How do I know if something is arts and crafts genuine ? - I have a set of eight oak chairs, two of which are crafters - they were purchased from a furniture dealer at Camden market in London uk - please email me at stayathomedad@mac.com for pictures of them with arts and crafts in the subject line or check out the lower res versions at http://homepage.mac.com/andrewbeardsmore/PhotoAlbum47.html.

They appear to be oak, small (one inch diameter) brass castor wheels on the front legs of all chairs (odd I know as not the best thing for 1920's wooden flooring !)

A local auctioneers tells me they think they are not genuine, but I am fairly sure he is trying to pull fast one !

Can anyone help ??

Thanks,

Andrew

Unfortunately, there's not much discussion regarding English furniture here. The focus is on American stuff but it would be great to see more English and European pieces and discussion.

especially when the shipping can form such a small component of the total cost ! (there's wishful thinking !)

Andy

is the concern that they were made later or are reproductions? in any light they are great chairs.

I guess my main concern is whether they can rightly be described at auction as arts and crafts, and what I should hope for them to fetch (we have floors those castors would eat up !!)

Cheers

There is really not much of a way to tell if it is reproduction for sure.. But I can tell you that if it is a mass produced piece of furniture, I doubt it will have a shellac finish. The little guys like me still use shellac, but very few mass produced new pieces will have a shellac finish. You can kind of rule out a modewrn reproduction by the type of finish applied.

just checked the rear edge of the seats - they have roman numeral stencilled (i.e. hammered with a blade of some sort, figures about 1cm high) - the main carver being VIII, the lesser VII, etc right down to I on one of the ordinary diners
does this tell you guys more ?

I'd love to know more (wouldn't we all !)

Andy

Please excuse my ignorance - is there an easy way to distinguish shellac ? Or can you tell from these pics (see above) - if you want I can take more - on some (not all) non-exposed or underside surfaces there is some whitish deposit - could be a wax deposit ? The finish is very unobtrusive - you can't particularly tell there are layers and layers of stuff, you get to feel the wood if you know what I mean.

Andy

This is what a guy on Ebay with loads of arts and crafts had to say -

Hi Andrew,

I had a look at the photo's. Nice set of chairs. Arts and crafts with art nouveau styling to the sides of the chairs and chair backs.The arms of the carvers and style of the legs and feet are typical arts and crafts.Nice square tapered legs with H-stretcher supports.Castors most likely added later as you very rarely see them on dining chairs from this era.They do have a Scottish school look about them especially with the carvers with the shape on the upright supports for the arms.Because of the mixed design they most likely date between 1890-1900.By the look they have drop in seats , take a seat off and have a look on the rear edge of the chair.They may be a registration No or design No.You may be able to find out some more info about the chairs with these No's.I hope this has been of some help.

BR,

Lee (vvodkaa)

[I can confirm they are drop in seats - Andy B]

Nice chap, that Lee - also offered to point me in direction of info ....

"..If you need information on books and where to view items of arts and crafts let me know.
BR,
vvodkaa"

Any further tips please to stayathomedad@mac.com cheers for all your help and info, will be a while before I pass by this forum again.

Good Luck

Andy