If you wat a home brimming with quality, style and finesse there is a simple way to do it – buy antique furniture, writes Charles Hanson.
Why? Well, it’s beautiful, made to exacting standards rarely seen today, utilises an array of real wood – centuries before MDF was invented – and yet, despite its quality, is generally excellent value for money.
That’s partly because antique furniture is plentiful which keeps prices in check. However, it’s plentiful because it was built to last.
Consequently, Hansons’ saleroom is brimming with a plethora of antique treasures, furniture which has served its purpose for hundreds of years, ready to make a statement in your home.
According to my furniture valuer, Edward Rycroft, the popularity of flatpack furniture is diminishing and we are seeing a growing regard for fine brown antique furniture. It has character, it has style, it has admirable workmanship standards. Brown is the new black.
Right now, the saleroom is bursting at the seams with dining and side tables, chairs, wardrobes, sideboards, bureaus, display cabinets, footstools, chests of drawers, ottomans and more – all set to shine at a one-off Antique Furniture Auction, 17th Century Oak to 1930s Art Deco Walnut, and Gallery Auction of Paintings on Wednesday, August 8 at 1pm.
We have antique furniture from the reign of Charles II and the 17th Century to stylish Art Deco walnut furniture plus a wide array of prints, watercolours and oil paintings.
For example, we have a George III dresser with rack which dates back to 1770. As well as being a beautiful antique, it is hugely practical and would suit a farmhouse kitchen perhaps. Its estimate is £300-£400.
Antique bureaus are in vogue as they are small enough to fit in modern homes and practical office furniture. One oak example dates back to 1720 and has a splendid interior awash with cubby holes and secret compartments. Estimate £100-£150.
If you need bedroom furniture we have a linen press, circa 1830, estimate £150-£200. Large and solid, it would provide ample storage.Moving into the 1920s, a wonderful walnut veneer display cabinet has a humble estimate of £80-£120.
There are scores of chairs too, from dining chairs to armchairs. One pretty-in-ink armchair that caught my eye has a little wear and tear but you can immediately imagine it in the drawing room of a stately home. Estimate £60-£80.
And forgive me for thinking ahead to Christmas, but if you have a large family – and house – then two splendid dining tables might be perfect for your festive celebration, and they will impress your guests with their provenance.
A pair of large, Italian design, mahogany-topped refectory tables, late 19th/early 20th Century, are from London’s Two Temple Place, a neo-Gothic mansion completed in 1895. It was once home to William Waldorf Astor, a wealthy American attorney, politician and newspaper publisher who moved to England in 1891. They have an estimate of £7,500-£8,500.
Viewing of the auction is available at Hansons Auctioneers, Heage Lane, Etwall, on Monday, August 6, 10am-4pm; Tuesday, August 7, 10am-4pm, and from 9am on Wednesday, August 8 until the auction starts at 1pm.
Plus, on Tuesdays, we do free jewellery and watch valuations, 9.30am-4.30pm. Free general valuations are available on Wednesdays, 5-7pm, Fridays, 10am-4pm, and Saturdays, 9am-noon. To find out more, email [email protected] or call 01283 733988.
