How does an Antiqued Finish age?

[John M Bailey]

I was contemplating using a faux antique finish on project, but a question came to mind. What does a finish that is made to look 100 years old look like when it gets real age and some hard use. One of those finishes that is layered with paint and stains and with wear added with dents and sandpaper. There are several ways of making a finish look really old. How would that kind of finish look 100 years later?
Maybe I am just weird of whatever, but I wonder about this kind of thing.

[Tony Bilello]

..... How would that kind of finish look 100 years later?
Maybe I am just weird of whatever, but I wonder about this kind of thing.

There probably wouldnt be much finish left 100 years from now. If there was, it would look 100 years old. You reach a point where the real age shows greater than the 'manufactured' age. I dont plan on being around 100 years from now, so in the overall scheme of things it doesn't matter to me personally. It's best not to lose sleep over it.

[Prashun Patel]

Having just completed an antique type finish, it's my understanding that time will only make it look more authentic. Most of what you do during the finish process accellerates what would have happened naturally: heat, denting, friction.

If you use authentic, historical finishing materials - like milk paint or boiled linseed oil, you can further maximize how it'll look in 200 years. But IMHO, even the modern finish materials are well understood enough that the risk of it looking artificial is low.

However, faux/antique finishing really comes in and out of fashion. In 100 years, who knows whether people even find 'old looking' furniture appealing; or perhaps the definition of old-looking will change, since the materials we use to finish furniture now are quite different from what was traditionally used.