Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Look carefully at the overall proportions and composition of the furniture to determine a probable era. For example, a vintage mid-century chair will likely have clean lines and minimal or no decoration. An antique chair may have turned legs like a Queen Anne chair, while a vintage chair may have straight tapered legs like a Paul McCobb chair.
Lift the front legs of the chair and look underneath for a label. Labels are commonly placed on the underside of the chair for contemporary and vintage chairs. If there is a label on the chair, inspect it for a manufacturer's name. If there is no tag underneath the chair, proceed to the next step.
Remove all the cushions and inspect them, if they are removable. There may be a tag attached to the cushions, which is common with mid-century vintage upholstered chairs. Knoll, a famous and prolific maker of mid-century furniture, always attach their tag to the cushions of chairs they manufacture. An antique chair is unlikely to have any tags attached to the cushions. If there are no tags attached to the cushions, or if the cushions don't appear to be removable, proceed to the next step.
Look over the frame of the chair. There may be a maker's mark somewhere on the piece of furniture, but there often isn't. For many decades, Knoll did not mark their furniture frames, although they now do. Most antiques will not have any kind of maker's mark.
Inspect the material of the upholstery. If it is a completely all-natural material, such as wool, horsehair or silk, the chair may be an antique. If the fabric appears to be polyester or is a mix of man-made fibers and natural fibers, the chair is vintage or contemporary since man-man fibers had not yet been invented 100 years ago, as of the date of publication.
Inspect the material of the frame of the chair. If the frame has any man-made materials such as aluminum, fiberglass or plastic, you can rule out the possibility that it is an antique. If the material is wood, it could be either a vintage or antique chair.
Look at the finish of the wood parts of the chair. Lacquer and varnish were not invented until the Victorian era. Prior to that, shellac was the only transparent finish used on woods. Other finishes for very old antiques include oil, milk paint and beeswax. If you suspect that the chair is a real antique, you can test the finish of the chair to see what it is. Rub a tiny amount of denatured alcohol in an inconspicuous spot on the wood of the chair. The finish is shellac if it comes off with the alcohol. If the wood is painted, you can test it using ammonia. Milk paint can only be removed with ammonia. Be sure to clean the area you're testing before applying a small amount of ammonia.
Look at whether the wood is painted or not, and what type of wood it could be. While this isn't a surefire indicator of an era or maker, it is unlikely that a Victorian piece of furniture would be painted while a very old French antique chair may have painted wood. The type of wood gives a hint to era as well. For example, vintage furniture was frequently made from teak and walnut, while furniture pre-dating 1700 was primarily made of oak.
Flip through furniture design reference books for similar styles. You can check one out at the library or buy one at the bookstore. There are several excellent books that focus on chairs alone. Also consider posting on an design forum online. There are many helpful design fanatics who can assist you with identifying your chair through photographs.
Take your chair to an auction house for an appraisal if you think it may be valuable. Large international auction houses often hold open hours for walk-in appraisals once a month, and are even willing to look at your piece if you send a letter along with photographs. Check their websites for details.