The best examples of quality brown furniture are having a renaissance with a marked uplift in prices being secured at auction. Interior designers are bidding alongside collectors and private individuals as the market for brown furniture turns a corner. People are currently fascinated by mixing older, mahogany pieces alongside marble, leather, guilt and ormolu. It’s all about mixing medium with colour of older items alongside modernist light fittings or the most recent style of wallpaper or tiling. There have been a number of interior designers who have championed the use of antique furniture such as the likes of Ben Pentreath, and this has slowly filtered down to everyday buyers, inspired by stunning mix and match schemes they have seen in the pages of interiors magazines. Similarly, the backlash against today’s throwaway culture has helped to encourage younger buyers to return to the auction room as they look for something which is built to last.
Kilim rugs, large paintings with gilt frames, gilt mirrors, mahogany chests of drawers, console tables and antique sofas have all been selling well as buyers look to achieve the look of old items juxtaposed with new ones. Buyers are now appreciating the substance and workmanship of these older items in comparison to the cheap-as-chips options which can be found on the High Street. Anything with fabulous inlay or particularly decorative veneer is currently selling well as are items from the 60’s and 70’s as vintage Ercol and G-Plan is returning to popularity.
When it comes to the return of old fashioned, darker pieces, it is all about quality. Anything which has been beautifully designed and finished and shows the ultimate in craftsmanship will sell well. Buyers these days are turning to the auction room to pick up quality pieces of furniture which will stand the test of time. Georgian pieces always show an elegance of form and shape, however beautiful Edwardian and Victorian pieces are now seeing a new appreciation, having fallen heavily out of favour in the nineties and noughties. Often furniture of these periods can be heavy in style and shape and the darkest brown options can be quite dominant of an interior, however when paired with fabulously bright wallpaper, or pared back pastel walls and brighter paintings they can really come to life.
Cheffins next Interiors Sale is on Thursday 28th March.