Finding Genuine Asian Antiques

Asian antiques are extremely popular today, as they have been for many years. Many people find them charming, interesting, and impressively unusual compared to the type of furniture and art that is found in other regions of the world. While collecting antiques from Asia can be fun, and even addictive, you have to know what you are looking for to ensure you purchase genuine pieces and never overpay for an item.

If you visit auctions that present a lot of genuine antiques you will come across quite a few Asian antiques in the mix. The problem is that they are so popular today may replicas and knockoffs are in circulation. You could easily pay thousands of dollars for a piece of furniture only to find out at a later date that it is not worth anything at all and was just designed to look like an antique Asian furniture piece.

Some people don?t really care about purchasing genuine Asian antiques. They just want the look of these furniture pieces or works of art in their home. As long as they get a genuine feel they do not really care whether their pieces are genuine. If this sounds like what you really want then purchasing cheaper knockoff items may be the way to go.

On the other hand, if you want the real thing you need to start doing some research and learning more about the antiques that you are interested in purchasing. You need to learn about design features that are common to Asian antiques and marks or patterns that may show up in genuine antique Asian figurines or works of art.

For instance, you may know that a very popular Asian table design is one that sits very close to the floor, with people seated on the floor to eat or do other activities. What you may not know is that there are some styling features that are commonly found on genuine Asian antique furniture.

These tables are commonly found with legs that resemble elephant trunks with rather elaborate, thick curves that push out and then curve back down toward the feet. Many tables and cabinets will also have claw shaped feet that seem to be digging into the ground.

Another thing that throws many people off is the cheap wood that was often used to make some of the cabinets and tables from different periods in Asia. Since the unique styles of Asian cabinets appear to be stable and very functional you might assume they were made with top quality woods. This is not true! It is very common to find the best Asian antique chests made from cedar, which is a rather inexpensive wood.

You will also need a good pricing guide to make sure you pay the right price for the antiques that you come across. You can access these guides online or purchase them in book form so they are portable.

Once you know a bit about what you are looking for and have a reliable pricing guide to help you determine what the antiques you find are really worth, you are ready to start attending those auctions and looking around for Asian antiques!

Make sure to thoroughly examine everything you come across and check your guides to ensure you are getting a fair price for the item. Do your research to increase your chances of purchasing legitimate antiques rather than cheap knockoffs.

Source: http://www.womenfavor.com/home-and-family/antiques/finding-genuine-asian-antiques.html

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