Are there any independent film producers out there?  I have  a new movie title for you to produce, “Stubby Finds a Home”.  Probably more of a Disney flick than a Tom Cruise action flick.

The new owner of the cut-down Rococo table that I profiled on Rare Victorian while it was up for sale wrote to share a picture of the table’s new home.

Charles had to say this about the table:

The church-basement-piano-color finish is gone, Stubby has a fresh coating of shellac, and he’s settled down to a life of domestic bliss.

So Stubby is all cleaned up and has a new abode with Rococo and Ren Revi friends.  Note the Belter book on top of Stubby.

I DO feel better that although Stubby is cut-down, he has not found himself in a landfill somewhere.  Maybe some day he can get some prosthetic legs.  Thanks, Charles, for the update.

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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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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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