Local Shops Hunt, Sell Fine Antique Furniture

Many Northwest Arkansas residents are getting a Rau deal when it comes to antiques, but they’re not complaining.

M.S. Rau Antiques of New Orleans sold about $1 million worth of antiques last year to customers in Northwest Arkansas.

Area residents accounted for about 4.1 percent of the antique dealer’s $24.5 million in sales that year.

Bill Rau, the company’s third-generation owner, said that is about average for him each year. He estimated that the Northwest Arkansas antique market probably ranges from $10 million to $20 million a year, but a massive purchase by the Walton family of Bentonville could greatly skew that range.

Ironically, Rau has purchased some antiques from Northwest Arkansas dealers. That means area collectors could be traveling to New Orleans to buy an antique that was previously for sale in a Northwest Arkansas shop.

When it comes to antique furnishings, many people in Northwest Arkansas may not think about their hometown dealers before they venture off to shop somewhere else.

That could be because Arkansas has historically been a poor state, and as a result, early residents didn’t have belongings that would now be considered fine antiques. Arkansas’ pioneer families often made their own furniture and ventured to the general store for food staples (such as sugar) or household necessities like kerosene lamps.

Bill Rau said New Orleans is a hot spot for fine antiques because the city has had a rich history and rich residents. The mansions that line New Orleans’ St. Charles Avenue are a testament to its antebellum wealth.

“We’re known for quality things,” Rau said. “Some of the great furniture makers were on Royal Street, where we are, 160 years ago.”

So, with the urbanization and affluence of Northwest Arkansas, antique dealers have resorted to importing antiques — from overseas and across the United States — to sell here.

Everything in Renee Hunt’s French Metro Antiques store in Fayetteville, for example, is from France. Hunt said customers from Dallas and New Orleans shop in her store, via the Internet and in person.

“No one really had high-end antiques until the last few years,” said Joan Barker, owner of Mrs. Barker’s Fine Antiques in Van Buren.

Barker, who buys antiques from estates across the United States, said she finds it humorous when she hears area residents say they’ve traveled all over to find antiques. But often when they walk in her store, their jaws drop.

One couple from Oklahoma City, Barker noted, had taken a vacation to the East Coast to find antique furnishings. When they didn’t find what they wanted, they decided to stop by her store on their way home. Barker said they were astonished at the antiques available only a few hours away from their home. But she isn’t surprised that people will travel so far to find antiques.

“People will buy antiques when they won’t buy anything else,” Barker said. “If people want antiques, they’ll go anywhere.”

Hunt does the dirty work for her clients. Every six months, she and her husband go to France to stock up on inventory. Fluent in French, Hunt has made connections over the years that enable her to find the best in French antiques.

Rau said 80 percent of his business is done out of state. The Internet has made it easier for dealers to conduct business around the world. Better shipping methods also make it less of a hassle for people to go to different places to find antiques. Rau, who sold $1 million worth of inventory his first year with the company in 1981, said his firm’s sales make it the largest gallery in North America. This year he projects $30 million in sales.

The Antique Market

Northwest Arkansas has several antique stores but only a handful have been able to obtain a good share of the fine antique furniture market, having pieces for every room in a house.

Barker’s store has a mixed collection of American, English, French, Renaissance, Rococo and Empire antiques. Barker, 78, has been in the antique business for more than 40 years, and along that time has made many connections. She likes to buy whole estates, not just part of them.

When she started carrying fine antique furniture in 1999, she bought an entire estate in Mississippi for $50,000. After that, she started purchasing other estates as well. Now she has three stores and one warehouse full of antique furniture, dating from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.

Her pieces include beds, settees, chairs, dining room suites, sideboards, armoires, buffets, Persian rugs, textiles, porcelain and China. Even Rau has made a few visits to her store and purchased some of her antiques, Barker said.

Hunt has clients who go to her looking for specific pieces. She said one client wanted a Bombay chest, and so while in France, Hunt took pictures of different chests and e-mailed them to her. When she found the one she wanted, Hunt bought it and had it shipped to the client.

Many local antique dealers have antiques to outfit an entire house. Whether it’s buffets, dining tables, chairs, settees, beds or paintings, Northwest Arkansas antique dealers said if they don’t have it, they can get it.

The Bedroom

One piece Hunt found is truly a treasure to her gallery. Earlier this year, Hunt carefully shipped over a walnut Louis XV period armoire that was commissioned as a wedding gift in 1735 for Jean and Marie Cussett, distant cousins of King Louis XV (see photo, p.1).

The 9-foot, 4-inch tall armoire, priced at $35,000, was housed in two castles for 280 years, most recently at Chateau du Tertre, near Falaise, France. Hunt stumbled upon it when she was talking to a connection in France about an armoire a client wanted. Although it wasn’t what the client was looking for, Hunt bought it and then began the painstaking task of disassembling it to ship to Fayetteville.

Her husband Terry, who refinishes antiques, took pictures along with her son as they knocked out the wooden pegs that held the antique piece together.

“They were taking it apart while I had a drink,” Hunt joked.

The armoire made it safely to Fayetteville in April. Hunt said the armoire is “truly for a real serious collector because it’s museum quality.” Many armoires run from $3,500 to $7,500, she said.

Barker has several antique beds to provide a comfortable night’s rest. The beds are large and require a lot of room, but the elegant tester beds are part of the lush history, which is what intrigues collectors in the first place.

Barker’s American half-tester bed, circa 1840-1860, comes with a dresser and is priced at $26,000. M.S. Rau boasts a half-tester bed made in New Orleans circa 1860, that is priced at $44,850.

Living Room

Barker also has an early bronze table with a Sevres charger top, four Sevres plaques and an urn with a 1753 marking.

She also has a heavily carved, solid mahogany occasional chair with Griffin heads on arms and full Griffins on back, circa 1840-1860.

Hunt’s French Metro has an oak Louis XIII style desk with a leather top, circa 1880. She also has a hand carved 19th century confident, which has two chairs connected together facing the opposite way. It was used for “two companions to engage in intimate conversation,” according to Hunt’s Web site.

Dining Room

“Dining room suites, all my life, have been my best item,” Barker said.

Barker has four dining room suites with eight chairs, which, she said, is a rare find. Hunt agrees that large dining room suites are hot commodities.

Hunt has an oak Renaissance style draw leaf, that when fully extended is more thn 10 feet long.

She also has several buffets in her gallery, including a Louis XV style oak marriage buffet with a carved date of 1820. It was commissioned as a wedding gift from the la Manche region in upper Normandy.

One of Barker’s dining room suites includes eight chairs and a sideboard. The Empire piece was built around 1860 and has eight leaves in the table.

She also has many buffets and sideboards in her store, including a buffet that has scenes from the Bible carved on the wood. A loyal customer purchased the piece but because he had nowhere to put it, he left it for her to display in her window.

Buy Smart on Antiques

Bill Rau, president of M.S. Rau in New Orleans, gave tips on what to look for when purchasing high-end antiques. Rau is a third generation antique dealer with a business finance degree and a minor in art from the University of Colorado.

Find somebody you trust. This is by far the biggest of them all. Everything else will be secondary.

Shop around. Try to go to as many stores to get a feel of what excites you.

Study your interests. Buy a couple of books on what you like, whether it’s porcelain, Georgian or Rococo, and read through them before shopping.

Trade-backs. Buy from someone who will give you a trade-back in case your tastes change. Most good dealers are willing to trade back.

Talk to friends. Ask your friends where they shop. That’s a good idea for finding out what dealer they like.

Listen to your tastes. When you buy something, buy something that “speaks to you.” Don’t buy somebody else’s taste. Buy something because it gives you shivers.

Get it in writing. Make sure you get in writing everything that was said about the piece you buy. Anyone who is ethical will write down on the invoice what he or she told you about the piece. If they don’t, don’t buy it.

Get an appraisal. Get an appraisal with each piece from the dealer you’re buying it from.

Get the best. This is a biggie. Buy the best that you can afford. It’s so much better to buy one good piece than purchase three average pieces.

Just do it. My grandfather had a saying, “Buy the best and only cry once.”