I had to laugh when I saw this photo of Laura Bush with a caption stating that “Laura Bush speaks with an unidentified man”.  I’m surprised that they didn’t say speaking with an unidentified man  - and another unidentified man that looks just like him.  I guess these reporters aren’t Antiques Roadshow fans.

Laura Bush will be hosting a History Channel special on November 26th titled, “The White House: Behind Closed Doors”.  She’ll be providing viewers tours of various rooms and providing some history lessons on the White House along the way.

At first, Mrs. Bush voiced misgivings to her husband, telling him, “I’m not so wild about Victorian furniture,” but he was sold on it. “He said, ‘Oh, no, I want to have Grant’s furniture in my office!’”

I suspect that we may get some glimpses of some Victorian-era furniture during the program.

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In another installment of “For The Record” on Rare Victorian where I feature the work of low profile makers of the 19th Century, I’m pleased to present what I strongly believe is a Joseph W. Hamburger Prince of Wales chair.  An image from their ca. 1870 catalog below shows a model #33, “Prince of Wales” design.

I have been wanting to run across one of the Hamburger chairs in the flesh for some time now and luckily the opportunity arose on Ebay in the form of the one above.  It is currently up for sale and is listed as having been made by John Jelliff.  If this chair alone doesn’t teach us all to stop attributing all the carved female bust chairs to Jelliff, then nothing will.

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There is museum evidence that helps attribute this chair to two possible makers. Stop by the forum to read about this chair, submitted by a site visitor.

I have also added another feature to Rare Victorian - a quick reference to back issues of The Magazine Antiques in the Reference section to the right.  It provides the month/date of publication and the cabinetmaker or style/period covered in a particular issue.

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