Rare Victorian Est. 2008 · The Curator's Archive
eBay Antiques No. 492

George Hunzinger Sofa With "Opera Singer" Arms

Originally published

George Hunzinger Sofa With "Opera Singer" Arms
George Hunzinger Sofa With "Opera Singer" Arms

George Hunzinger furniture hasn't graced the pages of Rare Victorian for a while, so I thought I'd alert Hunzinger fans to the sofa that is currently seeing very active bidding on Ebay. With 2 days to go, it has seen 20 bids and is standing at $5,500 - very close to the $5,750 that one of these sofas sold for at Neal Auction last year. I prefer the Neal Auction version with the gilt-incising and ebonized accents.

We've recently been talking about the carved female arms on furniture of this period and this Hunzinger sofa is another example. I still plan to get to another post exploring other options for who this carving is meant to depict (and give out the book I promised to give away). The Jenny Lind theory is still pervasive as is evidenced by the listing on this particular sofa: "I have been told that the woman's face carved in the center and on the arm ends was a famous opra singer from the 1800's".

More info and bidding can be found at the listing.

Liberty-face-furniture

Hunzinger-arms

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George Hunzinger Sofa With "Opera Singer" Arms

3 comments

  1. monkecmonkedo
    I too was surprised to see this settee rise to near the Neal Auction sale price and was hoping that it might end up being a bargain. No such luck. There have been other Hunzinger chairs and rockers on eBay lately after not seeing anything for months. As for the faces on this settee, I feel they look differerent than what we see on "Jelliff" pieces, but perhaps it is just the pictures.
  2. RareVictorian
    I agree. These women are Hunzinger's exclusively. I haven't seen them elsewhere.
  3. jay
    This particular sette in mint condition with the complimentary mens and ladies hunzinger salon chairs with same ornate design and crest,and same lady heads on arms,which I owm, in mint condition,sells for $20,000 to $30,000 for the 3 piece set,and the price is going no where but up, for it is the most ornate design with the ladies heads done by hunzinger,and very rare to own the 3 piece set in mint condition. especially with all the attention and curiosity being given to the ladys head design on victorian furniture, but hunzinger never used it,only on this particular sette/sofa, and the matching mens and ladies salon chairs that I purchased like a year ago from David Rago Auctions at a bargain price for they were in mint condition with mint pale yellow patterned silk brocade upholstery,and refinished to museum quality,I paid $6500 for the pair.But one chair was worht more than that,just to refinish and reupholster with such quality alone had to cost that price,at least.I paid $5500 also a bargain for the sette/sofa in mint condition that was unused in a living room for 5o years in the same family. a rare 3 piece mint set like this can command $20,000 to $30,000 from hunzinger collectors or even "jeliff" collectors for that matter(LOL) jay weinstock I also own approximately 40 other hunzinger chairs,some very rare hardly ever seen designs,tables,mirrors,sofas etc.....

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