Real or Fake?

After thousands of questions about how to tell a period piece from a fake piece, I've decided that I'll run a "Real or Fake?" column every so often with the intention of helping you discover some tell-tale signs of authentic versus copy, and most frequently in today's market: the piece newly constructed from old woods.

Looking at this Continental stretcher base table, can you tell if it's real or fake? Can you even give it a provenance of country and period?

The description card on the table read "Dutch Circa 1760." Would you agree?

First, notice the scale and proportion. Second, notice the finish. Third, look at the underside and construction.

While the top has nice breadboard ends with good overhang all around, those breadboard ends and the construction merit another glance. Also, where are the feet? Secondly, the uniform finish with a heavy coat of varnish merits another glance as well. There are not worn places as one would expect on a table with such age. Thirdly, what does the inside look like? Is it uniform? Do you see stain marks or circular saw marks?

If all of these things are confusing to you, there is always the most obvious choice, which also happens to be the least likely to yield the correct result: ask the dealer.

As I looked at this table at an antique show, I admired it for a design client who needed a table that could work as a side table or high tea table/coffee table. While the size was right and the design perfect for the interior, the table didn't add up.

Because I know the dealer well, he offered what I thought: that it was newly composed of old wood. He had found it crushed and damaged in the Netherlands, and the cabinetmakers in Amsterdam and Brussels are so good, that he had the table "reconstructed" with needed parts and refinished. Parts of it were old, but was it an antique? NO. Not at all.

So who are your best sources when trying to discern whether something is real or fake? You've got two options: yourself or an honest dealer. And since most dealers in today's market don't know, I suggest that you become your best source. Look for a long time before you buy; study the best, but also study the fakes; ask a lot of questions; always ask to see the inside and back; and don't buy from a dealer and assume it's honest just because the dealer has an expensive address.

Do your homework: be your own best source.