How to Recognise Authentic Antique Furniture: 7 Signs You Can Check Yourself
You do not need to be an expert to avoid being fooled. Most reproductions give themselves away under a few simple checks that take minutes and need nothing more than a phone torch. We start from one rule: a piece is antique if it is over 100 years old, and the difference from vintage is explained in our vintage or antique guide. For younger pieces that imitate an old style, read how to tell genuine vintage from a reproduction.
1. Look underneath and behind
The front of a piece is easy to redo. The underside and the back are not. On an old piece the unfinished wood is darkened by time, dry and slightly rough. If under a drawer or behind a cabinet you see pale wood, as if freshly cut, part of the piece has been replaced or remade.
2. Check the joints
Hand-cut dovetail joints on drawers are usually slightly irregular: the pins are of different thickness and marking lines are sometimes visible. From the late nineteenth century, machines make them identical to one another. Perfectly even joints on a piece claimed to be two hundred years old are a warning sign.
3. Look for tool marks
On hidden wood, such as the back or the inside, the marks of the tool that cut it remain. Hand sawing leaves straight, parallel and slightly irregular lines. The circular saw, used after the mid-nineteenth century, leaves curved, arc-shaped marks. It is not proof on its own, but together with the other signs it says a good deal.
4. Check the screws and hardware
Hand-made screws, from before the mid-nineteenth century, have an irregular thread and a slightly off-centre slot. Industrial ones are perfectly uniform, with a pointed tip. On handles and hinges, look at the marks in the wood: old, unused holes show that the hardware has been changed, and the price should reflect that.
5. Expect wear in the right places
Real wear appears where hands and feet touch: at the handles, on the edge of the top, on the stretchers between chair legs, on the feet. It is uneven. Fake wear is the same across the whole surface or appears where nobody has ever touched the piece.
6. The wood has moved
Over time wood shrinks more across its width than along its length. That is why a century-old round tabletop is often slightly oval, and door panels have a little play in their frames. Total geometric perfection is suspicious.
7. Patina and finish
Real patina is darker in corners and recesses, where wax and dust have collected, and lighter on surfaces that are touched often. An even, glass-like shine suggests a modern varnish applied over the wood. It is not a fault in itself, but it makes you ask what is beneath it.
Signs of a fake
Identical, round, clean wormholes made with a drill. Seemingly old labels or stamps stuck onto new wood. A strong smell of varnish or chemicals. Perfect symmetry on a hand-made piece. Never rely on a label alone: labels can be stuck on, copied and artificially aged. The construction is what counts.
Questions to ask the seller
What is original and what has been replaced? Has it been restored, and how? Where does it come from? Can I see underneath and behind? A serious seller answers directly or says openly "I do not know". One who dodges the questions is telling you what you needed to find out.
How we work at Martello
We do not manufacture furniture: we select one-off old pieces and describe them, faults included. We use the word "antique" only for pieces that are genuinely over a century old, and where we cannot prove the age we say so. See the antique and period furniture collection or the full catalog. And on delivery you check the piece on the spot: if it is not as in the photos, you refuse it and pay nothing. On choosing the wood, see also how to recognise quality solid wood.