Note to Neal Auction:  free advertising on Rare Vic for infinity if this cabinet finds it’s way to my front door.  Don’t worry, it’s a covered porch.  Like they would need to bribe me since I blog about their sales anyway.

Yes, I’m drooling over this fantastic Allen & Brother cabinet coming up at the Louisiana Purchase Sale on the 11th.  They have another sale chock full of big names: Meeks, Belter, Pottier & Stymus, Herter Brothers, Doe Hazelton.  Yes, Doe Hazelton as in the House of Representatives desk manufacturers.  The desk in this sale indeed bears their stencil and it is a fine example.  There’s even a solo effort by Gustave Herter (attributed) in this sale in the form of a chair frame.

I have questions about a few of the attributions as I have the tendency to do - the P&S table resembles Marcotte more so to me and the Belter Library Chair is very reminiscent of the Henkels/White chair that Neal recently sold.  The key differentiator appears to be - lamination.  The chair sold prior didn’t appear to be laminated while this one is indeed laminated.  That’s an interesting distinction and I see where they are going with that one.

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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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Neal Auction’s upcoming sale will feature several pieces of George Hunzinger furniture, including the above sofa and a chair that would match it, were they to be upholstered in the same manner.  I expect there to be a wide range of prices on these items with the one above probably leading the hammer prices (Neal estimates $4-6,000) down to the more diminutive side chairs that he produced which may fetch around $1,000.  The rocker may also end up in that price range as well.

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