The antique furniture market has changed. Cabinets, chests of drawers, chairs and tables in Biedermeier, Baroque or Rococo styles were sought after, and antique dealers asked for many years soaring prices even for average pieces. As a result, period furniture has long been regarded as a good and sustainable investment. But the market has changed fundamentally. The Rococo chest of drawers, which was once bought for 25,000 Euros, generates with some luck 2,500 Euros today and for the Biedermeier table with six chairs, in excellent condition, the market only makes one-tenth of its originally paid purchase price.

In fact, many people were willing to pay large sums for antiques and old furniture until the eighties. In combination with rare porcelain, paintings and high-quality carpets, even me- dium-sized companies secured in this way an equally stylish and at the same time prestig- ious investment. Those who could afford it often set up complete rooms with great atten- tion to detail in a specific style. Given the high demand, the market was almost dried up and the price trend was steadily rising even in case of rather average pieces.

But the taste of time has changed. The devel-opment leads away from gold-rimmed rococochests and extravagant baroque tables to an interior dominated by straight forms and strict lines. Construction classics and furniture by designers such as Jean-Michel Frank, but alsoCharles and Ray Eames and Paul Evans appealto consumers today.