When discussing antique fakes the buyer is frequently curious and will often enquire as to the extent of antique faking in this country. The answer may be surprising. Obviously no exact figures can be given, only estimates. After all, the shady side of this business is very surreptitious.

So many reproductions and ‘doctored’ pieces have been sold within the past twenty years and are still in the hands of the original purchasers, that statistical computations are impossible, although it is well known that in the field of Cape antiques and early Afrikaner pieces, the fakes far outnumber the genuine articles. The copyists in this department are numerous and ingenious, their basic materials are readily available and they do not require anything approaching the skill of their European counterparts, as much of the early South African furniture did not have the fine and meticulous detail of the French and English pieces of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Antique Collection

The reproducer of early South African furniture can obtain an abundance of the well aged wood he requires from the demolisher’s yards at absurdly low prices. Absurdly low when compared with what is charged when his finished product reaches the antique market. When many of the old farmhouses and cottages are demolished, they are found to contain stinkwood beams and yellowwood door facings. Many an ‘antique wakis’ started its life as a kitchen door.

A gentleman from Stellenbosch purchased an early 19th century corner cupboard. He was very proud of his acquisition and was fond of telling his friends how he knocked the salesman down to R620,00. I was ‘privileged’ to observe the ‘artist’ at work, who gave birth to this spurious piece. At a household auction he bought a second hand corner display cabinet. Aesthetically the piece was atrocious. The main structure was in stinkwood with glass panels, the back panels were Swedish plywood and it stood on four imbuia ball and claw legs. The price was R35,00. It was then taken to his factory. The glass panels were broken out and replaced with aged yellowwood sections, stinkwood ‘bun’ feet were added, the plywood was replaced with old floorboards, the inside was stained with graphite, the whole exterior was coated and polished with a mixture of beeswax and linseed oil and voila! Early Afrikaner!

Furniture shops in recent years have been experiencing an unprecedented boom in the sales of restored second hand items, which are labelled ‘Early Cape’ or ‘Cottage’ furniture. In most cases they bear only a superficial resemblance to the original.

Some antique shops have good examples of old country furniture, these were made by hand and loving care by the early farmers. The warm rich tones of the well seasoned wood and the rustic almost naive appearance of these pieces give them an undeniable charm that is refreshing in this age of plastic and chrome. The blossoming popularity of these units has given new meaning to the term ‘cottage industry’ in the second hand furniture trade.

In 1945, just after the war, there was a severe shortage of many materials. There was also a brisk demand for cheap utilitarian furniture such as kitchen dressers, tables, ward robes etc. To meet this the many small carpenters shops had to use whatever materials were to hand, such as pine, boxwood and second hand timber. The kitchen dresser had a strong pine frame, glass door panels and boxwood sides. It would be finished with a heavy coat of paint and sold for about £3.10. Afar cry from the sleek kitchen units of today.

Many of these kitchen dressers are being ‘preserved for posterity’ in the proficient hands of imaginative contemporary carpenters ..

When the kitchen dresser arrives at the factory, it is either immersed in a bath of caustic soda solution or treated with jellied acid to remove all traces of the original paint. At this stage a certain amount of deliberate ‘Distressing’ is carried out. After a good rub down to suggest the smoothness of age, the doors are fitted with prepared pine or yellowwood panels. (to be continued)

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