A lot of English Victorian country pine furniture has disappeared from great Britain, probably most exported to the united states.
The Victorian period 1837 to 1901 you associate with ornate carved furniture, but there would have been plenty of plain country
Victorian furniture. Which has been slightly difficult to find as many shops have closed or gone on to the Internet.
The market for antique pine furniture in the UK is still here so traders have had to look elsewhere for pieces namely Europe Germany France Czech republic. So the European pieces are made during the same period in another country. The dutch seemed to get the grip of this due to the fact they have been prolific traders throughout history and began sourcing large quantities through out Europe and bringing it over to the UK. This market still carries on but not in the same volume as years ago as wages and transport eat away any profits. Not all the old pine furniture you see is of our Victorian period there is some of the nineteen twenties period so check for ply wood being used in the backs and internal panels, if it is of a later period but there's nothing wrong in that. There are still older pieces from the Germany and France sometimes of a better quality than English pine as its construction tends to be of thicker panels. There are still plenty of pieces throughout Europe from large glazed dressers, wardrobes in all shapes and sizes some static and some that breakdown. Small pot cupboards which some still have the original marble tops, which are replaced for the English market. Ninety nine percent are painted or still in the dark stain and varnish, made to look like a more expensive piece in mahogany or similar when bought new.
Old pine furniture or Victorian country furniture created by craftspeople whose skills were passed from generation to generation. Its appeal lies in the fact that each piece is hand-made and therefore unique. Having a handmade piece of furniture is something special. Most of the old furniture was intended to be painted. The paint protected the timber in damper homes and was easier to keep clean than unpainted wood. It would be better if we could keep the paint on, but some pieces need restoring which makes this impossible. The the paint is an intrinsic part of the history of the furniture but practically if you have a piece that's one hundred years old and never been restored the finish of ether paint or varnish is usually beyond repair. People think that old pine furniture wasn't authentic unless it had been stripped but it really was meant to be painted. The hot caustic stripping is a bit drastic but if done by a expert its OK, also i should kill of any worm. People are often afraid of antique pine because of a fear of woodworm. Old Victorian furniture can have woodworm, but its treatable. If you have holes in the wood, it means the worm has already gone, but if you see traces of fresh powder the wood may have live worm in it. Safest way to treat the piece with a chemical spray.
By: petes antiques
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Pete burkitt writes for stourbridgeantiquepine.co.uk. If you are looking for a high quality well restored piece of old pine furniture step in and check us out, we restore a complete line of furniture from a large victorian breakdown www.stourbridgeantiquepine.co.uk/victorian to a single pot cupboard. Plus a range of blanket boxes dressers chest of drawers cupboards desks waxed or unfinished. The un waxed selection is on website page www.stourbridgeantiquepine.co.uk/oldpinefurniture
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