Mark Vail’s June 6 auction has a lot for sale that I will call “entry-level” Herter Brothers.  From what I see this is a 100% authentic Herter Brothers bookcase.  It’s not one of Herters’ high-style pieces as the design is more straightforward and utilitarian.  The three drawers are branded “Herter Bro’s” and I have compared the escutcheons with a favorable result to the reference images in the Herter book as you can see below.

There are condition issues and, again, were it not for the Herter branding you might never know it was by the famous brothers’ shop.  However, if you’re a Herter Brothers fan, here would be a chance to start off your collection at what I feel will be a relatively inexpensive price.  You may then choose to spruce it up with some restoration.

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As members of the Rare Victorian forum and of subscribers to Rare Victorian Special Finds have known for a number of days, this somewhat simple bookcase may be a pretty rare find.  Thanks to a tip from Jason/1881Victorian in the forum, we were alerted to a bookcase that has carved shields that greatly resemble those on the Thomas Ustik Walter-designed (and Bembe & Kimbel/Hammitt Desk Co. manufactured) House of Representatives chairs.

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Sometimes I think that there is a rush to judge too quickly that antiques that we run across have been made in America. This bookcase is certainly a very nice one, but I think the tile inserts led the seller to believe it must have been made by a prominent American maker. The reality is that during that time, most of the skilled craftsman that were in America were of German or French, or at least European, descent. The reason we have all these great pieces is that these European craftsman came to the U.S. and brought their extensive training with them. Many of the names whose furniture we value most are 1st generation immigrants. But not all of them came to America! Some stayed behind and they still made furniture over there!

All you need to do is look at the book by John Andrews, “Victorian and Edwardian Furniture“, and you’ll get a taste for what European (primarily English) Victorian furniture looks like. Guess what, it looks a lot like ours. You’ll see there a lot of French-inspired designs that look like pieces that we would jump to attribute to Roux, Marcotte, etc. There are pieces in there that mirror pieces that I have recently seen attributed to Kimbel & Cabus and Herter Brothers.  In the case of the bookcase above, they are attributing it to Pottier & Stymus. I haven’t done enough digging to say that they are correct or not, but a quick glance had me reaching for the Andrews book on a hunch that more research is necessary.  If you’re interested in researching Victorian furniture and their attributions, I feel it very necessary that you remember to also look abroad when identifying furniture.

More detail and images on this bookcase that is selling are here.

You may remember Ralph and Pamela Krainik from the previous post on their monumental clock. They recently let me know that they purchased a Victorian bookcase and were able to identify it as a Herter Brothers piece due to the Rare Victorian post on a stamped Herter Bookcase here! That certainly makes me happy that the Rare Victorian was able to help in the identification process. I feel like Match.com must feel when a pair of clients gets married due to the use of their matchmaking service – only this time, one of the parties is a bookcase. And in this case there is a trio – Pamela, Ralph and the bookcase, but we won’t go there…

I’ve included the comparison photos below. The smaller inset photos are details from the Krainik piece.

Although the material and gender of the figures are not the same, they are both neoclassical in design and are at the top center of the two bookcases. Note the outline of the burl panel behind both – they are the same.

Although the stamped bookcase has three drawers, both bookcases have simple and identical two-pull carved wood drawer handles and a central carved wood escutcheon

This is the smoking gun. The carved elements on the doors are identical in the central and upper corner areas.

Ralph additionally points to other similar traits like the router markings on the shelves and the markings on the back of them denoting their position in the bookcase. Thanks to the Krainik’s for sharing their latest find. Don’t forget they have a shop where their fine Victorian furniture is for sale.