Customer Reviews

Fake, Fraud, or Genuine?: Identifying Authentic American Antique Furniture

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I worked hard to really read this book. It has been worth it, because it covers the basic story on how to examine a piece of furniture to determine whether or not it is really old, or even if it is old, whether or not the piece itself is original as seen today, or has been pieced together from several incomplete pieces of old furniture, or even other sources of old pieces of wood. It is fairly fascinating, but it is also a lot like studying. I seem to be coming into contact with antiques through inheritance, and while this book hasn't told me much about the source of the pieces I have, I at least now know enough to turn my furniture upside down, and inside out to find out just where it may have been before it came to me! You have to really look at the many photographs (not every one was perfectly clear no matter how hard I looked -- 1 out of 30 were unclear I estimate) while reading the narrative. And I had never realized the extent to which 18th and 19th century pieces are researched for provenence, including looking through very old advertisements in newspapers, etc., to find the names of furniture makers of the past. Quite technical, but worth the effort.

No wonder only 3% of the population buys antiques. The rest of us are scared of what we don't know. With all it's pictures and arrows this book is easy to read and understand. Within a couple hours you will be a trained expert in detecting what is real and what is not.

I own and operate an Antiques Mall and Auction Gallery. We tell our customers on a daily basis, before they invest in "Antiques" they should invest in a book called "Fake, Fraud, Or Genuine" by Myrna Kaye. It will be the cheapest money they have ever spent. And if they will buy the book on-line from Amazon.com it will be even cheaper!

I will make this deal with any of my customers: "You buy the book, If you are not satisfied I will buy the book back" (And I don't sell books in my shop)

If your thinking of becoming a member of the top 3% of the population. I recommend this book for you. Roumillat's Antiques, Charleston, S

This book was long overdue when it was published and is just as essential an addition to the furniture connoisseurs library toady. Read about some of the great capers of the century and how you can detect what went undetected for decades. What you learn here can be applied to furniture from other countries as well. An interesting line about Israel Sack's start in the business (albeit innocent I must say to be fair) should be incentive enough to buy this helpful book.

I was given this book when I first became interested in antique furniture around 5 years ago. I am an antique dealer and avid collector now, and I still use it frequently as a reference. Although it focuses on 18th c. American furniture, the concepts apply to all periods and types.

This is a great book! I highly recommend it to all collectors.

Long overdue, this book provides the reader with the skills needed to correctly date American furniture. Numerous clear, closeup photos help the reader to understand exactly what to look for when examining antique furniture.

After we moved into our house (and jad no furniture to speak of) I decided to take the time to buy antiques and find really cool "stuff". This became quite a fun adventure and boy have I learned a lot. This book was one ofthe first that I picked up because I was noticing so much reproduction furniture in the seemingly antiques stores. After awhile you can just look at something and see if its reproduction or not but this book really helped me in fguring that out - fron talking about different types of wood that were popular in different eras, to what to look for in joints/workmanship, to identifying original upholstry, and I could go on and on. This is just an incredible resource and the pictures/drawings that are throughout are fantastic. It's like sitting on the shoulder of an antiquing guru as you walk through a shop and they are able to go right to the key indicators to see if its original or not. The writing style os fun and easy to read too. Excellent book.

Before you spend a lot of money on antique furniture buy this book and study it like a text book. This well written, well researched guide will save you from being made a fool of or cheated.

This book is exactly as described--it really does walk you through the details used to distinguish between genuine antiques, restored antiques, hybrids, fakes, and frauds. It's incredibly detailed and really reinforces how much research you have to do first, so it doesn't exactly teach novices how to spot antiques, but rather gives you a good idea of what you need to learn to be able to spot flaws (styles, wood types, characteristic features, all that). Highly recommend