I’ve posted a link to the search I use to broadly search for over 24 Famous Victorian Furniture makers in the right margin on this blog. I’ve dubbed the search the “Rare Vic Search”. Feel free to try it out yourself and provide any comments.

Neal Auction House is auctioning off this Meeks “Hartford” sofa on June 9th. There is a nice pair of matching Hartford armchairs that are also being sold in the prior lot and can be seen here. They do a great job of writing up a condition report with their lots, which in this case has mostly favorable information. Small loss in the pierced carved elements and old repairs in the rear legs. Bidding starts at $6,000 and expected range is $9,000 to $15,000. More details and pictures here.

Does anyone besides me have an affliction for collecting Victorian parlor/center tables? I think it happens to the best of us for a variety of reasons:

• Most furniture is huge (sofas, cabinets, dressers, beds….) and requires manpower and trucks to get it into your house. I can quickly dart away with a table by myself.
• Victorian center tables are a focal point and many times are a decorative tour-de-force with intricate details, carvings, gilding, and incising that attracts the eye.
• Aligning with point #1, I can get lots of these tables into my house due to the compact size. You almost don’t run out of room for them.

Up for auction is a great Neo-Grec center table attributed to Herter Brothers by the seller, Pook & Pook. We don’t have a picture of the top on this table, but the rest of it certainly is appealing to me. I would bet they are attributing the piece to Herter based on the urn/chalice on the stretcher but that is also a design element used by Pottier & Stymus. Either way this looks like a high-end New York piece and should perform well. I think the starting price of $200 is absurd as is the range of $400 – $800. Should I get a picture of the top, I will post it. More details and bidding can be found here.

Sticking with the Kimbel and Cabus (and Bembe and Kimbel) theme as of late, here’s an interesting plantation desk form – one with a deep desk surface that when closed provides a tall mirrored front. With a desk of that depth, I would think two people could almost work together on that surface on either side (considering the dimunitive stature of people back then). The interior, with it’s height, provides shelving for books.

This desk is a signed (labeled) piece by Kimbel and Cabus. Learn more about them here and see some interesting pieces by them in the modern gothic style. Bidding on this desk starts at $500 and ends June 6th.

Thanks to William Flatt for the comment on our earlier post regarding the House of Representatives chair. He had pointed out a sale for an identical chair (95% or so identical – note the differences in the carvings on the arms) at Neal Auction House in 2005 for $23,500. I thought I’d supply a picture so that you can see what a restored one looks like.