Here’s a preview of an auction being held next week by the Conestoga Auction Company in Manheim, PA. Look for the Victorian inlaid parlor set attributed to Jelliff.
Nov
24
On Thursday, December 17, Sotheby’s will hold a sale of Victorian and Edwardian Art. They will bring together some 100 works by leading artists of the era. The sale is expected to raise in excess of — 4.2 million pounds!!
Among the artists on display are Charles Spencelayh, Herbert James Draper, John Frederick Herring Sr., Sir Alfred Munnings, John William Godward, Sir Edward John Poynter, and James Collinson.
Get the details here at artdaily.org.
Aug
26
On August 1, the Stevens Auction Co. held an on-site auction at the prominent antebellum home Belle Oaks in Macon, Mississippi.
The prize lot was a 4-piece Victorian parlor suite by John Henry Belter, dating to around 1855. The suite consisted of a sofa, one armchair, and two armless chairs.
Mar
11
On Feb. 21 I posted about a Victorian bed by Herter Bros that exchanged hands for $326,000 at a Bonhams & Butterfields auction that took place in New York City on Jan. 22. Well, the high end of antique Victorian furniture continues to soar. A bed made by John Henry Belter gaveled down at $201,250 at an estate sale held by Hal Hunt Auctions in Northport, AL on February 21. Somebody seems to be surviving the current economy.
“There were some great bargains that might have brought stronger prices in better times,” Mr. Hunt is quoted as saying, “but serious buyers paid top dollar for the high-quality merchandise.”
The collection at this estate sale must have been something to behold. The Belter bed was the top of the lot. It’s an exceptionally rare piece, the only other extant example of which is in the Brooklyn Museum. But there were plenty of other pieces by Belter, not to mention Alexander Roux, J and JW Meeks, Mitchells & Rammelsburg and more.
A mint condition, 10-piece laminated rosewood parlor suite in the Milwaukee pattern by Belter went for $132,250. And many of the other pieces were well into five figures.
Mr. Hunt feels that people are putting their money into hard assets these days, instead of stocks and bond. He remarks that “the nice thing about quality antiques is, you can actually enjoy them while you own them, and they almost always appreciate in value.” Note the words “quality antiques.” A lot of the despair these days is taking place at the low end.
I have two links for you here. This one is to a write up on the sale at PR-inside. This one is a preview of the sale at Auction Central News. I’ve included the preview because the photos are better, especially of that Victorian bed by Belter. I could sleep in it, to say the least. Don’t have the 200 grand to afford it at the moment, but it’s an object that I would find worthy of wealth if I ever had it.
Feb
21
If you haven’t heard about the auction called American Furniture & Decorative Arts offered by Bonhams & Butterfields, which took place in New York City on January 22, you’ll want to take a look at the articles I’ve attached here.
There were over 300 lots at the auction, and total sales topped $2.3 million. Standing-room crowds gathered in particular to watch the auctioning of the Warner Brothers Studios collection of 15 pieces of furniture by the famed Victorian cabinetmakers Herter Brothers.
The prize lot was a Herter Bros bed — parcel-gilt, carved, inlaid, ebonized, and “considered by many scholars to be the finest American bedstead known to exist in the fully developed American Renaissance style.” It was originally commissioned as part of a bedroom suite for the master bedroom at Thurlow Lodge, home of former California Governor Milton Slocum Latham in Menlo Park, CA.
The final price of the bed was $326,000, purchased by collectors Max and Judy Foote of Louisiana, who also came away with a mirrored dresser ($103,700), a rare shaving stand ($61,000) and a pair of night stands ($23,180) from the same suite. The Footes already have in their collection a Herter Bros antique Victorian bed that appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho.
Many of the pieces at the auction, and not just those by Herter Bros, brought in sums far exceeding top estimates. Quite a few others failed to attract any interest at all.
There’s a lot to read about, and you’ll want to see the photos of the bed, the dresser with its massive mirror and other pieces.
I have two links here for you to follow. This one is to the article at Bonhams’ website and this one is to an article at Antiques And The Arts Online.
My thanks to Ben Mijuskovic (see my posts on Oct. 23 and Nov. 20) for bringing this to my attention. He tells me that the price on the Herter Bros bed is a record or near-record for any piece of Victorian furniture.
Feb
14
Here’s an excellent video on buying antique furniture at an auction, made by Blake Kennedy from Kennedy Brothers Auctions. Mr. Kennedy is an insider who knows what he’s talking about. His tips are insightful and practical and are useful no matter what type of antique furniture you’re interested in acquiring, Victorian or otherwise.
Have a listen.
Nov
10
I ran into a column written by a woman named Anne Gilbert. Anne is known as The Antique Detective, and her column appears in the publication ElmLeaves, which is part of the Sun-Times Group in the Chicago area. People send Anne photos of their antiques, in order to get her expert assessment of them.
This particular column contains some interesting pieces. There’s a desk that converts into a bed, c. 1916. There’s an Arts and Crafts table in the style of Gustav Stickley, which currently has little value because of its poor condition. But Anne reports that if it could be attributed to a specific maker like Stickley and then professionally refinished, it could fetch $5,000 at auction.
And for us? How about an antique Victorian parlor table, Renaissance revival, c. 1875. Excellent carvings. Shop value in the range of $800.