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A guide to collectingantique furniture affordably.
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Antique Furniture everydAy Antiques 2120
Stools
Stools have always been popular: simply designed, space saving and portable. Antiques range from three-legged kitchen and dairy stools to more sophisticated window stools, music stools and footstools so popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most upholstered stools found today will have been recovered in new fabric. You’ll find versions in painted wood, with caned seats, in mahogany, oak and walnut, and with all kinds of different shaped legs and feet. Keep your eyes open for these small but charming furniture treasures that can be bought for under £100/$160/€116 at a shop.
Victorian tuffet
This plain but pretty tuffet, or footstool, would have been a common sight in 19th century homes, providing a comfy rest for slippered feet, warming in front of an open fire. The word tuffet entered popular parlance via the 1805 nursery rhyme, ‘Little Miss Muffet’, who sat on a tuffet. With a stained beech frame to resemble mahogany or walnut, this example has a removable cushion top that has been recovered in dark green silk. Small antique footstools such as this can be found from £80/$128/€93 upwards at antiques centres.
Victorian nursing chair
Nursing chairs were commonplace in the 19th century and enabled the nurturing of babies in comfort. This is a nice example with a mahogany show-wood frame and cabriole legs, with a generously proportioned seat and back. At auction it fetched just £70/$112/€81, perhaps because the fabric lets it down. Slipper chairs, designed for the bedroom, are similar in style – low slung, with a long back to support the sitter. Such chairs are great value at the moment.
TIP CHECK OUT CHARITY FURNITURE STORES
House clearances are a potential source of antiques and vintage furniture. Often families haven’t got room for old, quality furniture passed down by parents and donate it to a charity to sell through their furniture stores. Check websites for details of furniture stores run by hospices and charities such as the Red Cross, Oxfam and others. And keep an eye out for bargains.
Antique Furniture everydAy Antiques 2120
Stools
Stools have always been popular: simply designed, space saving and portable. Antiques range from three-legged kitchen and dairy stools to more sophisticated window stools, music stools and footstools so popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. Most upholstered stools found today will have been recovered in new fabric. You’ll find versions in painted wood, with caned seats, in mahogany, oak and walnut, and with all kinds of different shaped legs and feet. Keep your eyes open for these small but charming furniture treasures that can be bought for under £100/$160/€116 at a shop.
Victorian tuffet
This plain but pretty tuffet, or footstool, would have been a common sight in 19th century homes, providing a comfy rest for slippered feet, warming in front of an open fire. The word tuffet entered popular parlance via the 1805 nursery rhyme, ‘Little Miss Muffet’, who sat on a tuffet. With a stained beech frame to resemble mahogany or walnut, this example has a removable cushion top that has been recovered in dark green silk. Small antique footstools such as this can be found from £80/$128/€93 upwards at antiques centres.
Victorian nursing chair
Nursing chairs were commonplace in the 19th century and enabled the nurturing of babies in comfort. This is a nice example with a mahogany show-wood frame and cabriole legs, with a generously proportioned seat and back. At auction it fetched just £70/$112/€81, perhaps because the fabric lets it down. Slipper chairs, designed for the bedroom, are similar in style – low slung, with a long back to support the sitter. Such chairs are great value at the moment.
TIP CHECK OUT CHARITY FURNITURE STORES
House clearances are a potential source of antiques and vintage furniture. Often families haven’t got room for old, quality furniture passed down by parents and donate it to a charity to sell through their furniture stores. Check websites for details of furniture stores run by hospices and charities such as the Red Cross, Oxfam and others. And keep an eye out for bargains.
Antique Furniture everydAy Antiques 2928
19th century American style sofa
Made in the mid 19th century, this chunky, almost stubby sofa has an impressive mahogany framework and plump upholstery – clearly a piece made to impress, and one inspired by earlier Neo-Classical American designs. The wood has a highly figured, rich patina with some decorative carving. The fabric cover is a replacement for the original. Unusual and in good condition, the guide price at auction was between £800-1,200 ($1,280-1,920/€930-1,390).
19th century American style sofa details
Antique Furniture everydAy Antiques 2928
19th century American style sofa
Made in the mid 19th century, this chunky, almost stubby sofa has an impressive mahogany framework and plump upholstery – clearly a piece made to impress, and one inspired by earlier Neo-Classical American designs. The wood has a highly figured, rich patina with some decorative carving. The fabric cover is a replacement for the original. Unusual and in good condition, the guide price at auction was between £800-1,200 ($1,280-1,920/€930-1,390).
19th century American style sofa details
Antique Furniture everydAy Antiques 3130
Late 19th century camel back sofa
As with other 19th century furniture, the design of this French sofa was inspired by the previous century’s style and echoes a popular sofa shape known as the ‘camel back’. Dating to around 1890 or 1900 the large sofa has been fully restored and reupholstered using good quality stuffing and a luxurious fabric, and as such had a price of £2,500/$4,000/€2,900 at a fair.
Early 19th century Baltic sofa
With its design inspired by the elegant, restrained style of Scandinavia, this classy sofa has all the plain and simple attributes to fit well into a contemporary setting. It dates to around 1800 and is made of mahogany with decorative brass inlay. At under £1,800/$2,880/€2100 at a fair, its price compares well with the cost of a large modern sofa.
Antique Furniture everydAy Antiques 3130
Late 19th century camel back sofa
As with other 19th century furniture, the design of this French sofa was inspired by the previous century’s style and echoes a popular sofa shape known as the ‘camel back’. Dating to around 1890 or 1900 the large sofa has been fully restored and reupholstered using good quality stuffing and a luxurious fabric, and as such had a price of £2,500/$4,000/€2,900 at a fair.
Early 19th century Baltic sofa
With its design inspired by the elegant, restrained style of Scandinavia, this classy sofa has all the plain and simple attributes to fit well into a contemporary setting. It dates to around 1800 and is made of mahogany with decorative brass inlay. At under £1,800/$2,880/€2100 at a fair, its price compares well with the cost of a large modern sofa.
