The Antique Victorian Furniture Blog

On Saturday, October 24, Stair Galleries of New York will host an auction of the Hunt Slonem collection contained in Edgewood Terrace, also known as Cordts Mansion, “an imposing Second Empire-style brick mansion that stands at the top of a hill overlooking the city of Kingston in New York’s sprawling Hudson Valley.” Previews run from October 9 to October 24.

I’ve attached the press release and photos here for you, so there’s not much need for me to elaborate. Suffice it to say that this is going to be one magnificent auction. Here’s some more from the press release to entice you:

“After restoring his country retreat to its original Victorian grandeur, Mr. Slonem filled the rooms with an eclectic combination of 19th-century furniture and decorations, modern art and his own exotic, vibrantly colored, neo-expressionist paintings… The sale will feature an extensive selection of 19th-century furniture, decorative arts and fine arts as well as a number of 20th-century paintings, prints and photographs.

According to Mr. Slonem, ‘The collection represents nine years of gathering.’ The impressive array of 19th-century furnishings, spanning the years from 1830 to 1900 and encompassing all the major styles of the Victorian era, is heavily focused on the Gothic Revival. Throughout the house are chairs, center tables, dressing bureaux, secretaries, gilt-bronze mantel clocks, glass vases, porcelain teawares and ironstone toilet sets embellished with tracery, pointed arches, steep gables, pinnacles and cusping. Balancing the medieval-inspired pieces are furniture and decorations in other revival styles including Rococo, Renaissance, Louis XVI and Neo-Grec. Modern works of art, hung on brightly painted walls inspired by the colors in Mr. Slonem’s paintings, serve as a foil to the Victorian furnishings.”

Wow.

Click here to read the full press release.

Click here for the catalogue. You have to see this.

For information, contact Walter G. Ritchie, Jr. of Stair Galleries at 518-751-100 or walter.ritchie@stairgalleries.com. Visit Stair Galleries’ website at http://www.stairgalleries.com/.

Technorati Tags: 19th Century, Antiques, Chairs, clocks, decorative arts, Furniture, gothic revival, Hunt Slonem, louis xvi, modern art, neo-grec, paintings, Renaissance, Rococo, second empire, secretaries, Stair Galleries, tables, Victorian

I don’t know what to say about this video, except that it is Beatles set to antiques. And I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Enjoy.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Antiques, Chair, Chairs, Chippendale, Furniture, Table

Take a look at this article from Auction Central News, written by Terry Kovel. Did you know that the Victorian era saw desks that turned into beds, chairs that turned into bathtubs, or highchairs that turned into strollers? Victorian furniture is an endless source of fascination for those of us with a historical perspective.

Now, if you have your eye on that highchair for you own baby, just read far enough to learn that it wouldn’t pass modern safety standards. Inventiveness and safety aren’t always compatible, are they?

Read the article here.

Technorati Tags: auction central news, bathtubs, Beds, Chairs, desks, Furniture, highchairs, inventiveness, strollers, Victorian

I just came across a blog called Slip Into Something Victorian. Its most recent post is about Lizzie Borden. Mystery and the Victorian era sure do go hand in hand.

Denise Eagan, the author of the post, recently visited Lizzie’s Victorian home, which is located in Fall River, Massachusetts. It was in this house back in 1892 that Lizzie’s father and stepmother were found murdered in exceptionally brutal fashion. Lizzie was brought to trial but acquitted.

To this day the crime is unsolved, although Lizzie remains the primary suspect in the minds of many. The post gives a very nice summary of the circumstances of the mystery, with some interesting details about such things as possible sexual abuse and the miserly nature of Lizzie’s father.

And here’s something you probably didn’t know. The home today is a bed and breakfast. You can actually sleep in Lizzie’s room, in a nice antique Victorian bed, I might add! I don’t think I would shut my eyes for a second, and not just because I was admiring all the furniture in the room.

Slip Into Something Victorian contains a gallery of pictures, among which are an excellent selection taken at the Borden house. There’s a lot of antique Victorian furniture in there. You’ll see beds, chairs, mirrors, dressers, a dining room table, a striking medallion back sofa, and more – all within the confines of one of the world’s eeriest Victorian homes.

And maybe you’ll be inspired to visit the home and spend the night. I understand you’ll be treated to the breakfast the Bordens had that morning. The contents of Abby Borden’s stomach actually provided an important clue as to the time of her subsequent murder. Food for thought.

You can read the post here. If you have trouble finding the picture gallery, click here.

And here are some earlier posts of mine involving mystery of one kind or another: Nov. 24, Nov. 20, Nov. 17, Nov. 16, Nov. 13.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Bed, Beds, Chairs, Dresser, Furniture, Home, House, lizzie borden, Mirror, Mystery, Sofa, Table, Victorian

On December 4 I wrote about a blog called A Victorian Passage Into Time, and I promised to share what I found there. How about some advice on how to furnish the parlor of your Victorian home?

The quote provided in this particular post instructs you to choose furniture with comfort rather than style in mind. If you want a “serviceable” wood for the frame, select ebony, oak, walnut, cherry, or mahogany. Think Turkish if you want keep up with the times.

Sets and pairs are out, but you can never go wrong with two easy-chairs placed opposite to one another. Put your divan in a central location, but forget about that marble-topped center table. If you read the passage you’ll also find out how to make your mantel mirror look effective.

What do you think about the date of this advice? It sounds rather late doesn’t it? Indeed, it comes from a work called Useful Information for Ladies, dating to 1897.

Click here to get the full story on how to arrange your antique Victorian furniture to its best effect in your parlor.

I myself unfortunately don’t have a parlor. I wish I did. Life without parlors is hopelessly unsociable and modern.

Technorati Tags: Chairs, Cherry, Divan, Ebony, Furniture, Mahogany, Mirror, Oak, Parlor, Table, Victorian, Walnut

Here’s another article out of the UK on the state of the market for antique furniture. Unlike the article I linked to yesterday, this one, which comes from the Telegraph, takes a negative view.

This makes the second article I’ve found that paints a gloomy picture of the Victorian furniture market, and the first negative one to come from the UK. Yesterday’s article and the one from the post on October 25 were both from the UK and both positive. Today’s sounds more like the one from November 27, which predicted a permanent collapse in the market for antique Victorian furniture.

And it would appear to blow up my theory about British Victorian being in a stronger position than American Victorian.

Here are some things the article says. Prices are at their lowest level in ten years. The 90s were boom years, but things have gone downhill since the 9/11 attacks. Collectors are selling off pieces to pay off debts. Many dealers are thinking of throwing in the towel. It could be a good time to buy if you could wait 20 years for prices to recover. Business at auctions is up because so many people are selling. The low prices are actually attracting a new generation of buyer.

The article provides a list of specific pieces, with their prices a decade ago vs. their prices today. Here are a few that may interest you (prices are in British pounds):

• Victorian Pembroke Table (200 in 1998, 50 today)
• Victorian Dining Room Table with Braided Legs (800 in 1998, 175 today)
• Victorian Chesterfield Sofa (400 in 1998, 75 today)
• Set of Six Victorian Dining Room Chairs (900 in 1998, 300 today)

The article does not give its sources for this information, by the way, so it’s probably based on the word of a few dealers. Not all dealers are struggling in this market, by the way. On November 25 I linked to an article about a man who recently opened an antique shop in the economically devastated city of Detroit. He’s now enjoying great success selling high end antiques and also selling online.

Perhaps it’s the case that the market got overinflated, much like the housing market. If a new generation of buyer is now able to afford pieces previously out of sight, Victorian furniture could be getting a whole new life. Out of the hands of investors and speculators and into the hands of people who actually live with it and appreciate it?

More on this topic to come, I’m sure. We’re getting quite a variety of messages.

Here’s the article.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Chairs, Collectors, Dealers, Furniture, Market, Sofa, Table, Victorian