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Identifying Vintage Furniture

A room filled with midcentury modern furniture.
Vintage furniture is technically furniture that is less than 100 years old. Determining the age of the piece if possible is a good first step. Check the underside for markings identifying a manufacturer, if none are found, more research on-line or via a vintage and antique dealer might be next. This page contains tips for identifying vintage furniture.
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49 Questions

Ask a QuestionHere are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community or ask a new question.

September 30, 2019

Who make this type of one piece? The mirror, frame, and console are one piece. The console has a marble top.

The mirror below the console is beveled for those with princess feet to utilize.

Identifying a Combined Large Mirror and Attached Console
 
Identifying a Combined Large Mirror and Attached Console
 

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October 1, 20191 found this helpful
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Thanks for posting more photos! It looks like a Victorian Style Hall Tree. Depending on where you are located, unmarked pieces can sell for $500-$1000 in the right setting. These are very hard to find where I am so you would fetch more than in a place where there are lots of these.

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The best bet if you are not an experienced seller is to let an antique dealer or vintage shop either sell it for you or consign it for you. This way you will get the most exposure, most value, and you won't have to deal with the flakes and scammers on sites like Craig's List.

It is a lovely piece!! Post back how your sale goes!

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October 2, 20190 found this helpful
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Hi Sam, I wish I had a bigger house, this piece is lovely!!

Thanks for the better photos, especially the one of the back. If that back is particle board I will peg the mirror from the 50s OR repaired in the 50s as the older mirrors (40s and older) usually had real wood backs. Originally I had it pegged for the 1930s...but the back has me changing that (unless the back is not original).

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That said, I think you have a valuable piece. You said you are in CA so I would hope you could shop it around to a number of stores and get a decent price for it.

The furniture maker is going to be a tough one, especially if that is not the original back.

I am leaning to an Italian maker because of the lines of the carvings and the marble, although there were lots of US makers who used marble tops. That would have been a bear to come over on a ship, but if someone wanted it, they would have because that is what people did.

Please post back what your local expert gives you!! This is a super cool piece that would look amazing in a big house!!

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April 9, 2021

I recently purchased 2 dressers and a night stand. The gentleman that I purchased them from stated that they were his wife's grandmother's furniture and she had received the bedroom set as a gift for her wedding. It has wooden wheels on the two dressers and very interesting interiors in the drawers.An old fashioned dresser and nightstand.

 

Is this real Thomasville furniture?

If so, does anyone know how old it may be. The gentleman said his wife's mother was born in 1936 and the set belonged to her mother. Any information or guidance on where to look would be appreciated.

Possibly 1920s Thomasville Dressers and Night Stand?
 
A marking on the back of a dresser.
 

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April 16, 20210 found this helpful
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The earliest reference I can find for this store (Zenith Furniture) at the 14460 address is 1949, so the furniture is mostly likely from after that period unless they re-labled it.

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Thomasville Chair Company was around from early 1900s to around 2014 ish).

This Danish style was popular in the 1950s-1960s. I am still trying to locate a catalog with an original picture to confirm.

Are you asking to value the set or just get more info?

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April 26, 20211 found this helpful
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I've found pictures of your dresser on one website. It says that this is Thomasville furniture from the 1960s. That website just posted photographs of 1960s Thomasville furniture. I have checked if the other furniture on that webpage is according to the specified period, everything is correct.

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So, this is real Thomasville furniture.
You have 1960s Thomasville Dressers and Night Stand.

Thomasville furniture company was founded in 1904 and at the time, it was called the Thomasville chair company, since it focused on producing chairs. Then this company began to produce a variety of furniture, including bedroom sets, dressers, tables and more. In addition to numerous factories, the company had several hundred retail stores throughout the country which sold furniture produced by the Thomasville name.

In 1961: Thomasville Chair, B.F. Huntley Furniture Co. of Winston-Salem merge, corporate name changes to Thomasville Furniture Industries Inc. You can read about this company here: nrtimelines.wikifoundry.com/.../Thomasville+Furniture+Industries
Thomasville Furniture is not in business any longer.
Heritage Home Group purchased companies like Thomasville, Harden Furniture and Drexel Furniture. Then, Authentic Brands Group (ABG) purchased these names from Heritage Home Group in 2018.

 
 
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July 21, 2021

Does anyone know who made this piece, the year, value?

The desk from a top view.
 
The desk from a front view.
 
Close up of desk leg.
 
Close up of desk leg.
 

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December 30, 2019

I've had this chair for three years, I love it! I will never get rid of it. I'm just curious as to what type of chair it is.

All tags and markers have been removed. Can someone help to identify it?

Identifying a Vintage Chair - wooden armed chair with upholstered back and cushion, and caned sides below the arms
 
Identifying a Vintage Chair
 
Identifying a Vintage Chair
 
Identifying a Vintage Chair
 
Identifying a Vintage Chair
 

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December 30, 20190 found this helpful
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This is a pretty classic 1950s high back club chair. If you Google rattan sides tufted chair velvet you will see lots of examples. Many people call these mid century modern. It is one place where I disagree on that description. Mcm pieces have cleaner lines.

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The finials are more of a shaker or colonial style. I am happy you are keeping and enjoying it. Their value is low in the under 50 dollar range in most places. Where I am, it is even less. It looks very comfy!! Enjoy! Thanks for sharing!

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December 31, 20190 found this helpful
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Puppy love means you will have the chair forever...
The truth is - these are comfortable chairs as your pup can attest to.

I lean toward 'Hollywood Regency" style but most people will have no idea as to the true vintage or style and will probably list chairs like this as 'mid-century'.
I tend to think it may be the era even before the 50's but I have not found anything to verify this except a newspaper article (library) dated 1922 that describes this type of chair and does mention the pads on the arms (which kinda sets this chair apart from the norm).

These are usually described as arm chairs or occasional chairs and were sometimes placed around a room intended for casual conversions or even a ballroom where guests were seated near side tables maybe in groups of 2 or 3 (ladies waiting to be asked to dance?). Wing chairs were also used in the manner.
If you watch very many movies from even before the 20's you will see this type chair in their 'mansions'.

Your chair may be a reproduction or original but it seems you have put it to a new use and who could not agree that it's 'original'.

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October 21, 2019

Can anyone help me with information on this end table? I have been browsing the internet, but no luck. The handle is stamped K4815 (Karges Furniture Co.), but the actual piece has no markings.Identifying a Karges Furniture Company End Table - wood end table with a drawer below the lower shelf

 

Identifying a Karges Furniture Company End Table
 

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October 22, 20190 found this helpful
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The Karges Furniture company is a good company and the tables they make are worth money today. In order to find out the true value of this table it is best to talk to a dealer who handles these types of items. I am sure your table can fetch a good price if you try selling it through a dealer and not on your own.

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November 4, 20190 found this helpful
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Thanks for the info and additional picture. I am wondering if someone swapped out the hardware and used a Karges handle. The more I study your piece, I really don't think it has the line/design that Karges is known for. The handle is very simple and looks nice with the piece, but I do wander if it is not a replacement handle.

People swap hardware all the time and it may have just been done because that is what the owner had around. I could be wrong, and hope I am, but it just doesn't fit together.

I suggest taking it to a reputable furniture dealer and having them look at it. They can see and feel things I can't through photos.

You have a nice solid piece of furniture and I am sure it has value, but without knowing exactly what it is, I will not guess.

If you do find out that it is another brand, I would be want to pull the pulls off and sell them on their own. Some Karges pulls sell at $10-30 a piece!

Post back what you learn!!

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November 13, 2021

I bought this cute little table to hold my paint and when I looked closely at it there's a label that says Brandt along with the number 3 and the words "ancestry mahogany" stamped underneath. A lady at the flea market said it's a telephone table but that doesn't really make sense to me based on the design.

It looks like a planter. The brass tray is removable and it has casters and a handle. Any help will solve the mystery!

A top view of an old table.
 
A side view of an old table.
 
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February 5, 2021

Anyone have any idea what the make of this coffee table is?

A coffee table with carvings on the side.
 
A coffee table with carvings on the side.
 
A coffee table with carvings on the side.
 

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February 6, 20210 found this helpful
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Do you know any of the history on it?

When I first saw it, it looks alike a 1980s repro of a neoclassical coffee table, but since I can't see it in person, I can't be sure.

The legs remind me of a billiard table! I actually had to google to see if Brunswick made coffee tables since it had such a pool table look to me. They do make things other than pool tables, but that was just a wild guess from the photo. I didn't find a match on it.

Are there any marks on the underside, inside of the apron (where the carvings are)? On the feet?

There is so much more that goes into figuring out who made something...if you even can.

Is it heavy (solid wood)? How is it put together--nails, screws, pegs?

What are the measurements?

It is a pretty piece and maybe with more info, we can figure it out. If you are asking to sell it, there are plenty of neoclassical coffee table examples to help you set a value for your area.

Thanks for sharing!

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July 20, 2021

Can anyone tell me anything about this vanity, I added a picture of label that is on the back (what's left on it). Thank you!

The full vanity with mirror.
 
The markings on the back of a vanity.
 
The markings on the back of a vanity.
 
A number written on the back of the vanity.
 
A vintage wooden vanity.
 
A close up of the mirrors on the vanity.
 
The back of the mirror.
 

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Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 196 Feedbacks
July 20, 20212 found this helpful
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The one on offer up is not art deco like your lovely piece, so unfortunately you cannot compare values.

I am always shocked to be reminded that Montgomery Wards (which when I was young was a low end store that sold low end furniture and clothing, sold such amazing pieces in the 1920s-1940s, when I peg your piece to be from.

it is gorgeous and the mirror is amazing!!

In the right market you may fetch up to $1000 for you piece.

Wards catalogs are online and if I had more time, I would find the exact year of your piece, but sadly I don't have the hunting time at the moment. If that changes, I will post back.

Not sure where you are located, but I would take it to a reputable auction house (a real auction not someone that sells on eBay and find out the value in your area).

Post back how your sale goes! Thank you so much for sharing this amazing and unique piece!

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September 16, 2021

Small server, the number on back says 500 SERVER. Any help on this piece of furniture would be great! Thank you!

A wooden piece of furniture with cabinet doors.
 
The open wooden cabinet.
 
The carved legs of the cabinet.
 
A number written on the back of a piece of furniture.
 
Numbers on the back of a piece of furniture.
 

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