How to check antiques: age, wear and repairs

Wear should make sense

Genuine age leaves wear where hands, feet and use touch a piece over many years. Faked age tends to be even, random or in places nobody would touch.

• Wear is heaviest on handles, edges, feet and other high points
• Patina on metal and wood is deeper in recesses and softer where it has been handled
• Scratches and dents look random in direction, not like a regular pattern of distressing
• Dirt and polish build-up sit in corners and carvings, not spread evenly

Construction tells the date

How a piece was made can date it more reliably than how it looks.

• Hand-cut dovetail joints are slightly irregular; machine-cut ones are perfectly uniform
• Hand-made screws have uneven threads and off-centre slots; cross-head screws belong to the 20th century
• Straight saw marks point to hand or early mill work, while curved marks from a circular saw suggest a later date
• Old wood shrinks across the grain, so round tops and panels are often slightly oval

Marks and labels

Maker's marks on ceramics, silver and furniture are useful, and also among the most copied details.

• The mark matches published examples for the maker and period, in style, colour and position
• The mark sits under the glaze on ceramics where it should, not on top
• A country-of-origin mark fits the claimed date; many goods imported into the US from the 1890s onwards were marked with their country of origin, so such a mark on a piece claimed to be much older deserves a closer look

Repairs, replacements and marriages

Old pieces are often repaired, and honest repairs do not make a piece fake. What matters is whether they are disclosed and how much of the piece is original.

• Replaced handles, hinges or hardware often leave old holes or marks
• A “marriage” combines parts of two different pieces, such as a top and a base, that never started life together
• Fresh wood, new glue or bright metal inside an old piece points to later work
• Restoration under UV light can show up as areas that glow differently

Photos to take for a check

1. 1The whole piece from the front and from an angle
2. 2Maker's marks, stamps and labels, close up
3. 3The back and the underside
4. 4Joints, fixings and any repairs