I would like to see one of these Belter youth chairs in person.  I have a Belter slipper chair and it is diminutive;  I can’t imagine how tiny these chairs made for children would appear.  At 27 3/4″ tall, I could almost walk by it and not notice it in the room.

Don’t be fooled by the size, however.  Although this design is reminiscent of Belter’s moderately carved designs such as the Rosalie, the price tag is many stratospheres beyond.  This chair’s pre-auction estimate is $25,000-$35,000.  I seem to recall a recent Belter youth chair being sold and the price comfortably reaching 5-digits, but I cannot recall which sale and when.

I believe that I have located the current owner - M.S. Rau Antiques, who has been asking $45,000 for the chair before putting it up in the Neal sale.

There is a unique design element on this particular chair - an open book in the crest of the seat back.  It was probably designed for a little fervent reader.  The question I have is, is this a one-of-a-kind chair?  I have never seen one with the book in the crest.

More at the listing.

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Although picking up a pair of Meeks Stanton Hall pattern chairs seems like it could never be a bad investment, that all depends on the price of the acquisition, and with this pair, the asking price of $4,400 is above where auction activity has put these chairs.

A pair of abused chairs sold at Cowan’s for $1,700, though I wouldn’t use them for comparison for a set that hasn’t seen major repairs.  John Moran auctioned off a pair for $3,250 in November, and Neal sold a pair for $2,350 in ‘06.   You can’t compare prices with armchairs since they tend to nearly double those of chairs without arms so I ignore those prices.

If you were to buy these chairs in a retail environment, then a price like the $4,400 or more would not be unexpected.  However, on Ebay or at auction I would not be a buyer and assuming I had time to wait, would expect to find a pair pop up in the months ahead that could be grabbed at a $2,500-$3,500 range, including any fees.  … Or about the price that each of us Americans will owe on the $700 billion bailout.

The listing for the set on Ebay is here.

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If you’re in the Dallas area, the Dallas Auction Gallery is putting this laminated Rosewood chair up for bid and is attributing it to Alexander Roux.

I haven’t had anyone correct me on this yet as I count on you all to do when I misspeak, but to my recollection, Roux did not produce laminated furniture.

The form of this chair is very reminiscent of chairs sold by George Henkels (notice I said sold and not made - there is still much research to do there).  I am on the road without my battery of reference materials, but there is much on this chair to remind me of other Henkels pieces.  Here are some other chairs sold under his attributed moniker (here, here and here).

More details at the listing

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