Nicole Kanner, a 27-year-old Back Bay resident who works in public relations, recently started searching for a desk for her apartment. Though her style trends toward contemporary design (she recently purchased an Eames chair and a West Elm dining room table), Kanner says the antique pieces she's seen actually have more storage space than modern ones.
The thing is, she doesn't know much about antiques. She's done a few online searches, but is reluctant to visit an antiques dealer.
"I don't know enough about time periods and the history of furniture to feel like I'd be getting the best deal," she says, echoing a sentiment felt by many first-time buyers.
Unless you grew up in a home filled with antiques, the search for beautiful, well-priced pieces can be daunting. But local antique dealers and auction houses say they try to make the process easy. Both have an array of pieces to choose from and are staffed with experts who are only too eager to give you tips on what to look for. And whether you live in an Allston studio or a Milton manse, they can help you determine what will fit your home and budget.
Second-generation antiques dealer Francesca Rowe started Autrefois Antiques with her parents on Newbury Street in 1985 (the business has since moved to Brookline). Though she's noticed a trend in home decor becoming more modern, she says integrating antiques or vintage pieces into an overall home design makes it unique.
"Antiques do not have to look like Grandma's house," Rowe says. "The fusion of old and new within a decor is refreshing."
When starting the search, the trick is to consider the overall style of your home and pick out pieces that will blend in easily. Ron Bourgeault is an appraiser on the hit PBS series, "Antiques Roadshow," as well as the owner and chief auctioneer of Northeast Auctions in New Hampshire. He frequently works with first-time antique buyers and says most everyone should try buying an antique once. The process is both satisfying and educational.
"I encourage people to have fun," Bourgeault says. "Put together a group of objects that you're happy to live with."
At Skinner Auctioneers, an auction house that holds antique sales year-round in Boston and Bolton, vice president Stuart Whitehurst specializes in furniture and rare books. He says instead of focusing on the age, preservation, or the price of a piece, buyers should first ask themselves: "Do I even like it?" If the answer is yes, buyers should make sure they're picking out pieces that are functional, and that they'll be able to use consistently.
"I look at furniture from a practical perspective," he says, "which is that nobody buys it so that they can put a rope across the front of it."
He points out an 18th-century fall-front desk as an example. When closed, it looks like a chest of drawers with a large panel in the middle that folds out to become a desk.
"They look pretty," Whitehurst says, "but these days people don't have the wherewithal to clean their work surface and put [the desk] up at night."
Antique novices should start by visiting a dealer or auction house and get busy looking. If going the dealer route, visit a range of businesses to get a sense of what they carry. In the case of an auction house, order a catalog or look one up online.
Then, start asking questions. "We're the ones with the knowledge base," Whitehurst says about auctioneers and dealers. They'll not only tell you what to look for (scratches, broken hinges, original coloring) but they can offer input on rarity and quality. They can also guide you to buy (or not buy) items that come around more frequently than others.
"If you can help it," he says, "never buy when the fad is strongest because the fad is always going to come back."
During Skinner's recent European antiques auction, for example, there were eight very rare pieces of Charles X inlay furniture. "It's not to everybody's taste," says Whitehurst. "But if someone really wanted to get some Charles X furniture, I would have said, 'this is the time to do it.' "
Bourgeault recommends looking for American antiques these days because, he says, "the lower end of the market is down tremendously."
Experts can also verify authenticity. Rowe explains: "If someone asks, 'How do you know this table is 18th century?' I might turn the table upside down and show how the wood has been rough planed, point out the peg construction of the joints and the single dovetailing of the drawer, as well as the stylistic clues of the period."
There are two schools of thought on buying retail versus buying at auction. At auction, items are sold as is, meaning there may be a loose or broken handle, or a bag of parts that comes with it (details the buyer should be willing to embrace or fix). But that can also mean bargains, assuming the piece isn't coveted by too many other bidders. Auction houses also employ a panel of experts who will give the pros and the cons of every item they sell. "We're not in the business to push things out the door," says Whitehurst. "We give the positives and negatives of each piece." That's not to say individual dealers won't do the same, but Whitehurst says that because auction houses don't own the items they sell, "we see things more dispassionately than dealers do." On the other hand, dealers will present authenticated antiques restored and ready to go, along with tips on preserving them.
Finally, beginners should set a budget and stick to it. Auctions, especially, can instigate a buying frenzy, something first-timers should try to avoid.
"Don't buy it if you can't use it," says Bourgeault.
If you do, though, there's no need to panic. The beauty of antiques is that they tend to hold their value. "There's always a ready-made market to re-sell," says Whitehurst. "You can sell for the same amount of money - or maybe more."
