Own something old?

Send one photograph and we will tell you what we can see in it: what the construction suggests, what any marks mean, and where the evidence stops.

What to photograph.

The underside, if you can tip the piece over. That is where the label is, and the tool marks, the old repairs, the assembly numbers. It is the part nobody was ever meant to see, and it is the part that tells you the most. If the piece is too heavy to move, photograph the back, the inside of a drawer, or any stamp, label, or handwriting you can find.

An example.

This is a photograph of a table in our own collection, and the reply we would write about it.

What we can see. A number, 1301, stenciled in black on the underside of the apron rail. The stencil sits on bare wood beneath the surface, applied before the piece left the factory rather than added later.

What it means. Numbers like this are factory numbers. Furniture works stenciled model, pattern, or stock numbers onto frames so that parts could be matched at the bench and finished goods identified in inventory. It names a design. It does not record a year.

What it does not mean. This is the mistake we see most often. A four-digit number on old furniture gets read as a date, and 1301 is not a date. Nothing about this mark tells you when the table was made.

What actually dates this piece. A printed paper label inside the drawer: a green crowned shield reading Imperial, Grand Rapids, Mich., beside a gilt banner reading Made in Grand Rapids. The Imperial Furniture Company worked in Grand Rapids from 1903 to 1962. The label style and the form together place this table circa 1920 to 1935.

Where the evidence stops. We have not matched 1301 to a published Imperial catalogue, so we cannot tell you which model it names. If a catalogue turns up, it would narrow the date. Until then it stays an open question, and we record it as one.

What we will not tell you.

What it is worth. We do not give valuations.

We reply within a week. We do not publish your photograph or your name without asking you first.

Or write to info@acanthushome.com with the photograph attached.

This is not an appraisal.