I was recently at a community garage sale and was peppered with questions about some "old" pieces. I put old into quotations because many times people think Grandma's old rocker or trinkets are antiques or collectibles. Most items you come across are mass produced and not worth much. Also the collecting market has declined from 15-20 years ago because thirty somethings and younger have little interest. We are living in a throw away, dollar store society. I grew up with the notion of buy the best and buy it once. Things have changed a lot.
One of the items I was asked to look at was a basic dark wooden rocker with upholstered seat from around 1920-1940. This guy thought it was a gold mine cause it belonged to his Grandmother. Twenty years ago he may have gotten $100 because the market was hot on wood furniture.
Dealers would clean up the wood and reupholster the seat or tac it back up. Housewives wanted wood furniture, boxes, tools and more for country decor. Country and later called Prim decor was hot for about 10-15 years.
This chair had no carving, paint details, ball feet, scrolling or sharp mission style. The upholstery was not the original and the original tacs were long gone. It was just a mass produced chair for regular folk. With the market down and upholstery work expensive, he would be lucky to get $25. A person who does this work themselves could wax it up, fix the seat and be lucky to get $75-$100. I actually just spoke to a dealer today who quit fixing furniture. He said he is not getting his time and money back.
Now you noticed I said regular folk. Folkarts still carry value. Folk art refers to utilitarian items. Generally these items were handmade out of necessity and used by middle and lower class citizens in the early 1900's or before. I have seen farm implements and wooden household items likely from around the 50's still have value because of their worn nature and beauty. Hand embroidery work telling a family history still holds value for prim and textile collectors too. Folkarts should not be "cleaned up." You are literally cleaning away history. Make thoughtful decisions. Should you just dust it with a rag? Should you use a mild soap and lightly clean? If things start to get sticky then you are in trouble because that sticky is the finish coming off! There is no turning back on that one. Replacing pieces is tricky too. I have a slaw board someone thought they restored. They ruined it. They took the original screws out and cleaned it so good it shows no wear. Now it is just another decor piece. If the piece is important to you or you want to resell then do research. Maybe even get a professional to work on it. Make sure they understand your goals and they understand furniture history. This is an old article but, still has great information. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/tips/woodfinish.html
Folkart is about American history for collectors. It's someones hands who toiled away with a masher, broom, rake, wooden box, mallet, hog scraper, shoe box, tools and more. It is about Americans taking scrap wood or scrap from the foundry and making it into useful items. It was people able to take something from nothing and making it work. Really, isn't that the American dream?
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