It’s fun to see antiques put up for sale with low sale range estimates and see them hit prices 10-times what the auction house anticipated. Harlowe-Powell put a very conservative $2,500 top range price on this set which proceeded to garner $23,000 plus buyers premium of 20%.
They were on the right track with an attribution of “possibly Jelliff or Herter” and the bidders agreed with the latter of the two which explains the final price.
I think that the set is most likely by Gustave Herter, dating to before his association with Christian when they became known as the “Herter Brothers”. If this is a Gustave Herter piece, it would date to pre-1864 which is when the partnership started.
I’ve included some image clippings from The Herter Brothers Book by How, Frelinghuysen, and Voorsanger to compare known Gustave Herter pieces to the recently sold set. More images of the set can be seen at it’s listing.
The Harlowe-Powell sofa (in blue) and a known Gustave Herter sofa (red).
Gustave Herter console/parlor table carved elements
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
The parlor set is definitely early Herter because the form matches the set at the Victoria Mansion. There are at least four variations of this pattern.
1. Cherub heads with children faces- Victoria Mansion as pictured in the Herter book
2. Cherub heads as pictured in your photograph
3. Large children heads without wings of which I own two arms, one with covered front rail and one with exposed, and a sofa with a covered front rail
4. Pharoah heads
All appear to be in rosewood.
Bronze mounts vary on all that I have seen.