The trend in recent years for householders to move to smaller properties once their children reach adulthood has been a mixed blessing for antiques dealers and auctioneers. The most obvious benefit is that, as a result of these changes in accommodation, a large amount of furniture has been offered on the market. Much of this is stock which readily finds buyers but one definite drawback is that certain items regularly turn up which are no longer either fashionable or functional.
Anyone who attends salerooms, even on an occasional basis, will soon be able to spot these undesirables, forever languishing at the back of the hall and attracting little, if any, attention. Meanwhile, other pieces which might not have been found so appealing in the past are now the subject of keen bidding.
Naturally, when moving to a small home, practical requirements will always take precedence. The most important of these relates to size, and helps to explain why some auction lots are currently more popular than others. A smaller space demands furniture of equivalent proportions, so large items, however beautiful or well made, will probably have to be left behind. Elaborately decorated goods, while fine in a large house, may not be seen to best advantage in a relatively modest one, where they can look overly dominant.
Common sense also suggests that anything brought into the new home be practical and versatile, ideally serving more than one purpose. Many properties built in the past decade are not very generous with storage space, so furniture which can be used in this way should also be highly prized.
What specifically ought to be kept or acquired when trading down? Tables with multiple uses will certainly be valuable. Think of small nests which can be neatly stacked and then taken out whenever necessary. Equally attractive and advantageous are silver tables, which usually have a little decoration but are not excessively fussy, and drop-leaf hunt tables. The latter can be used for serving supper; in most modern apartments, this is likely to be the only realistic form of home entertaining. Small dining tables are good sellers too, especially those with one or two spare leaves which can be held in reserve according to the number of guests. These pieces will usually be in mahogany, but for paler-hued furniture - which will seem less oppressive in a room of modest size - it is worth trying to find early 19th century demi-lune tables in the light satinwood. Some of them will have foldover tops, so that, once again, they can be opened up when visitors call. And when buying such small tables, seek out those with a drawer or two tucked below their tops because this will provide storage for cutlery. 19th century hall tables are also good for this purpose.
Similarly, neat chests of drawers will be extremely useful because they can hold so much without taking up too much space in the room; unquestionably the smartest of all are chests on chests, since they hold so much more and their vertical shape appears not to intrude too much into the room. It was only around the middle of the 19th century that furniture began to be allowed to fill spaces entirely; prior to that period, items were more usually pushed back against the wall until required.
The same approach ought to be taken in small new homes. Light French mahogany-framed settees, for example, which were produced in substantial quantities from the second half of the 18th century onwards, are perfect for this purpose - their form and weight allow them to be moved with ease around a room. Fauteuil-style armchairs are just as useful. Again, they have wooden frames but their upholstered seats and backs permit them to be used in a drawingroom and drawn up to a dining table when required.
Finally, there seems to be a constant demand of late for good bookcases. Some of these are the free-standing revolving kind, which can in effect serve as a table with storage space beneath. While very large bookcases may not find a large market, those which double as a writing bureau are indisputably popular, once more because they have more than one purpose.
What, on the other hand, rarely finds any welcome in the contemporary home? Old-fashioned bedroom furniture is least likely to sell at the moment, primarily due to its bulk and inconvenience. Almost all new houses and apartments come with fitted wardrobes, making free-standing models redundant. The other problem with the majority of old wardrobes is that, for their size, they can store relatively little clothing and are too often not deep enough to hold modern hangers.
Equally unpopular now are dressing tables, once the staple of every smart bedroom, but now looking distinctly old-fashioned. Like wardrobes, dressing tables have lost their appeal, failing to justify the amount of space they occupy. Today, almost the only places where suites of bedroom furniture can still be found are old country houses, presumably because they are big enough to take these items. However, as already mentioned, chests of drawers retain their appeal.
Elsewhere in the modern home, sideboards no longer hold much attraction owing to their bulk. And there is simply no room for pieces of furniture such as credenzas, display cabinets, tea poys, canterburys or any other items whose purpose is not immediately apparent. They almost invariably date from the Victorian era, a time when ornamentation frequently took precedence over functionality.
Of course, it is worth proposing an alternative to buying old furniture, which is the purchase of new. There are two advantages to this approach to decorating today's smaller home. The first is that the pieces acquired will fit in both scale and style with the property. And, just as importantly, if the quality of items is sufficiently good, there is every likelihood they will become the collectable antiques of a future generation.
