By Christopher Proudlove T he nation might have pulled itself out of recession by only the slimmest of margins – the naysayers are already predicting that we’re heading for a “double-dip” decline – but never has there been a better time to buy antique furniture. Says who? Me, that’s who. Statistics published this week by the Antique Collectors’ Club (ACC) show that prices fell overall last year by an alarming seven per cent, the biggest ever 12-month decline since it began its annual survey in 1968. Some market watchers expected a small recovery, but after two years of static figures, the latest findings make depressing reading. It was front page news in the trade press and yes, it’s worrying if you’re a dealer with a warehouse full of stuff purchased at the height of the market in, say, 2002. But if you’re looking to furnish a home with period furniture, that’s craftsman-made with quality materials and which will give a lifetime of pleasure to both you and your grandchildren, then reach for your chequebook. John Andrews started the ACC antique furniture price index in 1968 with a notional baseline figure of 100. It reached an all- time high of 3492 in 2003 and has traded downward since. It stands currently at 2736, says Andrews, reflecting dull bidding at auctions and thin trading at antique shops, fairs and markets. “Outside London it proved difficult to sell low quality pieces and many good middle range items either failed to sell or only achieved the low end of conservative estimates,” he says. It didn’t help that far fewer pieces of furniture were consigned to auction as sellers decided to wait for better times before consigning. The survey is based on both auction and retail prices recorded across the country, but salerooms handled by far the greater number of transactions. It was somewhat ironic, therefore, when organisers of the luxury antiques weekend at Kilhey Court, in Standish, Lancs, contacted me this week to report strong furniture sales at their recent fair. Fair newcomer Graham Smith Antiques from Newcastle Upon Tyne sold steadily throughout the weekend, all to new customers. “One couple from Frodsham told me they had been looking for five years for bookshelves that they bought from me,” he said. “I sold them a dwarf mahogany bookcase for £4,500 and a set of Gillows designed open bookshelves for around £2,000. This has been a good fair for us.” His other sales included a Regency rosewood card table with satin cross- banding, for around £2,500, while sales by Chester dealer Mike Melody (of Real Deal television fame) included a 17th century elm coffer and a continental oak and ash cupboard, the latter priced at £1,800. Nick Stanley from Church Street Antiques in Altrincham sold several pieces, including a French mahogany display cabinet, circa 1860, to new customers from Bolton for £2,200 and a mid-19th century walnut marquetry inlaid Davenport desk, for £4,500 to clients from Oldham, who had passed it on display in his shop window. So why the dichotomy? It’s probably just a simple case of convenience. By its nature, antique furniture will have suffered the odd knock and scrape from years of giving service in a household. Move it into a saleroom and somehow those defects become all the more apparent. Most private buyers have neither the inclination nor contacts to enable them to have furniture restored (or the ability to do it themselves). A dealer, on the other hand, sees past the defects and for him, restoration – and its associated costs in time and effort - is part and parcel of his business. I’ll wager a pound to a pinch that everything on display and sold at Kilhey Court was in tip-top condition. That’s something to ponder on next time you view a furniture sale. The Antique Collectors’ Club annual furniture index (AFI) comprises seven constituent indices: oak, walnut, early mahogany, later mahogany, Regency, early Victorian and country. “There’s never been a better time to buy antique furniture” Please Continue... Furniture will bring pleasure for generations and now is the time to buy. Photo: Antique Collecting