Saturday, April 18, 2020

A babble about furniture, Drexel, Duncan Phyfe and Reproductions.


Below is a little babble about furniture, Drexel, Duncan Phyfe and reproductions.
Antique/Collectible Project➥Right now I am planning a furniture project. I am going to take a small Drexel curio buffet and paint it silver. If you read my blog then you know I sell and collect antiques. Twenty years ago I would have told you this was a bad idea! Well I have been saying things have changed. This will not be easy. It will need cleansed of wax and roughed up with sand paper. I will remove all hardware and use painter's tape on the glass. To save money the hardware will be spray painted. This is not a significant piece of furniture. It is a Duncan Phyfe reproduction. I know you have what you think is the real deal. It is probably from the 1940's. Read this article and discover what real Duncan Phyfe is:
http://www.artemisantiques.com/Article_CollectingDuncanPhyfe.aspx
If it was authentic then it would go through NOTHING or a professional restoration process. In fact painting metallic will make it worth more than it's old high gloss cherry exterior. I have seen some crazy prices online for these curios. Like $600.00. Unless some unlikely young person seriously wants old cherry gloss furniture then good luck. My mother who is 70 thinks it is nice, to give you a clue about a buyers age. As is I would hope to get $100 priced at $150.
I will say very good condition inlaid dining tables still hold some value. Sometimes people want the tables and use updated chairs. Since Duncan Phyfe is a bell ringer name be vigilant reading descriptions because people saying it is an antique may also say Duncan Phyfe "Style."  They know and I know it is not an antique but, your average person thinks Grandma's stuff is considered an antique. I have a hard time getting pass the glassy clear coats put on this furniture. Right now people are buying pieces that look more natural or are painted colors. When I am picking it is for untouched wood furniture. I just want to give it a good wax conditioning to resell it.
However in your area maybe formal high gloss furniture still has buyers. There are still areas in our country that have untouched dining rooms and people who have to entertain formally due to their profession. When I owned a storefront I always sold things like this where I made out and out of state pickers would make out too. There are always buyers for something it just depends on how much they want to spend. 




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