Fontaine’s has another one of their Exceptional Antique Auctions coming up this weekend and there are many great Victorian pieces to be aware of.  Live bidding will be provided by Artfact Live! I wish they had excluded the Allen & Brother sofa from the sale.  Don’t they know to hold onto all Allen & Brother until I’m back in the market for some heavy-hitting Victorian pieces?  I don’t want to know!

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Just a quick note to mention the upcoming April 5th sale of an attributed R.J. Horner Bedroom suite. A tag does accompany the set. More details and photo tour at the R.J. Horner blog.

Holy Moly.  Now I know why people who aren’t fans of Victorian antique furniture look at pieces from the period and condemn it’s over-the-topness.  Technically this piece is probably very late Victorian Renaissance Revival style.

This sofa is part of a set that Fontaine’s will be selling on the 18th and it is a Victorian-hater’s nightmare.  I love RJ Horner items, whose carved furniture this resembles, but even I would not be able to put this one in my home.  It is so overwrought it even has two-tier tables integrated on either side of the sofa.  No need to buy end tables – they’re included!

The set is probably incredible to see in person and it will make quite a statement in a fine home somewhere.

Expected sale range is $15,000 to $25,000.  More detail images at the listing.

So how do you like the set?

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.

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.