The reason that lies behind the bench mark definition of prior to the 1830’s is quite simple and that is that hand crafted workmanship could only be guaranteed to this point in history. With the advent of industrialization came prosperity and with that a rise in affluence which created a demand  from those that aspired to life as the gentry. Machine made furniture satisfied demand but in terms of quality and more importantly    uniqueness, did not shape antiquity;

Vernacular is domestic furniture retained a handmade ‘honest’ approach right up to the 1900s.

For a scope that is understandable within this article we can take furniture from the 16^th to the late 18^th Century as being made by joiners and cabinet makers. In other words often joined together by pegs the finish straight from the blade and waxed hence that beautiful, rich antique finish. The late 17^th and 18^th Century is considered by many to be the finest the age of the cabinet maker. Finally made hand finished veneers used to enhance the beauty of timbers, an age of exsquisetly  made pieces and generosity of spirit and design. By the beginning of the 19^th Century a greater demand from the middle classes were showing up in rapidly changing styles set by the market rather than designs and makers.

By the 1840s we see the demise of the craftsman/designer being taken over by the manufacturer retailer. Victoria’s increasing empire demanded a revolution in style. The middle classes had grown expotentially  and they wanted  increasingly new homes furnished. They became show offs and demanded quantity, style suffered  .The machine age could do this and what we often see is beautifully made items with over flamboyant approach to decoration. The age of the true antique had gone. The coloneys expanded and you can see with the furniture made within New Zealand it often relied on styles of earlier periods as we had little machinery to start with.

After the Great war a trade opened up internationally with second hand goods around the world. Various countries at the time were a signatory to what is known as the Brussels agreement I.e that item of 100 years of age or more (antique) could be traded within those countries without duty applying. That agreement unfortunately did not place a date but an age on it, the consequence being that today we are seeing more  machine made works being classified as antique, solely because of a political agreement. That is not to say they have value it is just that they are not antiques.

If we are not careful this word will shortly incompass  plastics and items of decoration that have hardly been touched by hand. Hardly appropriate for such a well  meaning word and one that is often used to exaggerate the value of an ordinary item.