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Priced possessions
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Chennai-ites are becoming more discerning about antiques these days, says SHALINI UMACHANDRAN
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"I HAVE some antique furniture, come see it," says Jyothi Nair Belliappa, who lives in a flat on Harrington Road. Probably just a couple of carved chairs and brass lamps that no one uses, sitting next to everyday furniture, you think. But past the plain door, and one enters a medium-sized flat, filled with period furniture — marble-topped corner tables, colonial style sofa sets, stained glass paintings, a solid dining table, full-length mirrors, a polished swing and even a rosewood sideboard — all of it used everyday, giving the place a peaceful, old-world ambience. Even her bedrooms are furnished with carved bedsteads, antique dressing tables and writing tables. "This sideboard is a 1903 Spencers' piece," she says proudly opening a door to reveal a jumble of cards, pens and photographs.
While not everyone can fill a home with antiques for obvious reasons of price and space, dealers say more people are looking to buy furniture that is both exclusive and old.
S. Gomathy of Kipling and Co in Besant Nagar says most of her customers were over 40 when she started her store about four years ago. "Now younger people buy antiques. Some, for the look of the old furniture, some wanting one-of-a-kind pieces and some are collectors," she says.
"Awareness about value of old things has been created by foreigners. When they started buying up old furniture, Indians started realising that old is pretty after all," says Priyadarshini Reddy, who has three generations of furniture and curios in her flat in Egmore and collects antiques that catch her fancy. "The awareness is a positive sign, but it also means prices have shot up."
Buying antiques would take up a year's salary and then a little bit more, not "just because they're old" but because most of the wood used is rare. Rosewood, for example, is banned and Burma teak, which is used in most Chettinad furniture, is hard to procure. Ebony, which comes from Sri Lanka, is again, rare.
Spends on antiques depend on budgets but most people buying furniture are willing to spend up to Rs. 40,000 on a sofa set (the average price for a period piece) and up to Rs. 12,000 for a dressing table. However, dedicated collectors will spend more if they want a particular piece. First time buyer, Jaisri Chety says she bought an old French cupboard because she found it beautiful and interesting. "It has a secret locker and pretty mirrors and carving." The cupboard set her back by Rs. 10,000 but Jaisri says she loves the look and feel of old furniture. "I could have got a new cupboard for half the price, but contemporary furniture is so drab; it has no character." It's quite easy to be cheated though because there are many fakes — or reproductions, as the creators of the replicas like to call them — around. "The wood will show whether it's real or fake. Antiques use a lot of mahogany, rosewood, Burma teak and ebony," says Priyadarshini.
Gomathy says if you look carefully and read up before going shopping, you can usually make out the fakes from the real. "There's a lot of British, Dutch, French and Portuguese furniture in India but you will see Indian influences in all of them," she says pointing out to an exquisite recliner in cane and rosewood. "The recliner by itself is colonial, but the spindles (decorative balustrade-like supports between the arms and the recliner) are a definite Indo influence." Most of India's antiques have gone out of the country because of indifference and apathy towards all things old. "The middle generation let go somehow and we lost most of our antiques to the West. But awareness is increasing. People are no longer underselling their period furniture and Indians are becoming more discerning interior decorators."
For first-time buyers, it's best to head to fairly well-known dealers, says Priyadarshini. "They'll advise you about buying things that will appreciate when you resell them." Jaisri, however, says buying that investing in antiques is more than just about money. "Antique furniture lends nostalgia to a home. It takes you back to a time when life was simpler, more beautiful. Next time I have some money, I'm heading for the ECR where I hear there are some shops to get antiques."
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