Antique prices getting cheaper, defying every current trend

The stylish modern home offers huge scope for individual taste and style in furniture, art and collectibles

A George II card table at Woodwards (€400-€500).

ALL AUCTIONS with antique furniture offer plenty of opportunities for entry-level collectors. The sort of value to be had is underlined at Woodwards sale in Cork on this day week (September 24) where there is a selection of Georgian, William IV, Victorian and Edwardian furniture all available at under €500.

Many of these built-to-last venerable old pieces would have cost more two decades ago than they do today and defy every current trend by getting cheaper. If auction history teaches us anything it is that antique pieces from particular eras have to survive a period of being unfashionable and a tendency to break them up.