All About Antique Reproduction Furniture Indonesia

Manufacturing antique reproduction furniture in Indonesia has been our primary business for the last 10 years. We produce various antique furniture styles like Victorian, french, Italian, and many more. Most of the product we make is based on customer demands, which means they have the design and or ideas, and we just produce it for them.

Many of the designs are “copying” original antiques they get from some kind of catalog or museum, they bring the design or send it by email and we discuss it’s detail and then we produce it.

Jepara city is well known for its woodworking and carving industry, it has been some kind of culture in our city. There’s a long story about how Jepara people are famous for their woodcarving skills. This culture gives us real confidence to produce antique reproduction furniture in Indonesia which most of the designs are carved on.

Antique reproduction furniture is a whole wide topic to discuss, it’s related to history and we are not capable of deeply discuss that since we are not a history expert. However, we do have quite a knowledge about manufacturing furniture products, and how to maintain them to its best conditions.

So let’s talk about it a little deeper, use the bullet list to jump to section since this could be a long post:

1. What is Antique Reproduction Furniture?
2. Reason to Buy
3. Difference Between Antique and Reproduction
4. How Antique Reproduction Indonesia is Made
5. How to Care
6. How to Buy From Indonesia

What is Antique Reproduction Furniture?

It’s a replica, that’s the short answer to what is antique reproduction furniture is, which is a piece of furniture that been made to imitating the original antique furniture design. But there’s a lot more than just copying a design, lots of skill and experience involved to make a good quality antique reproduction furniture Indonesia.

Antique furniture is usually referring to a piece of furniture with 100 years or more old but still shows great condition due to excellent craftsmanship from the makers. But no matter how good the craftsmanship or the material quality, a genuine antique will always have some wear and tear marks, which is good since it shows the characters of the piece.

That’s why the reproduction piece must also have these marks.

There are so many styles in the world of antique reproduction furniture, it’s different from one period to another, it also different from continent to another. But as long as we understand, there is 2 main style in furniture reproduction which is European and American style furniture. Let’s discuss it just a little bit since it was a whole lot of topics to cover.

1. European Furniture Style

Europe is one of the world’s first and most advanced in the world of furniture designs. The big country, or perhaps we should call it Kingdom, includes the English, French, Italian, and German.

• English Furniture Style

The English style of furniture is just as long and interesting as England’s history itself. But there is 5 main period of English furniture that has the most impact in the world of antique reproduction furniture. They are:

1. English Renaissance, this period marks the beginning of the English renaissance furniture tradition. In this period include the Tudor furniture, Elizabethan furniture, Jacobean style furniture, and Cromwellian or Puritan Furniture
2. Baroque, The Restoration period marks the beginning of English baroque furniture. This period includes William & Mary and Queen Anne periods
3. Rococo & Classical,  this period includes Thomas Chippendale and regency furniture style.
4. Eclectic, this era includes the most popular victorian style
5. Country & Colonial

•  French Furniture Style

French furniture is most famous for being the birthplace of the most influential European furniture style, which is the baroque and rococo. There are 4 major periods of antique french furniture, they are:

1. French Renaissance
2. French Baroque
3. French Rococo
4. Classical Revival

This style is the most famous amongst antique reproduction furniture Indonesia manufacturer.

• Italian Furniture Style

Italy is the birthplace of the world-famous classical Renaissance and the Italian Renaissance furniture style, which most considered to be the western furniture tradition.

• German Furniture Style

The Germans are not fashionable people. and that’s why their furniture, and art generally, do not always receive the attention it deserves. The most famous german style of furniture is Biedermeier Style furniture.

2. American Furniture Style

Antique American style furniture is mirroring the English furniture tradition. The periods of American furniture can be divided into two halves, the Colonial and the Federal.

• Colonial Styles

This early period of American settlement. it spans from the beginnings of settlement until around 1720, the style includes:

1. Early American
2. William & Mary Furniture
3. American Queen Anne Furniture
4. American Chippendale Furniture

• Federal Styles

Following American independence, then enter the Federal period which can be divided into three broad periods, the early Federal period, when the designs of Hepplewhite, Shearer, and Sheraton predominate, and the American Empire time when French-inspired furniture comes to the fore. And the last is American Victorian furniture.

•  Resource: Furniture Styles

Antique Reproduction Furniture Indonesia

We believe that antique reproduction furniture is brought into Indonesia by the colonist, which mostly VOC and their allies. They bring in the style and design, we already have the skill. Not many people know that Indonesia is once a great nation that rules almost all Asian continent with the Majapahit empire.

The woodworking and carving are already advance on the Majapahit era, it’s proven with relics and other historic monuments found everywhere in Indonesia. Especially in Jepara city, we can find much evidence of our ancestor’s woodworking and woodcarving skills on buildings, statues, and ancient furniture.

This woodworking culture is benefiting us the manufacturer who wants to create new furniture design, and also to our buyers because they can get a high-quality product straight from the expert carpenters.

Jepara city is not the only furniture producing city in Indonesia, you will found Solo and Surabaya is famous for furniture and Bali is famous for wood carving statue, but believe it or not. Most of the seller in that city is buying the furniture from Jepara.

So what we’re saying is, if you want to find a good supplier to build antique furniture reproduction from Indonesia, then you have come to the right place here.

Why Antique Reproduction?

The first reason is cost and second is the scarcity of antique furniture. Well, actually both are closely related to each other. The rare antique piece can cost a fortune to have, that is why antique reproduction furniture is one solution to have one classic elegant room without spending too much money.

Otherwise, what not to like about antique furniture, If you are looking to create a classic, elegant feel within your home, antique reproduction furniture Indonesia is a perfect choice to accomplished that.

Let’s talk about why choose the antique reproduction furniture over the genuine one.

1. More Choice and Stock

When we want to have genuine antique furniture, the chances are we will very limited choice to what’s available on the dealer. We cannot pick and choose the design that we really want since it is an antique. it is rare…

That is why with reproduction furniture, we will have many options to choose from because it’s still on production. No limited stock or anything like the true antique furniture. And if there’s no stock on the market, we can just produce more stock right?

2. Better Condition

The antique will be antique, they will stay here to tell the story, not to give quality and strength like they’re used to be. Just like the old wise man…The second reason to buy reproduction furniture over the genuine antique is condition. We can surely say that the condition of the reproduction piece will be much better than the original antique furniture.

Yes, you will find crappy quality reproduction furniture, but that doesn’t mean that no manufacturer is building some high-end quality products right? as a matter of fact, with sophisticated modern furniture machinery, we can now have excellent construction quality with great detail and precision.

However, high tech machinery is not the main objective when it comes to antique reproduction furniture manufacturing. it’s the human taste and expertise that matters most. They must have the “feel” to imitate the original antique looks with the same if not better quality and craftsmanship.

3. Quality Can Be Better

Yes, the antique has better quality but it was way back in its finest condition. Now…? not so much, except if we do a major restoration on construction than we cannot expect the quality to be superior as it used to be.

Reproduction furniture is indeed having a bad reputation due to their low quality both on construction and materials, but not all…you might be mistaken if you think all manufacturers would make with the same technique and materials.

Antique reproduction furniture Indonesia from Jepara is one example of a good quality reproduction product. As we already mention above that we have a culture of woodworking and carving here, so it’s not only an industry, furniture has become a “way of living” here.

Better quality not only comes from craftsmanship from the furniture makers but also from the material. We have to admit that the wood quality is far more superior back in the old days. But it doesn’t mean that we cant make it better with the help of technology. For example better kiln, anti woodworm, better quality adhesive, and better quality finishes.

4. Much More Affordable Price

When it comes to price, there is no way that genuine Antique furniture can compete with Reproduction pieces. This is the main reason why to buy reproduction furniture over the original. As we already mentioned in the first statement that the price is closely related to the scarcity of genuine antiques, and by means of rare, even if we have the bucks, we cannot always have the product we want.

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How Can You Tell Antique Furniture From Reproduction?

This info might not for you who want to buy reproduction furniture. But if you want to buy original antique furniture, you must know that the value of an antique is measured by its authenticity. It was the story to tell by the wear and tear of the furniture.

But this look and feel can also be replicated by expert workers who do antique reproduction furniture Indonesia. So how to tell the difference between the original and the fake ones.

1. From the type of wood

We can tell the difference between genuine antique furniture with reproduction by type of wood. Back in the old days, furniture makers usually used multiple types of wood on each piece of furniture due to the high cost of using expensive wood. So you might want to look for a hidden area such back of the drawers and see..if its made of a different wood than the front or visible area.

The easiest way to tell if its genuine or reproduction is by looking if there’s any processed wood material such as plywood or MDF. a genuine antique will never use this material. The antique furniture makers would typically use more common woods for these sections.

2. By The Condition of the Wood

Even this is not an easy task to do, but for a trained eye, they will know exactly how the old aged wood will look like compared to new and make to look old wood. The furniture manufacturer can make their furniture to look exactly like the antique. They will be mimicking the dents, cracks, shabby finishes, and other imperfections found on the genuine antique.

To identify whether the furniture is original antique or reproduction is by looking for hidden parts and see the condition of the wood. We cannot tell the story by words, but if you see by yourself, you will know that the wood is old or new. The hidden parts will not be touched by the manufacturer, this is a good way to identify the wood conditions.

3. Upholstery Natural Materials

The materials used in upholstery were natural until the 1920s when synthetic fibers first made an appearance. You will typically find an antique with original upholstery stuffed with horsehair and other natural material.

4. Signs of Wear and Tear

Antique reproduction furniture Indonesia manufacturer can make wear and tear marks to be exactly the same as found on the genuine antique furniture. But this process needs some kind of artisan finishing man to do it right. For mass production reproduction furniture, you can expect the overall look to have a consistent sign of wear.

Again…look for hidden parts, for example, the underside of a chair arm should not look like it has the same level of wear as the area where your hands typically rest. Another place to look for signs of wear is under the feet. Drawer runners should also be showing signs of age from the drawers being opened many times.

One of the biggest signs of wear and tear is the patina, which is the layers of polish, wax, dust, etc. that are found on the finishing surfaces. Look again for the hidden parts and see the bare wood conditions.

5. Imperfection on the Carvings

If you find your antique piece to be a perfectly symmetrical shape with flawless carvings or dovetail joinery, you might have a piece of antique reproduction furniture instead of a genuine one.

Back in the old days, there was no machinery to make furniture, so you might expect imperfection on the shape or the carvings and also on the joinery details.

Things to Keep in Mind

These signs don’t always guarantee that a piece of furniture is antique or modern-made. For example, an antique chair may be reupholstered so it’s no longer stuffed with natural materials. While this means the antique is no longer in its original condition, the chair is still considered to be an antique even though the value may be slightly different. The same principle applies to other types of restoration.

Antique reproduction furniture Indonesia is made by customer order, we don’t want to trick customers into believing the piece is older than it is. We always promote our product to be reproductions. On the other hand, a fake is intended to be mistaken for the real antique furniture, so keep an eye out for the differences described above.

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How Antique Reproduction Furniture Indonesia is Made?

The manufacturing process might be the same as other furniture products, we write on how Jepara furniture is made for your curiosity. The difference is that antique reproduction furniture Indonesia must follow the original design set by our customer. We have a rule of design to obey, not just making a piece of furniture that we like.

Wood

When you buy antique reproduction furniture Indonesia, you might expect to have mahogany wood as the main construction material. These species are found on many genuine antique furniture pieces that’s why many of our customers request mahogany to use as material on their product.

Mahogany is native to our country Indonesia so we don’t have to buy them overseas. we know their character very well so we don’t have to learn their character anymore. Mahogany has beautiful wood grain so they can apply a natural finish, also, unlike teak which has high natural oil content, mahogany has low oil content so we can use paint finish on this wood.

The second wooden material we use on our antique reproduction furniture Indonesia is teak wood. European are not into teak when it comes to antique furniture. our main customers who want to use teak is from local Indonesian market and Southeast Asia like Malaysia, Singapore, China, and some Arabian country.

European market use teak mainly for outdoor furniture which indeed perfect choice since teak has high natural oil content that makes them really strong and durable against the weather. teak is also in high demand for modern contemporary style indoor furniture.

Finishing

Finishing material we use are nitrocellulose for most of the time, they have a character to deeply penetrate into the wood pore and don’t leave thick film-like melamine or polyurethane, so we will have much more natural grain exposed with wooden pore still visible which is perfect for antique looks.

However, we use all kinds of finishing material based on customer demand. Water bases are highly popular these days. and also beeswax and some “natural” finishing material are also popular.

We cant talk about antique furniture finishes without mention gilt and hand paintings. Many baroque and rococo style furniture uses gild on the carvings and other details. We can do hand painting furniture since we have worked with artisans who specialized in antique furniture paintings.

Upholstery

We use various upholstery material depending on our customer needs, we work on fabrics and also leather. Italian leather is also available in Jepara, so if you want high-quality upholstery for your antique reproduction furniture Indonesia, we can make it for you.

Antique Hardware Reproduction Furniture

Brass is the most common material to make hardware for antique reproduction furniture Indonesia. But not just bare cast brass or the shiny polished brass, instead of the brass finishes also imitate the genuine antique hardware with all its dents, marks, and patina.

How to Care Antique Reproduction Furniture?

Before you buy reproduction furniture, you need to know how to maintain your furniture to stay in its best shape and condition. But to be honest, on our own experience as an Indonesia furniture manufacturer, there’s no need for serious care or maintenance for your furniture to stay at its best condition. This due to modern technology manufacturing which ensures the best possible products with low maintenance.

However, it is necessary to do a little work such as cleaning and wiping the dust away from the finishing surface. and if you want to do more detailed maintenance over your antique reproduction furniture, here’s a little tip from us…

Wood Care

Nothing special, just keep them away from direct heat sources such as modern central heating and fireplace. For a general rule of thumb, if your skin can take the heat than the reproduction furniture can also take it.

Stay away from the sun and rain. it is NOT an item of outdoor furniture, but sunlight from windows and facades is not a problem at all. And the rain, come on…it is furniture, not a raincoat right? keep em dry and stay away from rain or even water.

Again, the general rule of thumb is…if your skin can take it than the wood for furniture can also take it, which includes heat and water and any other problems.

Finishes

This depends entirely on what kind of finishing material used. most modern finishing material can stand against heat and water, but if you want a peace of mind, use some kind of coaster for hot coffee or your meal.

But if your antique reproduction furniture Indonesia is untreated or just used oils or wax, then you might want to re-apply a thin coat of wax or oils annually.

For gilded finishes is a little bit tricky, you can use a small paintbrush to remove dust. if you can, or if its not really needed, never use a damp cloth, or anything even mildly abrasive as it is very delicate. Bit tricky means its not rocket science, the gilded is already coated with varnish, so they are not as delicate as you might think.

Upholstery

No special treatment or how to care the upholstery on reproduction furniture, it just the same as every other piece of furniture. We have to clean it every day, no water or liquid spills, no fire, and other tips you’ll found on the net or even on the back of the furniture cleaner bottle. That all will do…no need for a special action or something.

And if you don’t have time or experience to clean or maintain your furniture upholstery, why not contact your nearest cleaning service that would get the job done for you. Really…no need for special treatment on modern furniture upholstery.

Hardware

Indonesian antique reproduction furniture hardware has lacquered coatings on it, which needs no cleaning other than a damp cloth or just a duster. But if your hardware doesn’t have this coating, then a metal cleaning product might be needed.

So as you can see, there’s no need for much effort on time and hustle to maintain your furniture. Here’s the schedule of when to maintain your furniture:

• Daily cleaning, use a soft cloth to wipe off fingerprints and dust. use a dry cloth and only dampen them when it’s really needed.
• Every three months, spray light furniture cleaner to buff out layers of dust and oil mix on your furniture.
• Half-year, its time to re-wax or re-oil your furniture. Remember, this is only if you want to, nothing will fall apart if you don’t do this.
• To remove the heavy scratch, you can use car paint polisher/wax. But to be honest, just leave it as it is. It’s a mark that can tell stories in the future you know?

How to Buy Antique Reproduction Furniture Indonesia?

Are you ready to buy? Wait…before you dial our phone number or write us an email, please read our tips on buying furniture from Indonesia.

• If you can, please come and visit your vendor in Indonesia. A fresh graduated high school can make a great website nowadays, so please…take your time and talk to your vendor directly. Visit us…
• Find the best vendor that suits to your business value, it’s not always the price that matters most, but the value of doing business is what keeps a long and healthy relationship in business
• Always ask for samples, It can be wooden samples, finishes, fabrics, leather, foam, etc. Make it as a master sample to control quality for the furniture you bought. Without it, you can’t argue if there’s a problem in the future.
• Next tips, if it’s possible for you. Place your company quality control personnel in your vendor production facility. You can send the QC personnel directly from your company, or you can hire independent QC from a reputable company in Indonesia.

Step by step buying furniture from Indonesia:

1. Come on…there’s no need for a step by step or how to’s, just contact us and let’s talk heart to heart on your project.

We hope that this article can help you find the best antique reproduction furniture in Indonesia product for your needs. If there’s anything else we can help, leave us a comment or contact us directly. Thank you for being an awesome human being…!