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The Victorian Humidor Project
Everyone needs at least one vice in their life to make things interesting and smoking cigars is one of mine. So what type of humidor would a Victorian Antique collector have? An antique quartersawn Oak humidor with tin l
Special Finds Has Been Updated
I ran into a mis-identified table, currently at $9.99 but there is a reserve. If you have subscribed, you can log in here to see it, and if you have not, you can read more about "Special Finds" here.
Video: Refinishing A Merklen Brothers "Shabby" Table
This will be the first of hopefully many video blog posts here on Rare Victorian in the future. I did end up rescuing the Merklen Brothers table from this previous post and I hope to capture the transformation on video f
Mitchell & Rammelsberg Ladies Workstand ~ 1863
I would get slapped if I brought this piece home today in 2008 and said, "honey, I bought you a workstand". Not that I would attempt to - but it's interesting to observe how times have changed in 150 years. This is a sta
Shabby Chic Merklen Brothers Table
As an owner of 4 Merklen tables and being a big fan of their work, I just about fell out of my chair when I came across this familiar Merklen table that has been completely painted - Pink. Thank goodness they saw fit to
Finally, Victorian Antique Furniture Has Sold For Big Dough
$847,004.00 for a Victorian Desk and Chair Too bad it wasn't on the merit of the furniture itself (and who made it) and instead had everything to do with who had previously owned it - Charles Dickens. It had descended th
A New Rare Victorian Feature - "Special Finds"
I've started a new feature service on Rare Victorian called Special Finds. It is a subscription-based service that provides members access to some of the discoveries I find when looking for Victorian furniture on the web
Heywood-Wakefield Round Stand #6381
For those of you who are Victorian wicker fans, here is a labeled Heywood-Wakefield table/stand being sold at no reserve. This table is in the catalog reprint from 1898-1899 and is their model #6381, "Round Stand". It is
Victorian Timewarp
I ran across this article about a man and his family that lived in a 150 year old, 17 room home untouched by time with no heat or electricity. His advice to friends and family to deal with the lack of heat: "move energet
Anyone Seen a Louis Ostlund Chair?
Paul Tucker contacted me to ask whether any of the Rare Victorian readers had ever encountered one of these 1894 patent Louis Ostlund chairs. Please comment at the bottom of this post if you have ever encountered one. LO
Antiquarian Traders Showroom Videos
I ran across a few Antiquarian Traders videos on Youtube that I thought I'd share. For those of you who aren't unfamiliar with them, they are a Beverly Hills-based antiques dealer that has a large inventory of very high-
Galusha-Attributed Sofa Update
I received a note back from Stacy Pomeroy Draper, Curator of the Rensselaer County Historical Society which has some Galusha pieces in their collection. Thanks to Gordie for the thought to contact her. I asked her to wei
N.J. Auction Saturday June 7th
Just a quick note to the N.J. area readers that there is an estate auction tomorrow on Saturday in Vineland. It's hard to assess all the Victorian being offered from the pictures, but the above chair, frequently attribut
Why I Do The Research That I Do
The stand above is a good example of why I read and research Victorian Furniture to the extent that I do. When I first started collecting Victorian Furniture it was only so that I could put furniture in my home (built in
Is This Really a Galusha?
My knowledge of Elijah Galusha furniture is not where I'd like it to be but I don't think there is much out there to help the Galusha researcher to remedy that situation. The above sofa is being sold by Jenack Auctions a
Leon Marcotte in "American Furniture"
If you collect books and information on Victorian antiques and you are a fan of Leon Marcotte, you should nab a copy of this 1994 issue of American Furniture, edited by Luke Beckerdite. There is a 24 page article on Marc
Merklen Chair Weekend Puzzler Winner
Thanks to all who responded this weekend on the puzzler that I posted on Friday. Above you will find another version of the chair that was pictured and here you will find another version as well. The big differences betw
What's Wrong With This Picture? A Puzzler
This is a late 19th century spiral turned chair but there are at least two things about this chair that are out of the ordinary for this particular form by this particular maker. I'm heading out for the weekend, but will
19th Century Mahogany Gothic Cheval Mirror
I don't run across many Cheval mirrors that I would like to own save for a few nice Renaissance Revival and Merklen-style spiral-carved varieties, but this one with Gothic details caught my eye. This one is large - 7' x
Start Your John Henry Belter Collection
A Belter sofa for $1.00? That is what it is currently bid up to with no reserve price. This Belter furniture pattern is sometimes referred to as "Simple" or "Scroll" due to the smooth simplicity of the carvings. We often
Heavily Carved Dining Suite at Steven's Auction
Taking a quick glance at this set, many Victorian antique collectors familiar with the turn-of-the-century gods of Renaissance carved furniture (Horner, Flint, etc.) would assume that this piece was by R.J. Horner. Fortu
John Henry Belter Also Worked In Oak
This Oak armchair's side chair equivalent is featured in the John Henry Belter book in figure 23. This book is not directly attributing it to Belter in the caption but it seems to lay out the foundation by which this att
Egyptian Revival Mirror - Or, Is It Actually Grecian Revival?
Well, congratulations Rare Victorian readers. In a few days we've basically wiped out the Internet's supply of Victorian Detail books from several sellers. Those of you who nabbed one, you won't be disappointed. I'm hopi
Folk Victorian Dresser?
Without digging out every book in my library, I have not run into any materials that help me identify and date this particular piece. The seller is describing this as Folk Victorian but none of my books document this sty
Book Review: Victorian Detail by Priscilla S. Meyer
I had previously mentioned that I'd be giving you a little more of a review on my latest book purchase, Victorian Detail, by Priscilla S. Meyer, so here goes. Lise Bohm tipped me off to this book, as she occasionally doe
Bob Courtney Auction Underway
Bob Courtney's Spring 2008 sale is underway and has many pieces up for sale that Rare Victorian readers would be itching to own. The cabinet to the right is part of the sale and is attributed to one of my favorite cabine
Victorian All-In-One PC
Many of you enjoyed the Victorian monitor and keyboard so much I thought I'd alert you to this "Victorian All-In-One" that was produced by the same shop. The theme behind it's design is a Victorian performance stage, com
George J. Henkels Medallion Back Rococo Sofa
Just a quick note to point out that a familiar George Henkels-attributed sofa form popped up for sale on Ebay. There is a little mystery surrounding this particular sofa design. The book that I recently purchased, Victor
All Furniture Was Not Made In America
Sometimes I think that there is a rush to judge too quickly that antiques that we run across have been made in America. This bookcase is certainly a very nice one, but I think the tile inserts led the seller to believe i
Herter Brothers or R. J. Horner Satyr and Griffin Chair
I took a breather from Rare Victorian this weekend to attend to important priorities - gambling in Las Vegas. I'm sitting in the Las Vegas airport on the wireless with hours to spare before takeoff so I thought I'd perus
Antique Victorian Brunswick & Balke Billiard Table
For Victorian antique billiard table fans, this table made by Brunswick & Balke in 1878 is coming up at auction by Bob Courtney Auctions on May 17th. This is the best looking table I have ever laid my eyes upon and i
Chair Mystery Solved - Charles Klein
If you remember this post here, you would recall that I lose sleep over Victorian furniture attributions. Not really, but close. I just hate to see the same pieces over and over again show up in auctions and on Ebay, fir
How To Fake a Herter Brothers Piece
It's rare that these old furniture pieces made by our favorite cabinetmakers are marked so as to let their origin be known. It requires a learned eye to spot the details and to discern that a piece was made by one maker
John Henry Belter "Tuthill King" Pattern Recamier
I don't know about you, but there are so many bunches of grapes on this Recamier (or is it a meridienne?) that it makes me feel like I'm in a vineyard. This is an early John Henry Belter Recamier as evidenced by the appl
Rosewood Mitchell & Rammelsberg Etagere
You'd think I was on the Neal Auction payroll by the amount of furniture I've been profiling by them (I'm not), but as usual, their upcoming sale has a lot that Rare Victorian readers would be interested in owning, budge
Neo-Grec Pedestal Trifecta
If you remember the Dargate sale of one of these pedestals in March, you may remember that it went for $2,500. I'm surprised the seller hasn't broken this trio up to maximize the revenue, but thankfully we have a set her