What I hope people are cottoning on to, and what was sadly ignored as it was begun to be put about during our current economic malaise, is the notion of antiques as the ultimate in recycled goods. As we all of us begin to recover and feel a bit sunnier about the state of the economy, this is worthy of consideration, whilst also bearing in mind that all things ‘green’ may not actually be so.
If you are like me, ‘green’ and ‘recycled’ immediately call to mind someone in a beat-up pickup unsafely loaded with flattened fibreboard boxes, or a street-type pushing a shopping cart filled with dirty glass bottles. While notionally if not aesthetically similar to aluminum cans, and fibreboard, it’s worth noting the reuse of our antiques requires considerably less in inputs and remanufacturing to render them usable. Actually, very little is required, and mostly in the renewable elbow grease department- tighten the joints and a buff and polish- I am simplifying but you get the idea- and they are ready to go and will enjoy generations of service. Actually, with proper care, about 100 years of service, before another round of restoration is required.
I am put in mind of all this just now, as a lady and gentleman stopped in on Saturday, astonished at the (low) pricing of good quality period material relative to the reputedly good quality modern furniture they’d looked at the day before. Our stock is less expensive, yes, and of recognizably better quality. Of course, it would be, with the beautifully figured timbers and veneers, all derived from old growth timbers harvested 2 or 3 centuries ago, mellowed with a patina that likewise takes centuries to achieve. This, clearly, and we haven’t even begun to consider carving, joining, and other features of fine craftsmanship that are a given.
You have read all this before, in my blog and elsewhere, but what may make you feel even better about period pieces is a consideration that, when comparison shopping, a ‘green’ contemporary alternative may not be so. Even amongst ostensibly ‘green’ products made from sustainable materials, very few of these furniture pieces are made domestically, with most produced in the developing world. The upshot of this is, a considerable amount of waste ensues due to production using unskilled, unsupervised labor. One of the best and traditionally vaunted makers with factories formerly in High Point, North Carolina, now manufactures almost exclusively in Vietnam- and rejects for flaws in the range of 3 out of every 4 pieces produced there. And the rejects? Used as fuel. In fact the company is proud of its record for not using fossil fuels- in spite of the wasted product that ends up going up the smokestack and into the atmosphere.
To be continued…