a faux antique finish. There are numerous ways to recognize this.

However if the piece has been a family heirloom or if you remember seeing it in your grandma’s house as a kid, you can safely conclude that the piece is indeed old.

Stamps, seals or numbers

The next step is to look for manufacturer stamps, seals or numbers. This will usually be underneath or at the backside of the table.

If the table has been refinished or restored repeatedly it may have lost this identifier mark and you may have to look with a magnifying glass.

Identify Age

If you cannot find any such identifying stamps, the next step should be to determine the approximate age of the antique table. This can be done by examining the type of wood and veneer used. The type of polish or paint used and finally the color and patina and furniture moldings can also tell you a lot about the period of manufacture.

Periods and Styles

The various periods and the prominent styles of that period can roughly be dated as follows.

The colonial period encompasses two styles. The Colonial and Jacobean style was manufactured between 1620 and 1720 and The Queen Anne style was made from 1720-1750.

The Windsor style is the most replicated style and it is very common to see faux Windsor pieces in flea markets. So it is essential to closely examine a Windsor styled antique table.

A lot of antique American furniture belongs to the Federal Period. This period saw the rise of 3 distinct styles; the Sheraton style that lasted from 1780-1800, the Hepplewhite Style which preceded the Sheraton by a decade and was manufactured from 1780 to 1800 and finally the classic style which was used from 1810-1820.

Once you determine the approximate age of an antique, you can go to your local library to find furniture dating back to that specific period. Most books related to antique furniture appraisal will include pictures of the pieces made by different manufacturers in the different periods. You may also want to check on Google.

Alternatively, there are many sites which have the names of antique furniture manufacturers. One such site is http://www.efi-costarica.com/Antique-Furniture-Makers.html, which not only gives you the name of the manufacturer but also includes information on the period of time when that particular manufacturer was operating and the city of operation.

You would be surprised by the number of forums that are a meeting place for antique furniture aficionados, these are good places to post a picture of your antique table you just may find a person who may be able to give you pertinent information about your antique piece.