As regular visitors to this site are aware, I’ve been watching the health of the Victorian antique market recently for concrete examples of this trend and I thought I’d take another quick glance at some fresh auction results that speak to the decline that we’ve been seeing lately.

I’ll open by saying all is not in the dumps.  There is money still out there aggressively chasing select items, but I can tell you that there is no distinct pattern that we can extract.  Items such as the late English Victorian Jockey Scale armchair shown at the top of the page surprised me as it reached $10,000 via 25 bids.  Were you to remove the scale looking something like an antique sewing machine fastened to the side, the chair is fairly unremarkable itself.

Some items are seeing better prices than from only a few months ago, so the market is certainly schizophrenic.  This Laminated Rosewood bed by John H Belter saw a $19,000 price tag in February but a comparable bed recently fetched $29,000 at auction.  While the overall trend is down, a confluence of buyers at any moment in time can drive bidding up.

I was recently left a bit queasy by the $1,500 that this cabinet fetched at auction.  Months ago, in a stronger market, this cabinet would have fetched $4,500 to $6,000.

Pieces by J & JW Meeks appear to be caught in a time-warp, fetching near their usual pricing as if they are in a different market altogether.  This Meeks “Hawkins” pattern Rococo chair recently fetched $5,000, albeit at the low end of the range.

I recommend that you pick up a copy of this weekend’s edition of the Wall Street Journal or read the article here on the state of the antiques market, in general.  Aside from being an interesting article which addresses the broader antique market and not just the niche that we favor on this site, RareVictorian.com is also mentioned.

The article’s premise is that due to shifting tastes and economic pressure on consumers it is creating quite the buyers market for antiques.  I, for one, have been taking advantage of it whether my budget should be allowing me or not.

I was the recent high-bidder on this 3-piece Egyptian Revival set by Pottier & Stymus with marked mounts bearing “P&S” to confirm their maker.  It also appears they may have their original upholstery and purportedly came out of a famous Tarrytown castle formerly known as Carrollcliffe but known today as Equus.  I’ve never been so excited in my 4 years of collecting and will be picking them up tonight.

As I have captured the process of my recent Merklen Brothers restoration in high-definition video, stay tuned in the months ahead for the journey of restoring these Pottier & Stymus chairs captured in another video series on this site.

There is no recent auction activity on this fairly well-known chair design so I can’t compare the price I paid to “typical” auction levels, though I can compare it to retail levels of other comparable Egyptian Revival sets by P&S at $29,500.

As you can see, I am availing myself to the current pricing trends and will probably be curbing my sales in the meantime.

If you’re interested in following along in my journey to research and educate myself in the world of Victorian antiques, you can be notified of new articles automatically by submitting your email address here. If you prefer viewing blogs in RSS readers, the link is at the top right of the page.

I’m on the road again so Rare Victorian access is somewhat limited but I caught a window of time to mention that there are a few Meeks-attributed items going up for sale during a Jackson’s Auction sale happening today. The above table is being sold as a “Stanton Hall” pattern Meeks table with it’s pierce-carved skirt and carved floral cabriole legs. You can see the full complement of 4 attributed Meeks items at the sale here.

On another note, I made an exciting purchase this past weekend which could end up being a great restoration project. Once I have them in my possession and can take some reasonable photos, I will share the next project with you all.

Related items currently available for sale

Ferrell Auction Co. is selling the above pierce-carved, signed, J & JW Meeks Rococo parlor table.  We can date the table to 1836-1855 due to the 14 Vesey St. address included in the stamp.

There is a wide range of prices realized for signed Meeks Rococo tables, starting from $4,000 on up to $40,000 for the top of the line with the flower basket stretcher finials.  A table like the one above sold for $5,000 in 2006 and either wasn’t signed or they did not notice it as the description wavers between an attribution to Belter or Meeks.

The table will sell on July 12th with bidding starting at $2,000 and expected range of $4,000 to $8,000.  More at the listing.

Ferrell has a few more Meeks pieces up for sale as well.  This Rosewood, inlaid checkerboard table is also signed and is from the same location and era as the table above.  They are anticipating a $3,000 to $6,000 sale .

This five-piece Hawkins pattern by Meeks will also be sold with an anticipated $35,000 to $55,000 price  range.  One sold in November 2007 for $40,000 while another 4-piece set sold previously for $13,501 in October 2006.

Related items currently available for sale

Taking a quick glance at this set, many Victorian antique collectors familiar with the turn-of-the-century gods of Renaissance carved furniture (Horner, Flint, etc.) would assume that this piece was by R.J. Horner. Fortunately this set is labeled and we can be sure that it was made by Oriel Cabinet Co. from Grand Rapids, MI. It was constructed in 1911 of Mahogany and demonstrates some of the best carving done in America at the time. In my mind, this is an important find since all furniture that resembles this style of furniture carving always gets labeled a Horner and the skill involved in these pieces rivals Horner’s best work.

In addition to this dining set, there will be many other famous-maker pieces, labeled and attributed, going up for auction by Meeks, Belter, Allen and Brother, Herter Brothers, and Mitchell & Rammelsberg. You can peruse the photos at the sale page here.

Related items currently available for sale

There are a few items of Victorian furniture going up for sale during the Cowan’s auction this weekend, including this pair of Meeks Stanton Hall armchairs. There’s a second pair of Meeks side chairs that are also up for sale but have both suffered broken backs and subsequent repairs. Fortunately additional images showing the repairs have been added so that you may assess the damage. If you’re looking for Meeks-on-a-budget, this pair will be for you. There is also a John Henry Belter chair, two George Hunzinger chairs, and an attributed Charles Baudouine desk and chair also going to be sold. I’ve created this search to provide quick access to the full gamut of furniture selling at the Cowan’s sale.