The bottom half of these desks look similar in many ways: the area around the key escutcheon with the handlebar moustache carving detail; both have inlaid front panels; both have smooth sloping side panels that terminate in a rounded bull nose with circular side carvings. There are many differences, starting with the cabinet top, legs, and stretcher configuration, but the overall form is intriguingly similar, with the lock area being the one that grabs my eye.
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Pottier & Stymus or Herter Brothers Desk?
Historical image unavailable in the recovered media inventory.Stevens Auction is getting set for an auction on November 3rd that includes many items that Rare Victorian followers would be interested in considering. I ran across this desk (lot 1302) attributed to Pottier and Stymus and noticed some similarities between this desk's form and the Herter Brothers desk that BJ Laughlin of B and D Furniture with Generation Next Antiques discovered. You can review the post that I did on his desk here. As you recall, his desk was 99% identical to the Herter Brothers desk in the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, which you can see online here.
The bottom half of these desks look similar in many ways: the area around the key escutcheon with the handlebar moustache carving detail; both have inlaid front panels; both have smooth sloping side panels that terminate in a rounded bull nose with circular side carvings. There are many differences, starting with the cabinet top, legs, and stretcher configuration, but the overall form is intriguingly similar, with the lock area being the one that grabs my eye.
The bottom half of these desks look similar in many ways: the area around the key escutcheon with the handlebar moustache carving detail; both have inlaid front panels; both have smooth sloping side panels that terminate in a rounded bull nose with circular side carvings. There are many differences, starting with the cabinet top, legs, and stretcher configuration, but the overall form is intriguingly similar, with the lock area being the one that grabs my eye.
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Herter Brother Credenza Will Sell at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
This credenza was bought at an estate sale, misidentified as an Italian piece, and now is coming up for sale at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers as lot 122 this weekend. Fortunately, it has been properly identified as a piece
Allen & Brother Desk on the Roadshow
One my favorite cabinetmakers, Allen & Brother from Philadelphia was profiled in the May 1996 edition of the Magazine Antiques and a desk very similar to this one appraised below on the roadshow is shown on page 723.
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