This bedstead on Ebay will be sold by the time some of you read this but I thought I’d mention it due to the quality of the piece.  It is a Renaissance Revival bed with 101″ height and 75″ length and not quite Queen width at 57 1/2″ mattress width.

You can find it’s twin on page 74 of Styles of American Furniture 1860-1960, though unfortunately there is no maker information provided.  One item of interest is that the book states that the bed is made of Rosewood, while this seller is advertising theirs as Walnut.  There’s a chance one or the other has misidentified the composition, or possibly the maker provided an array of wood options.

If you are one of the 5 competing bidders, I think you can’t go wrong with this bed as a quality piece, but one should be aware of the condition problems and work that will need to be done.  The photos are numerous, but lack proper lighting and size to expose all the needed fixes.  The description does not inventory the detail of all of the flaws, “SOME OF THE MOULDING AND GINGERBREAD IS MISSING”, so one has to study the images carefully.

It’s always humorous to see a seller get huffy Continue Reading »

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I heard from Jennifer Zwilling at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on the Thomas Brooks attribution basis for this sofa I recently posted about.  I thank Jennifer for taking the time to respond and to do so with the amount detail that she did.

I have not yet followed up on the information that she provides, namely to look at the Brooklyn Museum pieces, but I thought I’d pass her response onto Rare Victorian readers in the meantime.

Dear John,

Thank you for your interest in our collection. The sofa you saw in our gallery (along with the rest of the double parlor suite in our collection) was attributed to Thomas Brooks upon its accession in 1972 on the basis of its similarity to a set at the Brooklyn Museum. The Brooklyn Museum’s set is attributed based on a bill of sale from 1872 and a label on the back of the mirror from a marble topped chest of drawers which was a gift from the same family. That set is similar, but not identical to the PMA’s.

There is always room in an attribution for further research and questioning. Two parlor sets very similar to ours have come up in recent sales at Neal Auction and Cowan’s Auction; I don’t believe either have firm documentation. Less similar sets exist at the Newark Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the High Museum, the Dallas Museum, the Bush House in Salem, OR, and the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute. These are all attributed to John Jelliff.

As no identical suite has come to light (as far as I know) with existing documentation to any maker, research continues.

It is always nice to hear from an interested visitor, please feel free to email with any further questions.

Best Regards,
Jennifer

Jennifer Zwilling
American Decorative Arts
Philadelphia Museum of Art

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I spent the weekend in antique mode (what else is new?) with Saturday spent at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Sunday spent perusing the antique stores of Adamstown, PA.  The difference is that I did it all with some very good friends and had a blast.  It’s always fun to share an interest with others who also can appreciate it (albeit not as rabidly as I - yet).

I will be posting some of the images I captured at the museum from a camera that I borrowed.  I never realized that they’d let you photograph their items, but now I know to bring my own camera along.  One of the photos is above and is a sofa that the museum attributes to Thomas Brooks.

I question the attribution and how it was made.  The sign does not go as far as to detail attribution sources (nor do I necessarily expect it to), so it is hard to guess their thinking.  It resembles sofas by John Jelliff more so than Brooks items and you can see a confirmed Brooks chair here.  Note the break in the skirt and the two rosettes as well as the lack of figural arms.  Granted, he could have had multiple styles that he produced, but I think there is more in common with documented Jelliff pieces, such as those at the Newark Museum than this Brooks chair.  My guess is that the profile of the crest could be a hint as to why the Brooks attribution is there.

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