I had previously mentioned that I’d be giving you a little more of a review on my latest book purchase, Victorian Detail, by Priscilla S. Meyer, so here goes.

Lise Bohm tipped me off to this book, as she occasionally does, and this time I hit some research paydirt immediately upon receiving it. I had been trying to identify a particular chair that repeatedly shows up at auctions and was finally able to point to Charles Klein as the maker due to this book.

The full official name of the book is Victorian Detail: A Working Dictionary. The latter part of the title is the important part. For those of us who didn’t major in Decorative Arts in college or haven’t worked at an auction house for 25 years, it’s good to find a Victorian-specific “Dictionary” that educates the reader on the decorative elements of furniture - specifically Victorian furniture. Yes, there are other furniture anatomy books but they are so broad in scope that they aren’t helpful. Although I’m interested in it, I don’t currently desire to learn about the finishing touches of a Chippendale highboy.

I’m going to detail the Table of Contents because I believe that it gives you a complete picture of the value of the book:

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For those of you who are avid VictorianForum.com visitors, you are already aware of this, that the Fontaine’s auction is approaching and now the listings have hit Ebay. I’ve created a custom search that isolates just the furniture for Fontaine’s here, which includes 139 high-quality pieces.

The Roux-attributed table above will be one of the top, if not the top, items to sell at this particular auction. Unfortunately it is not labeled, which I think would have added five-figures to the final hammer price. As it is, this table is expected to sell in the $75,000 to $125,000 range. I’m sure this table was just sitting out in some barn somewhere before this sale.

A few other items that caught my eye from in the sale:

I also have this identical Merklen Brothers table, but in better condition. I will be watching for valuation purposes.

Monumental Queen Size 3-piece bedroom set expected to sell in the $20,000-$30,000 range.

This credenza is attributed to Pottier & Stymus due to a very similar piece in the Herter book on page 69.

Nice 3-piece Rosewood Rococo parlor set, unattributed, expected to sell in the $5,000 to $7,500 range.

You will also find pieces by Belter, Meeks, Pabst, Kimbel & Cabus, Herter Bros., and Horner in the sale.

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This Modern Gothic dresser/secretary has a central drawer that pulls out and the front panel drops to expose a desk surface. The design elements of this piece are primarily Eastlake due to the shallow incisings, grooved panels, and rectilinear design. The finials and “dormers” on the piece bring a modern gothic accent to the piece. The seller suggests that this is done in the manner of Daniel Pabst, and I can see their point.

This cabinet reminds me of another cabinet I ran across that is signed by Herts Brothers (not Herter Brothers). They are another New York cabinet maker probably most remembered by their bedroom display at the Philadelphia Exhibition of 1876. I don’t believe the two pieces are necessarily made by the same maker, but the Eastlake elements employed are the same (tiles, incisings, grooved boards) except for the added bling of the strap hinges on the Herts piece a la Kimbel and Cabus. Seeing the one triggered the memory of the other.

The Herts cabinet is being sold by Architectural Antiques Exchange out of Philadelphia. The dresser/secretary is to be sold on December 13th by Go Antiques Live.

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