Georgian

Common late Georgian side chairs and occasional tables typically bring $500–$2,500 per piece. Quality Hepplewhite and Sheraton case pieces — sideboards, secretaires, pembroke tables — in good original condition bring $2,000–$10,000. Earlier Georgian carved pieces in the Chippendale tradition bring $1,000–$15,000+. Exceptional documented pieces and sets of dining chairs bring considerably more. Original surface and unaltered condition are critical value drivers; Georgian furniture has been widely reproduced, and quality of construction and secondary woods distinguish period pieces from reproductions.

Period Georgian furniture shows hand-cut dovetails, period secondary woods (oak in case goods, pine in drawer bottoms), hand-forged or early cast brass hardware with casting seams, and 200+ years of age patina on unfinished surfaces. Mahogany should show the characteristic figuring and color of genuine old-growth Cuban or Jamaican mahogany — darker and more figured than modern replacements. London cabinet firms occasionally stamped pieces (Gillows of Lancaster is the most commonly found maker's mark). Stylistic dating by chair-back form, leg type, and inlay pattern helps narrow the period — shield backs indicate Hepplewhite influence (1780s–1800); rectangular backs with reeded legs indicate Sheraton influence (1790s–1810s).

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