• American Furniture Collecting Guide
American Furniture Collecting Guide
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The emigration of the British and Europeans to America in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in settlements of different religious communities in the various Eastern regions of the New World. The construction techniques and characteristic styles each community developed were adaptations of the fashions and methods learned in the old country and suited the wood available in a certain region.

But unlike French or English furniture perhaps, American furniture is not just one particular style. A piece made in 19th century New York is quite different from something made in Newport or Philadelphia during the same period.

Tracing the habitat of a certain wood is one way of determining an object's origin. When a specific type of wood is located on a piece of furniture, the woods list can help determine the furniture's place of origin. This is most helpful in separating American—from English-made furniture, especially when certain styles, e.g., Chippendale, had been popular on both Continents.

American furniture is probably the only collectible that cannot lie because it is very easy to determine where and when exactly a certain piece was made.

That's only one of many factors to make American furniture so fascinating.