From the monthly archives:

May 2008

What’s Wrong With This Picture? A Puzzler

May 30, 2008

This is a late 19th century spiral turned chair but there are at least two things about this chair that are out of the ordinary  for this particular form by this particular maker.
I’m heading out for the weekend, but will leave you all with this puzzler.
For the person who first leaves a comment on this [...]

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19th Century Mahogany Gothic Cheval Mirror

May 29, 2008

I don’t run across many Cheval mirrors that I would like to own save for a few nice Renaissance Revival and Merklen-style spiral-carved varieties, but this one with Gothic details caught my eye. This one is large – 7′ x 4′ and 2′ deep. The seller is characterizing it as Aesthetic Movement with [...]

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Start Your John Henry Belter Collection

May 28, 2008

A Belter sofa for $1.00? That is what it is currently bid up to with no reserve price. This Belter furniture pattern is sometimes referred to as “Simple” or “Scroll” due to the smooth simplicity of the carvings. We often see Belter’s over-the-top work and his simple pieces often go unnoticed without [...]

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Heavily Carved Dining Suite at Steven’s Auction

May 27, 2008

Taking a quick glance at this set, many Victorian antique collectors familiar with the turn-of-the-century gods of Renaissance carved furniture (Horner, Flint, etc.) would assume that this piece was by R.J. Horner. Fortunately this set is labeled and we can be sure that it was made by Oriel Cabinet Co. from Grand Rapids, MI. [...]

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John Henry Belter Also Worked In Oak

May 24, 2008

This Oak armchair’s side chair equivalent is featured in the John Henry Belter book in figure 23. This book is not directly attributing it to Belter in the caption but it seems to lay out the foundation by which this attribution could be made.
In figure 27 and 27a of the book, a slipper chair [...]

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Egyptian Revival Mirror – Or, Is It Actually Grecian Revival?

May 22, 2008

Well, congratulations Rare Victorian readers. In a few days we’ve basically wiped out the Internet’s supply of Victorian Detail books from several sellers. Those of you who nabbed one, you won’t be disappointed. I’m hoping there are other great books out there that I haven’t yet discovered.
As for this mirror above, the [...]

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Folk Victorian Dresser?

May 20, 2008

Without digging out every book in my library, I have not run into any materials that help me identify and date this particular piece. The seller is describing this as Folk Victorian but none of my books document this style of furniture. It is obviously 19th century, but the C-scrolls, finials and bracket [...]

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