The Gentle Art of Faking Furniture

In buying antique furniture, what signs indicate that the piece is a fake? Are worm holes a guarantee of genuineness? Are drawer dovetails valuable indicators? Herbert Cescinsky, one of the foremost British furniture experts, points out that the only real defense against the skillful fake is a very broad knowledge of genuine antiques. In this book he provides a vast store of professional knowledge about furniture and discusses extensively the typical hallmarks of the faker. After general commentary, Cescinsky moves chronologically through the development of English furniture. For each period - from early oak pieces to Sheraton, and covering marqueterie, lacquer work and needle work - the author tells you what to look for to spot a fake, including information on wear and tear, tool marks, wood types, types of pieces particularly profitable for fakers, and existence of a pedigree. A richly illustrated book its 563 photographs show not only many interesting fakes, but also hundreds of examples of magnificent genuine pieces. There are early oak chairs, oak trestle tables, 16th-century wall paintings, oak-panelled rooms, oak bedsteads, inlaid oak buffets, 17th-century door frames, walnut Restoration chairs, cabinets ornamented with "seaweed" marqueterie, lacquer cabinets in the Chinese manner, 18th=century needlepoint chairs, Chippendale and Hepplewhite-style chairs, and 17th-century long-case clocks. In addition there are photographs of early tools, of old practices of wood cutting, of marqueterie cutting, and of the various stitches used in needlework. Although nearly every furniture example in the book is British, the technical information and tests for genuineness are so authoritative, extensive and clearly explained that they can be applied to the antique furniture of the U.S. and many other countries.