John Henry Belter Cornucopia Pattern On Ebay

John Henry Belter Cornucopia pattern up for sale on Ebay? Yes, it happened. Say what you will about Ebay and eschew it at your own buying risk. A John Henry Belter Cornucopia armchair popped up several days ago, seemingly in half decent condition. I corresponded with the seller and got this information from them:

This chair has been floating around my family between several great aunts and uncles as long as I can remember. It sat in my great grandmother's living room for many years and then my grandparents. It has been reupholstered but as far as I know has no repairs and only minor imperfections which would be expected in a piece of this age

The chair sold on Ebay for $6,400. Cornucopia pattern furniture by John Henry Belter is generally viewed as the best of his best. This particular chair had the rarer reeded gooseneck arms; a design only seen with this pattern. To see it pop up on Ebay surprised me and I had to bid on it. But alas, I was not willing to spend what the winner was willing to dole out and I still feel that they got a fair deal on this particular chair. I don't believe that you will see another one with a $4,000 reserve sold by a private seller on Ebay again. Maybe one may pop up from a dealer, but not fresh out of grandma's parlor. Who knows what the buyer's intentions are with this chair. It may get absorbed into a private collection and not see light of day for another 50 years or you may see it rear it's crest at one of the popular auction houses in the near future for a quick flip. If you'd like to see a grand sofa in the cornucopia style, hop on over to the Met Museum and take a look at the photos here.