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Historic photograph of Virginia City, Nevada, and the Comstock Lode (U.S. National Archives, public domain).
Virginia City and the Comstock Lode: How a Silver Boomtown Built Nevada
Virginia City, Nevada, shaped the American West as sharply as almost any place of its size. Perched on the steep eastern flank of Mount Davidson, it sat directly above the... Read more...
Timothy O'Sullivan's 1867 photograph of the sand dunes of the Carson Desert, Nevada (Library of Congress, public domain).
The Forty-Mile Desert, Ragtown, and the Emigrant Trail Across Nevada
Few stretches of American ground carry as much dread as the Forty-Mile Desert of western Nevada. For the more than 250,000 emigrants who took the California Trail, the road across... Read more...
Antique hand-caned ladder-back side chairs with cane seats woven through drilled perimeter holes
Chair Caning Explained: How to Identify, Repair, and Replace a Caned Seat
A caned seat is one of the first things people notice about an antique chair, and one of the first things they worry about. Is it original? Is it failing?... Read more...
Refurbished barley twist side table with woven cane lower shelf, a later stylistic descendant of Carolean spiral turning and caning
Carolean and Restoration Furniture: History of the Charles II Style and How to Identify Authentic 17th-Century Pieces
Carolean furniture is the furniture of a country exhaling. When Charles II returned to the throne in 1660, ending the Puritan Commonwealth, he brought back from years of exile in... Read more...
Set of three antique Japanese blue and white export porcelain bowls, late Meiji period
Japanese Tansu: History of the Traditional Chest and How to Identify Authentic Pieces
Japanese tansu are the traditional chests of Japan: portable, drawered, iron-bound cabinets built to hold kimono, account books, medicines, kitchenware, and a household's valuables. The word tansu (箪笥) is first... Read more...
Chinese celadon porcelain teapot, c. 1950s - an Asian-decorative cousin shown for context, not a Ming or classical hardwood piece.
Ming and Chinese Classical Furniture: History of the Hardwood Tradition and How to Identify Authentic Pieces
Explore Ming and Chinese classical furniture — huanghuali, zitan, and jichimu hardwoods, nail-free joinery, the iconic forms, the Western rediscovery, and how to tell period pieces from later reproductions. Read more...
Johnson Furniture Co. Art Deco waterfall dresser vanity with triple mirror, c. 1930s
Waterfall Furniture: History of the Streamline Art Deco Style and How to Identify Authentic 1930s-40s Pieces
Waterfall furniture is the Depression-era bedroom suite that a generation of American households actually owned: rounded at every edge, glossy with figured veneer, and built in quantity by factories that... Read more...
Mid-century Ingento guillotine paper cutter in hardwood and steel, a machine-age cousin of industrial furniture
Industrial Furniture: History of the Machine-Age Style and How to Identify Authentic Pieces
Industrial furniture was never meant to be admired. It was built to be sat on, worked at, rolled across concrete, and replaced only when it wore out — and that... Read more...
Pair of ivory gesso table lamps with a band of Moorish medallions, in the Spanish Revival taste
Spanish Colonial and Spanish Revival Furniture: History of the Style and How to Identify Authentic Pieces
Explore Spanish Colonial and Spanish Revival furniture — the sillón frailero, the vargueño, Monterey furniture, and how to tell colonial originals from 1930s revival and later reproductions. Read more...
Early-20th-century joined oak smoking cabinet - a much later descendant of 17th-century joined-oak construction, not a Pilgrim Century original.
Pilgrim Century Furniture: History of 17th-Century American Colonial Furniture and How to Identify Authentic Pieces
Explore Pilgrim Century furniture — joined and turned work, Carver and Brewster chairs, Hadley chests, and how to tell 17th-century American pieces from Colonial Revival copies. Read more...
Vintage Louis XVI Revival gilt wall mirror with floral urn crest and fluted frame, a stylistic relative of Directoire design
Directoire Furniture: History of the French Directoire Style and How to Identify Authentic Pieces
Directoire furniture is the quiet moment between two grand French styles. It arrived after the royal splendor of Louis XVI and before the imperial pomp of Napoleon, in the years... Read more...
Early 20th-century open-back armchair with a preserved woven seat base, shown as a rustic cousin to Adirondack and Old Hickory seating
Rustic and Adirondack Furniture: History of the Style and How to Identify Authentic Pieces
Explore rustic and Adirondack furniture — the Great Camps, twig and birch-bark work, Old Hickory of Martinsville, Indiana, and how to tell early pieces from later reproductions. Read more...