Antiques

Mahogany wardrobes, bentwood rockers and treadle Singers:

are what most often comes out of an old Panamanian house. The heavy pieces, wardrobes and sideboards above all, are usually mahogany or cedar, valued for solid timber and for how much original hardware and finish survives. Bentwood rockers with caned seats were made by the million in Austria, by Thonet and its rivals, and copied everywhere since, so the maker’s stamp under the seat ring tells you which you have. A treadle Singer can be dated from its serial number, and a pendulum clock is worth far more with its original movement. China and figurines sit under porcelain, and the old silver and gold pieces that turn up in the same drawers belong with coins.

Gold chains worn with Panama’s national dress:

are the antique most particular to the country, and they pass down a family as a set. The full jewellery for a gala dress runs to several distinct chains: a flat one hung with two engraved plates, a twisted one that sometimes carries a pair of old crowned coins, another with a flower of pearls or coral. Traditional sets are low-carat gold, while many newer ones are gilded silver, identical across a room and a different thing to own.

Gold weight and a goldsmith’s workmanship:

set the price of a chain. A new set of chains in gilded silver runs to a couple of thousand dollars, and the same set in solid gold costs several times that, since a single flat chain with its plates takes a few dozen grams of metal. Second-hand, a solid gold chain is never worth less than the gold in it, and whatever a buyer pays above that is for the workmanship, which counts most on old repoussé plates that few goldsmiths still make. A gilded set has no metal to fall back on and sells on the state of its plating.

Original finish or restored, solid timber or veneer:

matters more than age once you are choosing furniture. A collector pays for an untouched surface and will discount a wardrobe that has been stripped and varnished, while someone who wants a rocker to sit in every evening is better served by one that has already been re-caned and tightened. The edges of doors and the backs of drawers show whether a piece is solid wood or veneer over a cheaper carcass.

Drywood termites, married pieces and modern screws:

are what to rule out in old wood. The termites live entirely inside furniture, so the sign is not mud tunnels but small piles of hard pellets like coarse sand in drawer corners, along joints or on the floor beneath. Tap the sides and back: wood that sounds hollow or papery has been eaten from inside. Look for a marriage, the top of one piece on the base of another, where timber colour or backboards do not match, and for bright modern screws where the originals have gone. On a bentwood chair a missing stamp is not proof of a copy, since paper labels perish, but it does mean you are paying for the style rather than the name. With festival chains, look at clasps and edges, where gilding wears through to white metal first, and have a jeweller test anything sold as gold.

Measurements, stamps and the inside of every drawer:

belong in the listing. Give height, width and depth and say whether the piece comes apart, because a wardrobe that will not fit a tower-block lift is no use to anyone. Photograph the back, the underside, the drawers, any stamp or label and every repair, and say what has been done: new caning, a new finish, a termite treatment. For gold chains, give the weight in grams, say whether it is solid gold or gilded silver and how you know, and photograph the clasp. Anyone coming for a mahogany wardrobe will pull every drawer and shine a torch into the corners looking for pellets, so empty it first: a buyer who finds nothing pays more readily than one who was not allowed to check.