Pine Imposters

Pseudo-antiques are especially common among country pine furniture. Furniture makers get that handsome worn look by using old wood, often from eighteenth-century barns or houses. To make a table for instance, they will take four posts from a bannister for legs, the top of the bannister for rails, and floorboards or wall paneling for the top. "They´re nice pieces," says Antique expert George Reed, "but they are not antiques."