How to check an antique before you buy it at a show

The best protection is a little homework. Pick a category you care about, such as furniture, glass, pottery, silver, textiles or tools, and spend time with good examples before you shop. Visit museums and local historical societies, read reference books, and handle pieces whenever a dealer lets you. Photographs of items you own, and the measurements of the spaces where a purchase would go, make decisions easier in a busy aisle.

Decide your limits in advance: how much you are willing to spend, what condition you will accept, and how large a piece you can transport. A plan keeps excitement from making the decision for you. Our guide to buying and haggling at antique shows covers negotiating once you are ready to buy.

Walk the whole show before you buy anything, if you can. Pieces you pass early may look better or worse once you have seen the alternatives. When something interests you, ask to look at it closely, and handle it gently. A good dealer expects careful buyers and will often welcome them.

Use daylight or a bright lamp. Turn the piece over, open drawers, look inside and underneath, and look at the back. Wear and finish should make sense together: a surface that looks evenly aged all over, in the places where hands and use would have worn it, is a good sign. Wear that appears in odd places, or looks too uniform, deserves a question.

Questions worth asking

• What can you tell me about its age and where it was made?
• Is everything original, or has anything been replaced, repaired or refinished?
• Do you know where it came from, and do you have any papers?
• Is the price firm, and is there a better price for cash or for several items?
• What are your terms if I find a problem?

Old pieces were often made differently from modern ones, and those differences leave clues. They are clues, not proof, and experts disagree on many items, so treat your own reading as one input among several.

Furniture

Look at how joints are made and whether they match the age you are told. Hand work tends to show small irregularities, tool marks and slightly uneven surfaces in places that were not meant to be seen, while modern machine work is more uniform. Check whether screws, nails and hardware look appropriate, whether the inside of drawers has the same aging as the outside, and whether the wood shows natural darkening where it would have met light and air.

Glass, pottery and metal

Hold glass to the light and look for seams, bubbles and wear on the base from sliding across surfaces. Look at pottery for marks, glaze crazing and chips, and check that the foot shows honest wear. For metal, look at the patina and the way edges and joins have softened with handling. If a mark is claimed, ask the seller to show you the reference, and remember that marks can be copied.

Repairs are common and not always a problem, but they affect value and you should know about them. Run a fingertip over cracks and edges, look for color changes under bright light, and check whether parts such as handles, lids, feet or knobs match the rest. A mismatched part may mean a replacement. Fresh, sharp edges where old wear should be may mean something has been altered.

Reproductions and later copies exist in every category. They are legitimate when sold honestly as what they are. Terms such as antique, vintage and period are used loosely, and they do not carry one legal meaning everywhere, so ask the seller to say in plain words what they mean by them. If the answers are vague or change when you ask again, that is information too.

Prices vary with condition, rarity, demand and the seller's costs. Look at recent sales of similar items, not only asking prices, and walk past a few booths to see what comparable pieces cost before you decide. A price that looks very low for a rare piece can mean a problem you have not found yet.

Be polite. Many dealers expect some negotiation, especially for several items, and some prices are firm. Ask what the best price is and listen to the answer. If you agree on a price, do not renegotiate after the dealer has wrapped the piece.

Ask for a receipt that names the dealer, the date, the item, a plain description and the price. If the seller has told you something specific that matters to you, such as that a piece is original, ask them to include it. A written description is far easier to rely on later than a memory of a conversation.

Ask about returns before you pay. Some dealers offer a return window, some do not, and policies vary by dealer and by show. If a piece will be delivered, confirm who handles delivery, when it will happen and who is responsible for damage. Keep the receipt with your records for the piece.

Wrap pieces so that they cannot shift and keep fragile items off the floor of the vehicle. When you get home, check the piece again in good light against the photographs you took and the description on the receipt. If something does not match, contact the dealer promptly and calmly with your receipt and photographs.

Keep a simple record of what you bought, from whom, when and for how much, with photographs and any papers. It helps with insurance, with future sales and with remembering what you learned. Use the organizer pages and the state pages to find more shows near you.