ANTIQUE COLLECTING
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Extract from the February 2010 Magazine
December 2009/January 2010 Magazine Pages 4-5 ANTIQUE FURNITURE IN 2009
THE ACC ANTIQUE FURNITURE PRICE INDEX
by John Andrews
2009 was a difficult year for antique furniture. The ACC Index of prices fell by 7% overall, reflecting the dull nature of bidding at auction and thin trading at retail outlets, fairs and markets. Outside London it proved difficult to sell low quality pieces, and many good middle range items either failed to sell or only achieved the low end of conservative estimates. As usual, there were some spectacular sales at the 'top end', but these were less abundant than in the previous year. The quantity of high quality pieces brought to the market diminished. In November, Sotheby's had a sale with 500 lots, but furniture only took some 140 of these. Bonhams had 230 lots and Christie's 110. Sellers may be waiting for better times before offering their furniture for sale. By contrast, financial and property indices showed some recovery -see figure 2 - so there may be a time lag effect to hope for. The LAPADA members' survey at the beginning of the year expected it to be a tough one, which it was, but the RICS in autumn suggested a recovery in prices. Reports of sales at antiques fairs are mixed. The ACC Index moved downwards from 2942 to 2736 (1968=100), due to falls in all the seven constituent indices - see figure 3. This was a disappointment in view of last year's hope for recovery. Volume is undoubtedly down and even such previously dependable stalwarts as Oak and Country furniture were affected by the depression of 2009.

Antique Collecting Page 6Figure 6. Early mahogany is usually dark and simple - this bachelor's chest of George lll period has the usual fold-over top above four graduated drawers and bracket feet. Despite the caveat that the top might be a replacement it went for £7,000 at Woolley & Wallis in July

The ACC Index is derived from a variety of typical pieces of furniture from seven distinct periods or categories illustrated and charted in the ACC book, British Antique Furniture, which altogether illustrates 1,400 items. The Index has been calculated annually since 1968, when it stood at 100. It is based on retail prices from shops, fairs, markets and auctions across the country. The collation and assessment of the prices of antiques by the ACC provides the only index with a track record of over 40 years. Methods have remained consistent so that comparability is maintained. When the Index started, examples were chosen of good quality antique furniture readily available to collectors in a range of Home Counties and provincial shops rather than the rarefied central London areas or museum pieces collected by the very rich. Were we to have included some of the spectacular country house pieces by Chippendale and other celebrated cabinetmakers, the Index would have been upwardly affected. But the gap at the top has opened wide, with few of the peripheral London and provincial shops of 1968 still in existence and even more disappearing in 2009.
More than ever, the greatest number of antique furniture transactions takes place at auction, nowadays with a significant retail element. At the well-established and professional auction houses outside London the year saw a lot of items going unsold and much 19th century furniture selling for drastically reduced prices. In contrast, some fairs have reported good results for furniture specialists, with a discriminating public prepared to pay for high quality examples, particularly of 18th and early 19th century dates. Good shops are sparsely scattered now, so fairs save a great deal of time and trouble, for which collectors must be prepared to pay. There is also a filtering effect, since dealers at fairs tend to present the cream of stock for obvious reasons and the market is more conscious of condition than ever before. The loss of London's Grosvenor House Fair after 75 years of dominance has been something of a sensation, and although there are several concerns aiming to replace that prestigious venue with alternatives in June, it looks as though these will conflict and provide lesser events spread over a longer time scale.