I’ve just opened up a forum for the Rare Victorian visitors to interact with one another. I encourage everyone to sign up and participate. I’ve kicked off the forum by uploading pictures of my house in the “Victorian House Pictures” section. There are sections for posting furniture for sale, General Discussion, and Furniture Picture Uploads. Please stop by and try to get this community started. I expect to see you all there from time to time!

I also plan a revamp of the Rare Victorian home page soon. I was just made aware of some display issues in Internet Explorer (I only use Firefox so haven’t noticed), so I will take the opportunity to make some other changes as well.

Somedays I wonder if the top 5 favorite Victorian cabinet makers list that my subconscious maintains without my permission (I try not to play favorites) would be topped by Allen and Brother. This credenza surely stands near the top of my favorites list as it has all the juicy goodies such as the bronze plaque with female figure, beautiful burl treatments, ebonizing, and Egyptian Revival winged Sphinxes.

If you’d like to learn more about Allen and Brothers, you can read this article from Page Talbott, taken from the May 1996 issues of The Magazine Antiques. I just grabbed an original copy of this issue for $2.00 on Ebay since the web version does not include the images.

Bidding on the credenza will begin at $25,000 with expected range of $50,000 to $75,000. It will be sold on October 13th.

I recently purchased a double twin bedroom set at auction, drawn to it by the extensive use of maple in the construction and the Aesthetic carvings. The carvings and incisings are very crisp and there is a lot of birdseye, so I knew it was of very good quality. We have a bedroom that was in need of furniture and I knew I didn’t want yet another dark Walnut Renaissance Revival set, so this set fit the bill.

I’m now wondering, post-purchase, whether this set was done by Daniel Pabst. The elements that contribute to this thought are the solid birdseye maple panels , flat scalloped petal motifs (in the corners), squared form and linear incisings similar to other attributed Pabst sets I’ve seen, and the Philadelphia location of my purchase (Pabst was a Philadelphia cabinet maker). The leaves in the top repeating pattern are a unique design and are similar to leaves on a chair shown in the 1977 Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin on Pabst.

More pictures for your perusal here and comments and thoughts are welcome.

Does this chair look familiar? I did a post (see for more history) on these Bembe & Kimbel U.S. House of Representatives chairs back in May and here’s another one coming up for sale. These chairs were used in the House between 1857 and 1873 and were a favorite of Rare Victorian site visitors. This one is in far better condition than the last one, which sold for $17,500. As William Flatt pointed out in the earlier post comments, one of these chairs was also sold at Neal Auction for $23,500 in February 2005.

You can view this listing here.

You should stop by the listing to see the detail pictures for this monumental (6′ x 9′) carved wooden mirror by Valentino Panciera Besarel (1829-1902), an Italian sculptor. The carvings are incredible as is the expected selling range of $100,000-$150,000. It will be sold by Bob Courtney on October 13th. More from the listing:

The find of the century! Astronomical in stature, phenomenal in nature, inconceivable in quality. This mirror is more than words can portray or express; it’s simply IRREPLACEABLE! This piece of art is dated 1863 and signed by world renown artisan Besarel for the house of Malcomb. Besarel is best known for his attention to detail and his essence to capture life like features and accents like no other. His works were highly sought after, so much so he was petitioned as the artisan for the Prince of Wales. This exact mirror is featured in the first few pages of his book of works, “Valentino Panciera Besarel 1829-1902″ as the mirror is indeed a powerful piece and warrants such attention. The base features chained guard dogs with winged cherubs gracefully leading them by their chains. The sides are flanked by additional cherubs, two celebrating music, the other two with artist palette and brush to represent the arts. Lastly, the crest adorns three cherubs representing family. Truly a magnificent opportunity to own a rarely sold signed Besarel. Don’t Miss Out! Dimensions: 110″ H x 78″ W x 12″ D Age: C. 1863 Material: Wood