Antique oak furniture is beautiful, durable, and a favorite among those who specialize in collecting antique furniture. Throughout the history of furniture, oak has remained a mainstay due to its many preferable qualities; the strength, weight, longevity, and ease to work with and mold into the designer's plan. Since the seventeenth century, fans of classic, strong looking furniture have chosen oak for their decorative needs. There are several different kinds of antique oak furniture and though they may serve different purposes today than they did hundreds of years ago, the pieces are still highly sought after.
Marriage chests are a perfect example of antique oak furniture that no longer serves the same purpose it once did. In the days of the Pilgrims, a new bride would fill the chest with knick-knacks that sparked nostalgia and brought back happy memories of her childhood home. When a bride of that day got married, it was quite common for her to never see her family again. She would bring the chest with her into her new house after the wedding. The marriage chest would remind her of her original home and the fond memories that she grew up with. When the young woman had children and started a family of her own, it was common practice to pass down the memories, stories, and folklore that the chest inspired to her children who would in turn do the same once they started a family. Today, practices have changed and though a woman may get married and move far from her family, it is still quite simple to keep in touch. Marriage chests, then, are used for books, storage, or even just as display. If one owns an original antique oak marriage chest, though, they can only imagine the stories it may contain.
Oak dressers are another popular item among collectors of antique oak furniture. In the smaller houses of eighteenth century Wales and the North Eastern United States, the massive cupboards dominated the living areas and must have seemed quite impressive at the time. Today, these highly sought after dressers occasionally make appearances at road shows or auctions and can easily bring in tens of thousands of dollars. Of the antique oak dressers known to be in existence, the oldest recorded one dates about just before 1500. This cupboard is currently in South Kensington Museum located in Great Britain. At the time, the cupboards were used primarily to showcase silver or china place settings. The cupboards were designed with ornate decorations cut into the doors so that any admirers could easily see the fancy and expensive eating utensils inside. It was a way to showcase wealth, although it may have been simply a show seeing as most could afford an oak dresser. Today, antique oak dressers are still used to showcase anything from china dishes to collectors items. No matter what is inside the dresser, the true value lies on the outside with these pieces of antique treasure.
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