Antique Dining Furniture Information
Just what does it take to be antique dining furniture? There are certainly different definitions out there but there are couple of "tried and true" descriptions that seem to hold up regardless of the item being referred to.
The first is that an item must be over 100 years old. Add to this that the item(s) must be desired and or collected because of it condition, it's limited availability or some other feature that makes it unique. These hold true for furniture but for other things like vehicles, then by most definitions they are considered after they are over 50 years old. There are, of course other exceptions too but for antique furniture, the 100 year old designation will almost certainly mean it meets the definition of antique regardless of the source.
The second definition is a bit more vague and basically states that an object, including furniture is desirable due to its rarity or because of its rarity. This definition explains why some antique dining furniture that is less than 100 years old can still be called antique.
You may be like a lot of people and really don't care about the actual age of the furniture because you just like the looks. In that case, you are in luck because there are a lot of companies manufacturing reproduction antique dining furniture these days. You get the look you want and can rest assured that the quality is high too.
Antique Dining Furniture
One of the nice things about antique dining furniture is that it, in many cases, remains practical to continue to use the furniture. The fact that you can continue to use the items is one of the reasons that so many people are interested in antique dining furniture.
There are lots of different things that fall under the broad category of antique dining furniture. These include side chairs, side tables, tables, including dining tables, dining chairs, buffets and sideboards. If it comes with a dining room table and includes any other pieces then some people refer to that as a dining room set. Just be aware that there are no hard definitions of exactly what such a 'set' would include. The same holds true for a dining collection. A combination of a antique dining table along with dining room chairs and a china cabinet or curio cabinet would certainly qualify as an antique dining set.
Common Antique Dining Furniture Woods
Most antique furniture was built using hardwoods like oak (quarter sawn oak is very popular), Mahogany, cherry and walnut. Note that most antique furniture will be dark. Depending on the stain and finish you will find a lot of really dark finished pieces. Oak is the lightest of the hardwoods used in antique dining furniture. Of course pine was used too but due to it being such a soft wood, not a lot of pine furniture has withstood the test of time.
The use of veneers as common in today's furniture was not that common in the past. Most dining furniture will be made from solid hardwood. If you do find an intricate design on a table for example then it is most likely using a veneer. For the most part, antique furniture in excess of 100 years old will not have a of intricate patterns. The grain and color of the hardwood is what makes the furniture really grab the eye. Plus these pieces were generally made by craftsmen and not by computer generated machines as they are today.
As mentioned above within the broad category of antique dining furniture there are lots of sub categories and sub groups. Just be sure to check on exacly what is included before you buy a antique dining furniture dining set.
