Bob Courtney Auctions is selling this 3-piece bedroom set on Ebay at the moment and the sale will be ending today.  The have listed it as an “Eastlake Aesthetic Movement” set and I’ve been mulling over this categorization and haven’t yet come to grips as to whether it falls cleanly into that genre or if it leans into the Modern Gothic vein.

You can clearly see the influence of Christopher Dresser’s “Principles of Victorian Design” in the simplified floral and plant motifs. Dresser’s work was published in 1873, a year after Eastlake’s “Hints on Household Taste”, which espoused the same design aesthetics.

I hesitate to toss this set soley in the Modern Gothic bucket because there aren’t any overt Gothic elements that I can see save for a few trefoils.  There are no in-your-face strap hinges or crockets.  You might, however see a “spooned-out” capital a la Talbert on the column of the wash stand.

I keep wavering back and forth between the two and maybe I just settle that it doesn’t fall cleanly on one side or the other and that furniture designs of the time were the result of the confluence of influences and are not always pure.

What do you think?

I thought I’d share two photos of Herter Brothers pieces from my recent Philadelphia Museum of Art trip. You’ll have to excuse the photography as it was with a camera that was foreign to me and since the Herters’ pieces were behind glass, I think it created some challenges for the auto-focus.

The first photo shows a Herter Brothers half-tester bed and a side-char.

The next photo shows an inlaid table attributed to Herter Brothers.  You can see the bottom left corner of what is a large wall mirror that I should have photographed, but the camera was running out of juice.

The darkened pictures on this listing belie the quality of this very large Modern Gothic dresser. I doctored up this picture (lightened it) so as to give you a better grasp of the quality of this piece. Clicking on the image above will provide a larger image with greater detail. Clicking on the image again will allow you to zoom in and out further.

This one is a beauty and the seller states that it is so massive that it takes 4 men to carry the mirror alone. Once again, I am saddened, however to find that the massive matching bed was separated and sold previously for $8,000, so we are stuck with a one-off piece forever separated from it’s brethren. Sorry to get anthropomorphic on you, but separation of matching pieces is one of my pet peeves.

The current price of $999, I believe, is a fair price for a piece of this magnitude and quality. If can think of a spot for it, I may even throw my hat in the ring. Bidding ends tomorrow and more images and details can be found at the listing.

Things seem a bit calm and quiet in the Victorian Furniture world right now. Maybe it is due to the recently flurry of good auctions and people are catching their breath. Could just be me feeling guilty after a recent antiquing binge.

I attended another antique show (Chester County Historical Society), paid my $15, and spent about 10 minutes walking around a room of 18th century antiques (and earlier) and resorted to looking at oil paintings due to the absence of any shred of Victoriana. I think I saw one lonely Victorian washstand relegated to the unattended wall outside of a booth. Thus is the life of a Victorian antique collector living in the Valley Forge, Pennsylvania area.

“Carved Stitched Painted Crafted” was the theme to the show and I think that describes Victorian era antiques quite well. Except that there weren’t any to be found. Most of the 18th century furniture that I saw at the show should have inspired them to call it the “Carved and Crafted” show instead. I’m kidding, of course, as the title is intended to convey the full gamut of furniture at the show and not a single piece, but you get my point. Nothing conveys visions of “Carved Stitched Painted Crafted” to me than Victorian.

You’d think that a historical society would observe the full history of the area and not stop at 1830. I have this vision of an educational poster depicting the eras of furniture-making throughout history presented on the wall in the Chester County Historical Society building. The section from 1830 onward is torn off. My vision further shows their bookshop selling furniture history books with the last 150 pages missing.

I would wager that there are more 19th century homes still standing in Chester County than there are 18th century. That would mean there would be a more robust need for 19th century antiques than 18th. Around here, if houses have antiques, they’re probably filled with 18th century pieces. Victorian is just not the taste of the population around here; it is the red-headed stepchild of the antiques business. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all eras of furniture and I will probably collect that era someday too, but my 1887 home is inspiring me to collect another.

I have to confess that I haven’t followed everything that CCHS has done over the years. Maybe they do have antique shows that have a Victorian element to them, but I think I pay a little less attention each year after each of these “Antique Shows” transpires with the clock stopped at 1830. In my view, a Historical Society should have a charter that is more comprehensive.

OK, off soapbox and onto the pedestal above (which is finely carved, painted, and crafted I might say), which will be available this weekend from Dargate. It is listed as being Aesthetic Movement in style, but is probably more properly categorized as Neo-Grec. Bidding will start at $150 and expected range is $300-$500, which I think if all goes well should be easily beat. More details at the listing. Thanks to 1881victorian in the forum for digging this item up.

I’ve put up for sale a 4-piece bedroom set accented with Birdseye Maple panels. Although it is a nice set, it doesn’t fit the way I would like in the bedroom that I intended to use it in. I nabbed this set due to the Maple wood being a nice departure from the rest of my furniture which is in Rosewood, Walnut, Oak, and Cherry. This set is all original, down to the heavy brass and beveled mirror. Stop by the listing if you have a need for a “new” Victorian bedroom set. In addition, I have a cute 8-legged game table from turn of the century also up for bid.