AboutFred Taylor Expertise I will attempt to answer questions about American antique furniture, including construction details, style, period, manufacturers, care, repair and storage. I do not have any background in appliances, musical instruments, sewing machines, lighting and clocks and will not respond to quesions about those items.
Experience I ran an antique furniture restoration business for twenty years. I am a nationally syndicated columnist on the subject of antique furniture for such publications as Antique Week and New England Antiques Journal. I have produced one video on the subject of furniture identification and my book "HOW TO BE A FURNITURE DETECTIVE" is now available.I have also published articles in Antique Trader, Chicago Art Deco Society, Northeast Magazine, Victorian Decorating and Lifestyles, Professional Refinishing, Antiques and Art Around Florida and Antique Shoppe. You can visit my website at www.furnituredetective.com
Education/Credentials BSBA Finance, University of Florida, MBA Finance, University of Florida
I have a dinning room suit that was given to me years ago. It has a stamp on each piece Sligh Furniture Company dated 1880. I have been told that it is antique a should be insured. I am attaching some picts. of the pieces. Could you please assist me in finding out more info. on this furniture?
Thank you,
Kim Brandt
Answer Kim - Sligh began business in 1880 but they had been in business for fifty years before your set was made. Your oak dining set is from the Depression era of the late 1920s to mid 1930s. The style is Jacobean, the popular English style from the 17th century. It also was one of the colonial styles in the New World colonies in the early 18th century. The tall cabinet is a reproduction of a court cupboard from the period and the table is called a "draw" table, one of the earliest forms of the extension table from the early 17th century.
The set is not quite old enough at around 80 years old to be classified as antique. The set would sell at auction for around $1,200 - $1,500.
Thanks for writing.
Fred Taylor
www.furnituredetective.com
Kim - You can verify that the set is not a true antique by looking at the joinery in the drawers. The joinery will be machine made dovetails joints, a true sign of 20th century manufacture. The value I quoted is an auction value which is a wholesale value. What someone paid for the set in the past at retail has no relevance in what the set would sell for today. The "brown goods" market (furniture) has taken a sharp nosedive in the past three years and what used to sell for $3000 at auction now sell for $1,500. One of the things I do is to keep track of realized auction prices for furniture.
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