The difference between a mediocre piece of American painted furniture and a great one is measured in a span smaller than an inch. Vulnerable to the ravages of time and the whims of fashion, few of these furnishings have survived the centuries with their painted surfaces intact.

A step-back cupboard made circa 1820–30 in Pennsylvania and offered for $225,000 by Litchfield, Conn., dealer Jeffrey Tillou would be worth far less if it had been stripped of its decorative surface. “It would be $50,000 to $60,000 without its original paint,” Tillou says of the piece, which was faux-grained, or painted to resemble a prettier-looking wood than the poplar from which it was built. “You’re buying the paint. The premium on painted furniture is like the premium on a painting itself. It’s about condition and the way it’s been treated. The more intact it is, and the more original paint there is, the bigger the premium on it.” READ MORE