Appraising Wood Furniture - 1Earth Antiques and Appraisals Magazine

How to Tell if Worm Holes are Real

Over time, wooden furniture is susceptible to scratches, burns, or other damage. The wood beetle poses a particular threat to wood furniture, because it lays its eggs in crevices of the wood. The eggs hatch, and the larvae (woodworms) eat through the wood, before developing into beetles and flying away. The small tunnels they create are called worm holes.

While worm holes can be treated and filled, they're often viewed as evidence of the long life of a piece of antique furniture. One interesting note: Some modern furniture manufacturers actually synthesized worm holes to make their pieces look older.

There were cases in the 1940s, 1950s, and even 1960s where cabinet makers and dealers tried to make 19th-century furniture appear to be 18th-century. They added worm holes, added wear, and used chemicals to enhance the oxidation of secondary woods — all to simulate an age of another hundred years. There were several different ways of adding holes, including with ice picks.

The first thing that comes to mind with worm holes, is to question whether they're still active and whether there is a real threat to the piece of furniture in question. There is probably less concern about whether they are fake.

Fake worm holes are not very prevalent. You just don't see them much anymore. Most auctioneers haven't seen fake worm holes in the past 15-20 years.

The best way to test to see if a worm hole is real is with a straight pin — if it goes straight in, then the hole is not a real worm hole. Worms are erratic, they go in all directions — left and right etc. — and not straight.