PP421-OOO - Understanding Antique Furniture Today

Registration

Please see the "Upcoming Classes" tab for class offerings and registration information.

Course Description

This class will focus on identifying the age, country of origin and authenticity of furniture produced in Europe, Britain and America during the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Such furniture may look similar at first glance, but accurate identification of specific woods, hardware and manufacturing techniques can aid the careful observer in documenting the age and country of origin.  The course will also address realities of the current market and credible ways to support professional opinions with facts.  Participants will:

• Compare industrial and pre-industrial construction techniques, tools and materials;
• Review social, political and economic issues that influenced furniture making;
• Recognize how these social, political and economic factors aid in identifying and dating furniture;
• Identify common and not-so-common fakes, forgeries and “enhancements”;
• Make direct comparisons between 20th-century reproductions and period originals;
• Integrate visual connoisseurship with scientific evaluation;
• Note current guidelines for conservation and restoration;
• Practice deductive reasoning techniques to develop confidence in identifying furniture;
• Improve description-writing skills; and
• Practice preparing condition reports.

Note: Non-flash photography is permitted in the galleries.

Instructional Methods

In this two-day class, Nancy Alison Martin, ASA and furniture conservator W. Patrick Edwards will provide lecture, interactive discussion and hands-on insight into the styles, woods, hardware, upholstery and construction techniques employed in American and European antique furniture.  Methods of instruction include:

• Lecture, in-class discussion and a PowerPoint presentation;
• Two-hour tour of the museum’s furniture collections with The Huntington Library’s Curator Catherine Hess and conservator W. Patrick Edwards;
• Hands-on participation using period furniture, parts of furniture, various upholstery foundation and period hardware; and
• Thorough review of valuable resources.

Pre-Course Preparation

View the 1-hour 2016 ASA Webinar: Basic Furniture Construction from the 17th to the 20th Century by Susan Golashovsky (No charge to course participants.) - Once you purchase this class, it will be available in the “My Downloads” tab immediately following registration, next to “My Purchases” when the registrant is logged into ASA Central (the same general area they go to navigate to “My ASA Courses”. That’s where they can access the recording and any accompanying PPT PDF files.

Required Reading

• Kaye, Myrna. Fake, Fraud, Or Genuine?, Little Brown and Company, Canada, 1987.
  ISBN#: 978-0821218259
• Miller, Judith. A Closer Look at Antiques, London, England: Marshall Publishing, 2001.
  ISBN#: 978-0821227343 - Read/review the entire furniture section of the book, focusing on Style and Terminology.

Suggested Reading

• Fitzgerald, Oscar P., Four Centuries of American Furniture, Wallace-Homestead Book Company, Atglen, Pennsylvania, 1995.  ISBN #0870697412Payne, Christopher, European Furniture of the 19th Century, Antique Collectors Club, Suffolk, England, 2013. ISBN #1851496262
• Payne, Christopher, European Furniture of the 19th Century, Antique Collectors Club, Suffolk, England, 2013. ISBN #1851496262

Agenda

Classes will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with morning and afternoon breaks and time for lunch (on your own). Please note that the Huntington grounds do not open until 8:30 a.m.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, student will be able to:

• Distinguish between original antique furniture, revival antique furniture and modern reproduction;
• Examine changes in furniture-making techniques over three centuries;
• Differentiate various woods commonly used in the 19th century vs. those of the 18th and 20th-centuries; and
• Build vocabulary concerning furniture anatomy and ornamentation.