This bedroom set is dripping in intriguing provenance and replete with the highs and lows of an opera story - literally.

This is a well-documented two-piece bedroom attributed to Daniel Pabst. It was originally owned by “Baby Doe” (Elizabeth McCourt) and Horace Tabor. It is believed to be a set commissioned by Horace just prior to their marriage.

An opera was written about the life of this wealthy businessman and his wives, titled “The Ballad of Baby Doe”. Their life is a story of great wealth and the ultimate disintegration of it. The Opera does not end as depressingly as it could have done as it omits the real end to their saga where Baby Doe ultimately dies nearly penniless in a shack by a mine she no longer owns.

Aside from the Wikipedia link above, another source for reading about their life story is here.

If that wasn’t enough history, the set was also at Hearst Castle, purchased by William Randolph Hearst from Baby Doe, and later owned by Dr. Frank Barham, Hearst’s principal publisher who later founded the Los Angeles Herald, Herald Examiner, and Herald Express papers in Los Angeles.

Bidding ends on the 3rd of November with a starting price of $95,000 or a buy-it-now price of $135,000. We’ll see where it ends up…

You can read more about the set and see more images including some early photos at the Tabor bed auction listing. Here’s some excerpts regarding the set:

Made primarily of walnut, this bedroom set has beautifully carved flowers and foliage, intricately carved birds, mysterious bats, insects, and other animals. The massive headboard of the bed has a rich central burled walnut panel, and the footboard hides several secret compartments. The ornate crest of the bed has a light wood owl at the center of deeply carved flowers, vines, and singing birds with whimsical bats flanking either side. The sides of the headboard have smaller birds amid a flowering trellis. The flowering trellises of birds and flowers are characteristic of the Japonnaise style – a design style that highlighted the Aesthetic movement of the late 19th century and was popularized by the Philadelphia Exposition of 1886. It was a style that celebrated art.

The dresser’s voluptuous crest has a light wood fox at the center of deeply carved foliage, flowers and birds. Whimsical birds flank the crest. The side panels, like the headboard, have flowering trellises and singing birds. Behind carved doors are numerous drawers including jewelry boxes. Beneath the heavy marble tops is a slide-out desk or vanity top. The back of this dresser is 115” tall – taller than the 104” headboard.

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Rockers aren’t exactly sexy so I don’t generally post about them but this one is important for historical reference. There are too few labeled Victorian pieces out there to give us an historic record of who made what. The word “attributed” accompanies 90% of pieces being sold that have a cabinet maker’s name associated with them.

Here’s a rocker that I believe that many of us who follow Merklen or Hunzinger furniture would have attributed to one of them.

This mahogany rocker was made by the firm of George C. Flint and is labeled as such. It has extensive turnings in the style of Merklen and has satinwood and mother of pearl inlaid back. You can see two other pictures of the rocker here. It makes me want to take another look at this other rocker recently added to the forum for identification purposes.

You can see another George C. Flint piece here from Bradford’s Antiques. It is an extensively carved and gadrooned 1890’s desk with griffins and were it not for the label, many R.J. Horner fans would have attributed it to him. Fortunately, from this labeled piece I can now see differences in the griffin carving styles between Flint and Horner and this will help me better differentiate between the two.

It’s important to note that these two makers were once partners. Flint is first listed in the New York 1894/95 city directory according to a source I found on the internet. However, you can see an original New York Times article on an 1882 fire in his warehouse here, so he was there earlier. Flint later purchased the firm of Henry Brunner, a maker of Rococo furniture, around 1891 and merged with Horner around 1914 to form Flint & Horner which survived until the 1930s. I believe I remember that they worked together earlier than the 1914 merger, but that is fodder for another post …

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Don’t forget if you haven’t already done so - make yourself eligible for the Century of Revivals giveaway. You won’t find this rare book at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I believe only Lise Bohm has copies of this 1983 publication available at $30. It is an excellent pictorial reference for several John Jelliff pieces as well as dozens of other makers.

I’m giving my spare copy away to a lucky reader on November 30th who is both a (1) Rare Victorian email subscriber and (2) a Rare Victorian Forum Member. Note that subscribing by RSS/Atom feed doesn’t count as I am unable to track those anonymous readers.

Check out the new Rare Victorian Reference Book page for more detail on this book and others. This page is only a start and I plan to be adding a dozen or so more books over time.