Older wooden servingware is mostly sold on description: a seller says "vintage," "antique," "teak" or "Florentine," and the photos look the part. This section helps you test those words against what you can actually see: marks on the underside, how the piece was built, how it has worn, and what the seller can document.
Two rules run through every guide here. First, appearance alone rarely proves age, maker or species, so we show clues and say how strong each one is. Second, an older finish of unknown origin is not automatically safe for food. If you plan to serve on a piece, read whether you can put food on a vintage wooden tray first.
Guides in this section
How to use this section
- Start broad: the vintage wooden platter guide covers marks, construction and reproductions for any older platter.
- Then go specific: Florentine gilt trays, lazy Susans, cutlery carriers, tile-topped trays and Coca-Cola trays each have their own clues and their own common fakes.
- Before paying a premium: ask the seller for underside photos, close-ups of any mark and any provenance paperwork. If a valuable piece hinges on attribution, use a qualified appraiser or auction specialist.
What we do not do
We do not value, appraise or authenticate individual items, and we never say a piece is worth a certain amount. Prices for older servingware depend on maker, condition, demand and venue, and they change.