I’m encouraged by some of the prices realized at the Fontaine sale yesterday.  Here’s a sampling of some of the healthy results:

• Meeks Hawkins sofa - $10,000
• “Pottier & Stymus” Aesthetic Sideboard - $12,000
• Meeks  Rosewood Etagere - $50,000
• Belter 3-piece Milwaukee parlor set - $21,000
• Pierce-carved Belter slipper chair - $17,000 (expected $6-8k)
• “R.J. Horner” Library Table - $15,000 (interesting side-story)
  

Some of the items had some questionable attributions and the bidders affirmed that message with their bidding:

• Pair of Herter Brothers twin bedsteads - $1,250 for the pair
• Thomas Brooks marble-top table - $1,000

Some items did disappoint and Jelliff items were in that category:

• John Jelliff triple-back sofa - $1,750 (we’ve seen it sell for $5,750)
• Jelliff three-piece parlor set - $2,000

Following on my concern about some of the attributions, the basis of the Pottier & Stymus attribution for the sideboard was:

This piece has a 5 digit number on the back (10278) indicative of the work of Pottier & Stymus

I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine that P&S were the only makers that had 5-digit inventory numbers of the tens of thousands of shops in the world at the time.

Overall, however, I think the sale showed that the good stuff is still selling well (despite Wall Street tumult) and anything below that level is scraping by.

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Plenty of high-end Victorian coming up in the Fontaine sale in a few days with all the usual suspects: Belter, Roux, Meeks, Jelliff, Baudouine, Pottier & Stymus, and Horner among others.  The Meeks Hawkins pattern set above is expected to bring $35,000-$50,000 and a Belter Milwaukee 3-piece set, $20,000 to $30,000.  A surprisingly unassuming bedstead in the sale is signed A. Roux, which shows you that the best makers of the time absolutely made simplistic pieces for everyday use.

I heard from Jennifer Zwilling at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Thomas Brooks attribution basis for this sofa I recently posted about.  I thank Jennifer for taking the time to respond and to do so with the amount detail that she did.

I have not yet followed up on the information that she provides, namely to look at the Brooklyn Museum pieces, but I thought I’d pass her response onto Rare Victorian readers in the meantime.

Dear John,

Thank you for your interest in our collection. The sofa you saw in our gallery (along with the rest of the double parlor suite in our collection) was attributed to Thomas Brooks upon its accession in 1972 on the basis of its similarity to a set at the Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum’s set is attributed based on a bill of sale from 1872 and a label on the back of the mirror from a marble topped chest of drawers which was a gift from the same family. That set is similar, but not identical to the PMA’s.

There is always room in an attribution for further research and questioning. Two parlor sets very similar to ours have come up in recent sales at Neal Auction and Cowan’s Auction; I don’t believe either have firm documentation. Less similar sets exist at the Newark Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the High Museum, the Dallas Museum, the Bush House in Salem, OR, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. These are all attributed to John Jelliff.

As no identical suite has come to light (as far as I know) with existing documentation to any maker, research continues.

It is always nice to hear from an interested visitor, please feel free to email with any further questions.

Best Regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Zwilling
American Decorative Arts
Philadelphia Museum of Art

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