• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Blog
  • Reno Projects: House by House
    • Colonial Revival Cottage Reno (our current home)
    • Old House Reno (our last home)
    • Coastal Cottage in Maine
    • Aaron and Melissa’s 1970 Redo
    • Condo Renovation (a client’s home)
  • Details
    • Before & After
    • Holiday & Seasonal Decorating
    • Gardens
    • Details about House Parts
      • Interior Windows
      • Mantels
      • Details on Creating Tablescapes, Vignettes and Hanging Pictures
      • Lighting and Lamps
      • Closets and Storage
      • Furniture, Antiques & Accessories
    • Chalkboard Art and Hand Lettering Projects
    • Travel to Inspiring Places
  • DIY, Tutorials & Tips
  • My Favorite Shopping Links
  • e-Decorating Consultation
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • Reno Projects: House by House
    • Colonial Revival Cottage Reno (our current home)
    • Old House Reno (our last home)
    • Coastal Cottage in Maine
    • Aaron and Melissa’s 1970 Redo
    • Condo Renovation (a client’s home)
  • Details
    • Before & After
    • Holiday & Seasonal Decorating
    • Gardens
    • Details about House Parts
      • Interior Windows
      • Mantels
      • Details on Creating Tablescapes, Vignettes and Hanging Pictures
      • Lighting and Lamps
      • Closets and Storage
      • Furniture, Antiques & Accessories
    • Chalkboard Art and Hand Lettering Projects
    • Travel to Inspiring Places
  • DIY, Tutorials & Tips
  • My Favorite Shopping Links
  • e-Decorating Consultation
  • Contact

A Lesson in Identifying Furniture Age

February 8, 2016

HometoCottage.com A Lesson in Identifying Furniture Age

In the entry area of our living room, in our 100 year old house by the stairway, is a small sectioned off part of the room. On the end wall of that space this vintage breakfront secretary with bubble glass now sits. It fits so well, it looks like it was made for the space.

Here’s how this beautiful piece found its way into our home, and a quick lesson in identifying furniture age.

At first glance, one might think this is a true antique piece of furniture, (antique being at least 100 years old). It has the handsome details of an Early American piece in its rich mahogany wood… Sheraton? Hepplewhite?

Beautiful egg and dart detail across the top.

HometoCottage.com egg and dart top cornice detail

The drop front drawer slides out to reveal the secretary desktop.

HometoCottage.com secretary drawer

Flanking each side of the secretary desktop are two faux drawers that are large cabinets.

HometoCottage.com secretary faux drawer

Oh and that bubble glass top…

HometoCottage.com bubble glass top

It seems to have a life in itself, as the light bounces off it’s fascinating curves.

You can see from the inside of the doors,

HometoCottage.com bubble glass from inside

how the glass is curved out for each wood trim on the front. I have no idea how they would have made that, but it’s gorgeous.

But this piece is not an antique… Yep, that’s right, this mahogany breakfront secretary was actually made in the 1950’s.

How do I know that?

It does take some investigative work to figure out the approximate age of furniture, but it’s not really that hard. And of course, there are always exceptions to dating furniture that one must consider, like if a piece was damaged and parts had to be remade etc. So when trying to determine the age you have to consider as much as you can with the piece.

When I’m trying to identify the age of a particular piece of furniture, I always start with the drawers.

Just the basic construction of a drawer will reveal so much about the true identity of a piece.

Hmm… I think there’s a lesson there about people too… something about the outside, though it may look good, doesn’t reveal what’s really inside a person…

HometoCottage.com dovetailing on drawers

This breakfront secretary is a good piece of furniture, meaning it is quality built. The side of its drawer show the dovetailing that shows that quality.

But the dovetailing is machine made.

You can tell by how perfect and uniform it is. The machine to make that style of dovetailing wasn’t invented until 1900… so a period Early American piece this is not. (and just to double check this one drawer wasn’t a repaired drawer, all the drawers were built this same way)

My mom used to work at a bank and I remember her telling me when I was a little girl, the way they were trained to tell if someone was trying to pass off counterfeit money was not studying counterfeit money, but actually studying the real stuff… feeling, looking etc at real money all day, they could easy detect the fake money right away.

That’s how it is with determining antique furniture too…

Study the real stuff, and you’ll very easily recognize the new stuff once you open the drawers on it.

Here’s a different drawer from a different antique piece of furniture I have:

HometoCottage.com handmade dovetail drawer

That is an example of a handmade dovetail joint. By hand, it’s just not going to be perfectly uniform.

A while back I showed you a Victorian piece of furniture my parents have. It has this lovely scallop and peg joinery on the drawers.

HometoCottage.com scallop and peg drawer

You can read all about that beautiful Eastlake piece of furniture here. This scallop and peg was made by a machine, dating to mid 1800’s, and was replaced by the dovetailing machine in 1900.

Another piece of furniture I have is this Victorian baker’s table. (you can read more about this antique baker’s table here)

HometoCottage.com drawer to baker's table

Its drawers are very simply made with just a dado edge on the drawer front, and nails holding the drawer sides to the front.

Now, back to the breakfront secretary…

Another telltale sign that it’s not too old of a piece are the screws holding the hardware are Phillip-head screws.

Phillips-head screws were invented in the 1930’s, so this piece was made after that.

HometoCottage.com phillips head screws

However, remember how I said to consider as much as you can…

It is possible on some pieces the hardware &/or screws were replaced…

(although on our secretary it’s clear it was the original hardware for the secretary)

But take for instance this piece…

HometoCottage.com carpenter trick repair done

a primitive cupboard in which I had to fix the door that kept falling off. (You can read about that old carpenter’s trick I performed here) but when I made the repair, I couldn’t find an old screw that fit right, all I had on hand was this Phillips-head screw… it works great, but it’s not matching to the very old primitive cupboard.

One last clue I had in determining the age is I asked about it from the people I bought it from.

Even though the story people tell you about a piece isn’t always accurate, things get confused sometimes, it still will give you a clue of what to look for in your detective work.

I’ve purchased many things at garage and tag sales. When I’m checking out, I always ask what they know about the piece. Sometimes they might not know much, but even a little clue can direct you where to start looking and see if the puzzle pieces fit.

In the case with this breakfront secretary, it was a client’s piece in their house I renovated for them. At the time, I told them how lovely the piece was and gave it a spot of prominence in their design. Fast forward several years, and as they were making the difficult task of moving into assisted living, they needed to get rid of this piece and remembered how much I appreciated it, so they actually contacted me to see if I was interested in it.

Of course I was, and thrilled with how well it fit into our living room spot in our new 100 year old house.

HometoCottage.com vintage breakfront secretary with bubble glass 1

The gentleman who originally purchased it, told me that he bought it around 1950, when he was a college student, living at home.

Since he lived with his mother, but needed a spot for his books and a study spot, he bought this beautiful piece to have in his mother’s house, for his study area. Once he was married and living on his own, the piece eventually came with him.

My applied methods in identifying furniture age to this piece completely confirmed his story.

I’m super happy with this piece of furniture, and how it looks in the living room entry area. And even though it isn’t a genuine ‘antique’ I’m totally fine with that. It’s just good to know…

Hope this lesson in identifying furniture age helps you both with your pieces you have already, and as you’re out and about looking for more treasures!

Did you know I now offer e-decorating? I can help you with your decorating needs via email, without having to step foot in your home. If you’re interested in more information, visit my e-decorating site: Frame and Frills. I’d love to help you with your project!

Here are more furniture tips:

Furniture-Facelift
Proportion
DIY Inspiration
How-to-Age-Galvanized-Metal
DIY Vintage Window Shadow Box
Repurposing: Stencil a Vintage Window
Restoration Vintage Medicine Cabinet
6 Furniture Projects to Inspire You
Simple Stool Re-Do
SimpleDecoratingTips.com
How to Make a Pulley Light
tips to find the right lampshade
Painting Tips
How to Create Let it Snow Artwork
How  Why I Made Faux Delft Tiles
How I turned this $10 piece of junk into a Masterpiece
before and after antique dry sink re-do step by step
How to DIY Soapstone Restoration
Tips on Restoring Antique Hardware
sofa table redo before and after
Counter stool makeover and my 1st attempt at chalk paint
Inspiration for Colors
Coastal Cottage Style Table
DIY Directional Arrows
DIY Table with a Coastal Design
Mirror Mirror on the Wall
Before and After Retro Cart Re-Do
Creating a Trophy Wall in a Whimsical Library
A Lesson in Identifying Furniture Age
Vintage Umbrella on Door
Before and After Headboard Re-Do
Handpainted Table
DIY Picket Fence Wall Hooks
Creating a New Faux Finish on Antique Tin Tile

Thanks so much for stopping by! Please feel free to follow and share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook, Pinterest, Flipboard, Bloglovin, YouTube and now Instagram!  I appreciate you reading along.

This post is linked up at the following other sites: Skip to My Lou, Between Naps on the Porch, Coastal Charm, The Scoop, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Home Stories A to Z, A Stroll Thru Life, Tip Junkie, Cozy Little House, Savvy Southern Style, A Pocketful of Posies, DIY Dreamer, DIY by Design, From my Front Porch to Yours, Posed Perfection, The Charm of Home, Designer Trapped in a Lawyer’s Body, Too Much Time on my Hands, French Country Cottage, Design, Dining and Diapers, Simply Sweet Home, The Girl Creative, Chic on a Shoestring, DIY Showoff, I Should be Mopping the Floor

Share this:

  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cynthia says

    April 4, 2021 at 2:27 pm

    Your mom is genuine😊 I was a vault teller for many Years and I was very good and finding counterfeits because I learned what the real currency was from production to finished piece. The secret service sent training on request ( not sure if they still do) and they blindfolded me and told me to find the counterfeits. I only missed one because it was a real bill that had been bleached and reprinted over too look like a larger currency. I had not made the leap to apply that concept to furniture but I will now, thanks to your mom and you!

    Reply
    • Liz says

      April 4, 2021 at 6:27 pm

      Oh that is interesting Cynthia! Thanks for stopping by and sharing. 😊💕

      Reply
  2. Jamie Willis says

    March 30, 2020 at 8:17 pm

    Oh boy, Wow! I have one just like this with 2 exceptions. Mine has “real” side drawers and then cupboard doors below, and the center “writing desk” has a closed door in the center with places on either side to stack envelopes/paper etc….

    I was going to sell it but don’t even know where to begin price wise…. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Liz says

      March 30, 2020 at 8:29 pm

      That is so fun to hear! Does yours have the ‘bubble’ glass on the top too? As far as price… I’m certainly no authority. I do know enough from the buying and selling I’ve done, there are many variables. Variables like condition, area of the US you’d sell it in, plus timing it right is a consideration too. I’d talk to someone in your area that specializes in that type and age of furniture to start with. Good luck! I’d love to see a pic of yours.

      Reply
  3. Sherry says

    February 18, 2016 at 10:37 am

    What a gorgeous piece of furniture! Thanks for sharing at Home Sweet Home!

    Reply
    • Liz says

      February 18, 2016 at 11:18 am

      Thanks Sherry!

      Reply
  4. Jessica says

    February 16, 2016 at 6:25 am

    Thank you for sharing. That bubble glass is amazing

    Reply
  5. Wendi @ H2OBungalow says

    February 9, 2016 at 6:38 am

    This was such a good post and I loved your examples! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and the way you address dating a piece of furniture makes so much sense! Pinning!

    Reply
    • Liz says

      February 9, 2016 at 6:44 am

      Yay! Thank you so much for pinning too!

      Reply
  6. Kim says

    February 8, 2016 at 11:25 pm

    Wow, what an education! Thanks for sharing this info. Wish I’d known this years ago!

    Reply
  7. paperworx4seniors2 says

    February 8, 2016 at 6:26 pm

    Thanks for great lesson in furniture aging. When we first got into buying antiques, vintage pieces it was important to be able to know if piece we were considering was antique or a fake. It’s quite an interesting topic to learn, helps to know what’s real and what is not. One of our first purchases was a dining set from Ireland. One of ways to know if real was size of chairs, the seats were much smaller than seats on dining chairs now. There were other ways also to tell and we were lucky to find such a beautiful set. A dealer in south bay of San Diego was having furniture shipped from over seas. We ended up buying a few pieces from that dealer. Still have some pieces, wish we had dining set too but had to sell due to way our house laid out now, no dining area. This was very interesting post, your piece is beautiful and know you’re enjoying it. Happy week

    Reply
    • Liz says

      February 8, 2016 at 6:55 pm

      Thank you, so glad you enjoyed the post! Yes, we are loving the stepback secretary! Have a great week. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Carolina says

    February 8, 2016 at 6:03 pm

    Great lesson – thanks so much. I work in a small local shop selling some consignment along with our new retail
    inventory so your info will come in handy. Another great post!

    Reply
    • Liz says

      February 8, 2016 at 6:54 pm

      Thank you Carolina!

      Reply
  9. Donnamae says

    February 8, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    It certainly is a beautiful piece. I love it’s backstory of how you came to acquire it. Thanks for the tips on identification! 😉

    Reply
  10. Nancy says

    February 8, 2016 at 11:22 am

    I enjoyed your comments. I knew it was not a true antique by the false side drawers and the machine made trim.

    Reply
  11. Dawn says

    February 8, 2016 at 8:40 am

    Thank you for the lesson in identification of furniture. You are a wise teacher Grasshopper.

    Reply
    • Liz says

      February 8, 2016 at 8:49 am

      😉 thanks Dawn!

      Reply

Share Your Thoughts Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Our Whole House Renovation: Mid-Century into Colonial Revival Cottage Style

Before and After Front Entry Renovation SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com How to Change a Door Lock
Antique Inspired Kitchen Island
Vintage Window Awning Redo SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Basement Apartment Bathroom Renovation Done
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Repurposing Cabinets
Dining Room Progress SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Incorporating Vintage & New Light Fixtures SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Luxury Vinyl Planks
Repurposing Vintage Screen Door
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Adding a Front Porch
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating the Basement Apartment
How to Install an Interior Storm Window SimpleDecoratingTips.com
how to install a vintage ceiling light fixture simpledecoratingtips.com
Re-Thinking the Living Room Furniture Plan
Main Floor Completion Celebration Giveaway SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Hang a Group of Pictures with even spacing SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Basement Apartment Progress
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Door & Window Decisions
Before and After Living Room Renovation
SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Front Entry Portiere
Tiling the 2nd bath floor
Simple DIY Curtain
hall closet into library simpledecoratingtips.com
Fireplace Renovation SimpleDecoratingTips.com
SimpleDecoratingTips.com How I Made Curtains without a Sewing Machine
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Progress Report on our Whole House Renovation
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating a Whole House is a Lot
Creating a Built-In Faux Fireplace
SimpleDecoratingTips.com we had to cut down 13 trees
SimpleDecoratingTips.com How to tips Window Well Installation
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Renovating Update Post
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Surface Mounted Suspended Ceiling
SimpleDecoratingTips.com From a Tub to a Shower
SimpleDecoratingTips.com Cedar Closet Lining
Wall Mounted Pot Rack
front porch addition mostly done SimpleDecoratingTips.com

Footer

Shop Decor Steals

AntiqueFarmHouse

Have you noticed this site is faster?! It’s because I switched to SiteGround!!

Web Hosting

My Household Tips and Tutorials for You:

How to hang a window box SimpleDecoratingTips.com
Housekeeping Naturally
How to Remove Pet Urine Stains
DIY Natural Simmering Potpourri simpledecoratingtips
7 Simple Hangers and How to Use Them
Make your own Natural Potpourri
Packing & Moving Tips
DIY  natural sachets
How to Clean Spilled Wax
How to Avoid a Greasy Mess when Frying on the Stove
How to Remove Carpet Depressions
Hang a Group of Pictures with even spacing
how to naturally clean silver
how to install a vintage ceiling light fixture simpledecoratingtips.com
how to install a floating shelf
First Aid Remove Sticky Residue
How to Mount a Door Knocker in a Hollow Steel Door
Plate Hanger
Five Ways Hardware made a Difference
How to Hang a Wall Mounted Lamp

Gardening Tips

The-Beauty-of-Fences1
we had to cut down 13 trees
DIY Hanging Terrarium
Transplanting Stella D'Oro Daylilies
What-is-this?
Dry Stack Stone Planter
before and after front terraced garden
Tips on Forcing Bulbs Indoors
Backyard Boat Pond
1-in the garden with water walls and cloches
Kid's Craft DIY Miniature Fairy Garden
before  after circular garden
Creating-an-Oasis-with-a-Water-Fountain
spring-planter-arrangement
DIY Brick Edging
Turtles and Window Boxes
DIY Window Well Installation
Window-Boxes-inside-a-2nd-story-porch
snug-harbor-farm
The-Story-of-a-Blue-Jay-Title-Page
Before and After Landscape and a DIY Pergola
Creative-Planters
Potting Shed
moving-a-screened-gazebo-onto-the-property
2 pergolas  garden update
How I re-did these Concrete Lions
Garden & Landscape Inspiration
Ingenious Tips to DIY this Planter
install this arbor and fence in one day
Growing Grass in a Vintage Scale
How to Prune a Peegee Hydrangea
DIY Simple Deer Proofing
DIY Compost Bins
before  after front garden landscaping
Humidity Tray for Orchids
rooftop-garden
raised bed container gardening title


Disclosure Policy: According to FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that some of the content of this blog may be a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

Copyright

Sharing is great! Please feel free to share this blog with your friends, as well as on Facebook and Pinterest and Flipboard and Houzz and YouTube the more the merrier! I appreciate you stopping by. But please remember that all photos, images, text and content are owned by SimpleDecoratingTips.com. So anything you share, please be sure it always links back to my original post it came from. Please do not remove watermarks, crop or edit anything without written permission from me first.

Disclosure Policy: According to the FTC guidelines, I want you to be aware that this blog is a source of income and may occasionally incorporate endorsements or testimonials and shopping links. It is important to me to disclose this to you. The content of this blog is a source of income and therefore may be used to promote products, services, or other businesses. I will only choose to promote products/services/businesses that I feel will be beneficial to my readers. Products provided to me by my advertising partners for my review are given to me free of charge with no cost to myself. This does not ensure a positive review of the product in any way. While I hope to generate a small profit for my time and effort to create this blog, I hold myself to the highest standard of integrity. I appreciate my readers, and always make it my goal to deliver quality, honest material on this blog through each post. Thanks for reading along, Liz

Graphics Fairy

Graphics Fairy

Feedspot

Feedspot

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Sample Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

  • Blog
  • Reno Projects: House by House
    • Colonial Revival Cottage Reno (our current home)
    • Old House Reno (our last home)
    • Coastal Cottage in Maine
    • Aaron and Melissa’s 1970 Redo
    • Condo Renovation (a client’s home)
  • Details
    • Before & After
    • Holiday & Seasonal Decorating
    • Gardens
    • Details about House Parts
      • Interior Windows
      • Mantels
      • Details on Creating Tablescapes, Vignettes and Hanging Pictures
      • Lighting and Lamps
      • Closets and Storage
      • Furniture, Antiques & Accessories
    • Chalkboard Art and Hand Lettering Projects
    • Travel to Inspiring Places
  • DIY, Tutorials & Tips
  • My Favorite Shopping Links
  • e-Decorating Consultation
  • Contact
↞
↠
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.