I’m a big fan of all styles and eras of Victorian furniture and my interests even leak into the immediately preceding and following eras.

Not wanting this site to be all about Renaissance Revival and Rococo, I’m always on the lookout for nice pieces in any Victorian style.  It’s just that there are more examples of the former, and less Aesthetic, Egyptian Revival, etc., floating around in the marketplace - that are of mentionable quality.

Misslilybart, in the forum, spotted this chair coming up at the 9/7 Brunk auction and had this to say about it:

It appears to be identical to one at the High Museum (see Art & Enterprise: American Decorative Art, 1825-1917 The Virginia Carroll Crawford Collection, page 265, Plate 146). The High catalog does not make any attribution beyond “Probably New York,” but they do note that it is comparable to work executed for the William H. Vanderbilt House by Herter Brothers (these chairs, in particular), and that the mixed-media marquetry is similar to that of known pieces by Herts Brothers. Continue Reading »

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Tags: Aesthetic Movement, Anglo-Japanese, desk, ebonized, inlaid, side chair

I put a modest absentee bid on a pair of chairs coming up at auction.  I knew from looking at the photo above that they were obviously Rococo with a rose on the crest and were pierce-carved.  I wanted to go look at them in person to confirm my suspicion that they were Rosewood and to see if, by chance, they were laminated - which in the end were not.

Lo and behold I get home and am putting away my stack of Victorian furniture books (by doing this blog they tend to accumulate outside the bookcase and not in it) and for some reason flipped through a new book purchase of mine, “Furniture in Maryland - 1740-1940: The Collection of The Maryland Historical Society” by Gregory R. Weidman (Try Amazon.com here or here) and there it was, #194 on page 223, Baltimore Side Chair 1845-1870.  Now, I’m having second thoughts on the bid amount … would be nice to have Baltimore examples in my collection.

We often talk about and seek out New York Rococo (Belter, Meeks, Roux, Baudouine) but not Baltimore, so I thought I’d pass on some design characteristics typical to that city as stated in the book.  It should help you differentiate Baltimore pieces from NY pieces.  I’m beginning to think that these pieces were actually Baltimore and not Roux based on this information.

This is from the description of plate #193, the matching armchair that precedes these side chairs:

First, the armchair is made of solid rather than laminated rosewood.  The design and execution of the carving around the back is typical of Baltimore in its openness, lightness, flowing scrolls, and naturalistic rose at the top of the crest.  The method in which the arms, lower back, and seat join and the boldly carved, swirled S-curve of the arm supports are unlike those features of high style New York armchairs.  The low, slightly curved cabriole legs, carved with stylized rather than naturalistic decoration and coming to a point, are frequently seen on Rococo Revival pieces of Baltimore origin.  In sum, this armchair is both stylish and exuberant, reflectinig the cabinetmaker’s skill and taste without resorting to the extraordinarily massive and overwrought naturalistic ornamentation seen on works by Belter and his competitors.

Maybe Baltimore Rococo would have been a Rococo that even Charles Eastlake could have stomached.

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It always gives me great pleasure to nail down a maker of a piece of furniture that we often see being sold as “attributed to” and be able to turn that into a definite “made by”. No further need to attribute this chair to anyone other than George Henkels (which is usually what the “attributed to” is).**

An original ad done by George Henkels documented in Victorian Details shows this very chair design prominently on page 43. The drawing is somewhat stylized, 19th Century style, but the unmistakable side bolsters are identically presented.

I’ve blogged about this chair previously here and most recently here, where someone in N.J. probably got a good deal at an estate sale.

** NOTE: Based on new information received after this post was made, I’d like to temper the above statements with caution.  There is documentation that suggests this chair is made by Robert Renwick of Baltimore.  Stand by while I look into it.

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