Value Compression in the Market for Antique Decorative Arts and Furniture

[PRE-RELEASED VERSION]

Anne-Sophie V. Radermecker

Anne-Sophie V. Radermecker is Associate Professor in Cultural Manage­ment at the Université libre de Bruxelles, where she holds the Chair in the Economics of Arts and Culture. Trained in both art history and cultural management, her research lies at the intersection of art history and economics, with a particular focus on art markets, low-end market segments, price formation, and mechanisms of value co-creation. She is the author of Anonymous Art at Auction, published by Brill in 2021, and the recipient of an ERC Starting Grant for the project MOOVA – Making Old Objects Valuable Again, dedicated to the cultural and economic challenges of antiques in the twenty-first century.

ABSTRACT
Recent media accounts portray a sustained contraction in the market for antique decorative arts and furniture. While the art finance literature has largely centered on blue-chip fine art and expanding markets, the market performance of antiques remains underexamined. This paper addresses that gap by conceptualizing antiques as domestic, inconspicuous, non productive assets with multidimensional payoffs that mostly combine hedonic and utilitarian value, and by documenting recent price dynamics using antiques specific hedonic indices (Murano glassware, Delftware, Val Saint Lambert crystalware, Franco-Flemish tapestry, antique French chairs). The resulting indices reveal pronounced and broad-based downward price dynamics over the past decade, affecting not only large furniture but also smaller decorative arts, with high tier segments similarly exposed. We discuss the hypothetical causes of this decline (generational and technological shifts, new market forces) and its effects for households (asset erosion, intergenerational transmission under illiquidity), intermediaries (pressure on legacy dealer models alongside scope for business model innovation), and buyers (opportunities for durable-consumption acquisition of depreciated assets). By reframing antiques within an expanded investment lens and providing empirically grounded benchmarks during market decline, the paper advances the study of underrepresented cultural assets in art finance.

KEYWORDS
Antiques; non-productive assets; domestic assets; store of value; durable goods, price indices; market downturn