IT has been said that of the making of many books there is no end, and the same remark now truly applies to the manufacture of 'ancient furniture.'

With the course of time and inevitable clearing out by scouring of country districts, the demand has exceeded the supply; consequently a flood of imitations, some of them very artfully contrived, have been put upon the market. Forgeries are produced in several different ways. One is the outcome of the seeker for lucre, who imitates that which is difficult, or perhaps impossible of attainment, and then ingeniously endeavours to give his work the appearance of age. Another is more innocent in its origin, being produced by the loving copy of a genuine piece merely for the possessor's own gratification and use, without any intent to deceive. In time a death may occur in the family, and the piece passes into fresh hands, when the diligent imitation and true workmanship of the article may suggest possibilities to an unscrupulous spirit; certain processes may then be employed, and the piece becomes a forgery. To begin with, old wood is of the first importance, and fragments are often worked in which actually-formed portions of antique furniture now gone to pieces. By these means the old surface is preserved, and the wear of certain parts, such as the bases of stiles and tread-bars, given on the production with a simplicity which is beautifully correct to the eyes of the unwary amateur.

It also not unfrequently happens that the manufacture of a piece of rare shape is actually suggested by the possession of some uncommonly fine fragment.

Secondly, the joinery must be understood and copied. This may at first sight seem by no means a difficult matter, but there are many peculiarities connected with bygone methods which must be carefully studied and intelligently carried out to produce a really fine 'fake.'The plane must be eschewed and mouldings worked out of the solid wood, and not applied. The style of carving must be understood thoroughly, and carried out with a medieval disregard of exactitude, as long as the proper spirit is retained.* The appearance of wear is the next item, and this, to deceive the practised eye, is more than difficult of attainment. We have heard of one unscrupulous gentleman, not altogether unconnected with the fine arts, who had his floor literally paved with would-be old masters, which he gravely entreated his intimate friends to walk over, in order to produce certain unfailing signs of age.

* In France the best imitators of antique furniture actually reproduce the old tools before they venture to carve their forgeries.

Mysterious back-yards down which the weather beats remorselessly on Gothic cabinets put together last week are also frequently useful to the would-be deceiver. A certain amount of discoloration and wear being simulated, the pieces of furniture are often painted, and after being placed in the weather again, the paint is removed by means of potash, care being taken to leave portions in the corners and interstices of the carving. This pickling imparts a hungry gray colour to the oak, which is then treated in parts with some greasy substance, such as hellebore, to reduce such parts as still show a burr to proper condition. Sand-paper may perhaps be used, but the hand of an expert can detect the peculiar smoothness which this leaves without difficulty. The application of the sandblast is a more effectual method of deception, as it drives out the softer parts of the fibre, and sometimes, when the medullary figuring is good, produces a satiny polish, which, with the adjacent disintegration, gives an extremely good imitation of antiquity.

Repairs are also simulated in parts where such would most naturally be required, and done in wood of an obviously newer sort than that which the body of the forgery is constructed of.

To detect a really fine forgery is a delicious achievement. There is an enormous amount of instruction to be obtained from it - sometimes as much as may be imparted by the study of several genuine examples. This, of course, takes for granted that the various styles, changes, and interpolations have been thoroughly learnt. One thing perhaps means the other, for a novice in the knowledge of periods would scarcely be sufficiently a judge of surface to outwit the producer of age. Some of the means employed by the Belgian 'fakers'must remain nameless. As a rule the Frenchman is far more expert in forgeries than his next-door neighbour, and less abominable in his methods. And yet we have seen spurious early cabinets and cupboards which have been so staggering as to induce transitory belief in their genuineness. With such credibility, however, comes a feeling of insecurity, and this is the touch-stone which ought to guard the connoisseur against an unfortunate purchase. An instance of the gullibility of would-be collectors who have acquired no knowledge of styles may be cited here.

A certain well-known and estimable peer, whose knowledge was not equal to his simple zeal, in the declining years of his life manifested a fancy to acquire specimens of antique oak, and spent his spare time rambling throughout the country 'picking up' curious specimens from the cottages and farm-houses which he chanced to visit. In most cases the supposed possessors parted with their belongings with every appearance of regret, but it was an open secret that the majority of these pieces had been carefully planted in their resting-places but a few days before by unscrupulous members of the trade for the inhabitants to sell upon commission. The movements of this nobleman were carefully ascertained and watched, and the abominable forgeries which he acquired in the pursuit of this pleasant recreation were such as to exceed belief. A little knowledge is a very dangerous thing, and in this case proved disastrous. The collection, which was deposited in an antique manor-house, is calculated to move alike to laughter and to tears; most of the specimens would not have deceived the merest tyro, exhibiting as they did actual specimens of late origin operated on by the hand of a carver who had not hesitated to adorn them with tenth-century dates, carved in modern figures, mingled with decorations of the nineteenth century which belonged particularly to Soho.