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Message:: [QUOTE="Francisco G Kempton, post: 4373535, member: 22714"]The ornate wood on your sofa, is it Gilt Gesso? that is the designs are shaped from a type of plaster. It can be earlier if it is a proper layering of gilt gesso. Can you see hints of the red bole clay under the gilt or in the plaster. Is the carving of the wood under the plaster of good quality. Then if so this is at the very least a good quality repro or more likely a 1920 repro, possibly a 19th century or earlier. The gilt gesso gets you into the Antique. I have no idea how common gilt gesso was in the mid century, but i doubt they used it much in the late 20th century. It was used alot in the 19th century. Gesso is a type of plaster that is prepared of finely ground chalk that was applied onto the wooden surface in a series of layers—at least fifteen layers were needed to achieve the desired thickness. Once dried, the craftsmen could cut into the new surface to create different designs.  When the designs were complete, the gilding could be applied.  To gild the surface, a red clay ground, known as bole, would be spread onto the surface to prepare for the laying of the gold leaf[/QUOTE]