What Is The Difference Between Antique and Vintage Furniture? How to Spot Them at a Yard Sale

Yard sales are not just wonderful places of communities, but they’re portals through time. You can find a practically brand-new set of golf clubs next to a couch from the 60’s and a coffee table from a century ago. Especially after shows like Pawn Stars, people are particularly excited to find old and valuable items at yard sales and, hopefully, make a pretty penny off of it.

Whether or not finding a particularly valuable antique at a yard sale is plausible is another question, but what about the words that people use to describe these items? Antique and vintage. At times, it can seem like these are just words people use to mean old. We’re here to tell you that that’s not exactly the case!

Antique and vintage

Finding meaningful definitions for these words can be somewhat tricky. Merriam-Webster tells us that antique means “a work of art, piece of furniture, or decorative object made at an earlier period and according to various customs laws at least 100 years ago.”

For vintage, Merriam-Webster throws a lot of grape-related definitions at us before suggesting “a period of origin or manufacture.”

If you notice, these definitions are different, but they can refer to the same thing. Although some people use the term loosely, antique furniture usually refers to furniture made over a century ago, and usually handmade. Beyond this, however, the definition is kind of broad. Furniture has been around, at least in concept, for some 4000 years. While you probably aren’t going to find a couch from 2000 BCE at your local yard sale, this would, technically, be an antique. And so would a couch from 1912. Quite a range.

On the other hand, vintage describes a specific time period, and usually isn’t used to describe items made in the last 20 years. Not only does it describe a specific time period, however, it describes specific and iconic characteristics of that time period. A vintage 1920’s couch isn’t just a couch made in the 20’s, it’s a couch made in the 20’s that also embodies the aesthetic characteristics of the time. This means that vintage items can be much younger (or older) than antique items, but while a vintage 1830’s cough and a vintage 1940’s dresser might both be “vintage,” they don’t really fall under the same umbrella of “vintage.”

When it comes to value, it will depend on each and every item but hand-made antiques are usually the way to go. This, of course, also means that items vintage to the time period 100 years ago or older will also fall under this valuable category.

Telling Them Apart

Here’s where things might get tricky. Like we mentioned, vintage will date a piece to a specific time period, while antique just refers to anything handmade and over 100 years old. This means that both words might be referring to the same thing for some pieces, or to similar characteristics.

To tell if a piece is antique, a general rule of thumb is to look for imperfections. Modern and machine-made pieces of furniture are, at least in production, practically perfect. If the hardware is identical and the dovetails are perfect, it’s probably both modern and machine made.

To tell if a piece is “vintage,” you’ll need to check for iconic and specific representations of a certain time period. Keep in mind, however, that a piece of furniture vintage to some decade in the 90’s probably wouldn’t qualify as antique and, naturally, probably won’t hold the value an antique item would hold.

To be entirely clear, however, these are just rules of thumb. In order to be entirely certain, it’s always a good idea to get a second opinion and consult an expert, especially if you’re looking to get an appraisal. Until then, whether the table you find is antique, vintage, or just pretty, we’ll be sure you’ll find the perfect place and use for it. Long live the yard sale!