The Antique Victorian Furniture Blog

I’m not sure that “Economy slows antique sales” is the best headline for this article from The MetroWest Daily News, out of Framingham, MA. But that’s what you’ll see when you go to read it.

One hundred dealers showed up from around New England and New York for the Holliston Antique Show, sponsored by the Citizen Scholarship Foundation of Holliston. There were 400 people waiting to pay $6 at the door when the show opened for its first day on Saturday, despite weather conditions that kept some away. In the end the scholarship foundation was able to add $10,000 to $12,000 to its endowment.

Of the three dealers mentioned in the article, two were positive and one negative.

Phyllis and Sam Petnov of Millford, MA remarked that it wasn’t like the good old days, when they could make $10,000 to $20,000 at the show. “Those days are gone. It reflects the economy. It’s universal.”

Alan Seymour, on the other hand, owner of Franklin Street Antiques in Natick, MA, said he did well at the show, after setting various price points for broader appeal. He wants to remind people that antiques are a good investment.

And Tom Nagy of Hampton, CT, who sells 18th and 19th century accessories, also said it was a good show for him. His sales included an 18th century Sheraton server and a Victorian mirror.

Why put a negative headline over that? I prefer mine.

Here’s the article.

And here is my growing collection of posts about the current economy and its effects on antique Victorian furniture and on antiques in general: Feb. 17, Feb. 7, Dec. 9, Dec. 8, Nov. 27, Oct. 25.

Technorati Tags: 18th Century, Antique, Antiques, Dealers, Economy, Furniture, Investment, Mirror, sheraton, show, Victorian

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.

Technorati Tags: American, american renaissance, Antique, Antiques, art, Auction, Bed, bedroom suite, bedstead, cabintmakers, Collectors, decorative arts, Dresser, Furniture, Herter Bros, Mirror, night stands, shaving stand, Victorian

Back on Jan. 12, I linked to a post all about antique mirrors at the Unique Unique Design blog. One of the mirrors in the gallery was a white wicker Victorian mirror with beveled glass.

The blog has run a more recent post about that particular mirror. It includes a price. I have no financial interest in this, by the way. I’m just passing along the information.

I myself don’t know what I think about the mirror. The photo may not do it justice.

In any case, have a look.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Furniture, Mirror, mirrors, photo, Victorian

Back on Dec. 26, I wrote a post about a woman who felt like she belonged in the 19th century rather than the 21st and transformed her home accordingly. I just found another article in the Des Moines Register about a couple who feels the same way and who likewise have turned their home into a showcase of antique Victorian furniture and other furnishings.

Carolyn and Dan Rogers have gone for High Victorian, “where excess is OK” as Carolyn puts it. Because the Victorians considered it poor taste to have any bareness in a room, there is neither a nook nor a cranny of their 1903 home which isn’t “crammed.”

There’s a parlor with 24 working antique lamps, a master bedroom with a Victorian bed 150 years old, and a ballroom sized third story with a funeral parlor at the far end.

The article provides some photos that give you a good sense of it all. Quite striking. I love the detail of the Victorian mirror over their dresser.

You can see for yourself here.

Technorati Tags: 19th Century, Antique, Bed, Dresser, Furniture, Home, lamps, Mirror, Parlor, room, Victorian

I found a post full of antique mirrors on a tasteful blog called Unique Unique Design. By my count the post has 21 photos of 15 mirrors.

We don’t get a lot of information on the background of the mirrors, but the first in the parade is an old Eastlake mirror, as Marcie, the author of the blog tells us. The last is a Victorian mirror, wicker with beveled glass. Marcie promises to get these mirrors posted in their “check it out” list with prices and sizes. Click here to see the selection.

And here are two earlier posts of mine with Victorian mirror as the theme: Nov. 3, Oct. 26.

Technorati Tags: Antique, Eastlake, glass, Mirror, Victorian, wicker

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

Here’s some intriguing news. Kim Palmer of the Minneapolis Star Tribune has written an article on the recent appearance of Victorian elements of style in modern furniture design and home décor. “Victorian furniture is making a comeback,” we are told.

From avant-garde Dutch designer Maarten Bass and his “Smoke” chaise, to online retailer Brocade Home with their mass-marketed ornately carved beds, to Pottery Barn with their dragonfly bottle stoppers, Victorian is back in vogue.

Evidently it’s not so much nostalgia for the Victorian era itself as a return to femininity in high-tech times. Along with heavily carved furniture and mirror frames, we are seeing art with religious undertones, a shift in color from reds and greens to plums and pinks, and the reemergence of the silhouette.

A return to femininity? I don’t think there’s enough femininity left in our society to return to. But if Victorian elements are being put into pieces of furniture manufactured for the mass market, I’m left to wonder what the trickle-down effect will be on real antique Victorian furniture.

You’ll find the article here.

Technorati Tags: Beds, Bottle Stoppers, Chaise, Decor, Furniture, Home, Mirror, Style, 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

Unable to resist articles about holiday events in Victorian homes (see my post on December 3), I came across this article in the Holland Sentinel about a Victorian Christmas Tea being offered at the Cappon House in Holland, Michigan. The event promises to be a step back in time for the attendees, with authentic Victorian delicacies being made according to period recipes. There will even be a pianist in period attire playing the popular tunes of 1900. But something else in the article caught my eye.

This house, built in 1873 for Dutch immigrant Isaac Cappon, a wealthy tannery owner as well as Holland’s first mayor, remained in the Cappon family all the way up to 1980. As a result, it is now “furnished with one of the country’s largest collections of early Grand Rapids furniture in its original setting.”

I took a look at the three photographs provided with the article. I was charmed by the sitting room and amazed by the massive mirror over the mantle. That was enough to set me off on the trail, and I found the site for the Holland Museum, run by the Holland Historical Trust, which owns the contents of the mansion somehow in coordination with the City of Holland.

On this page of the site you’ll see a photo of the exterior of the home. The house was designed by another Dutch immigrant, Jan R. Kleyn, in the Italianate style. It’s impressive, to say the least.

The first link provided from this page is Preserving the Past. Following the link we come to a page that gives the history of Isaac Cappon and his family. Mr. Cappon had eleven children by his first wife and five by his second (the housekeeper). Good thing he lived in a mansion!

Most of the furniture in the home came from Berkey & Gay and Nelson, Matter & Co., “two of the most significant early Grand Rapids furniture companies.” Both companies, along with a third Grand Rapids firm, won awards at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876.

Berkey & Gay supplied the mirror, parlor suite, center table, drapery and corner cornice for the parlor, the master bedroom suite, and the parlor suite and bookcase for the sitting room. There are a number of pictures provided on this page, one of which is a close-up of the arm of a Berkey & Gay chair. Photographs taken of the Berkey & Gay showroom back in 1870 show a mirror identical to the one over the mantle and chairs similar to the ones in the sitting room.

Another link to follow is Lessons from the Parlor. This page, along with providing two shots of the parlor, talks about how the furnishings of this particular room and of the home in general teach a lesson of immigration and assimilation during the Victorian era of 19th century America. This is a thoughtful little article, more insightful than much of what you get on museum promo pages.

I hope you enjoy all this. It falls right in line with my general endeavor to put antique Victorian furniture back into its own era. My compliments to the Holland Museum for their achievements in doing the same!

Technorati Tags: 19th Century, Antiques, Beds, Chair, Furniture, Grand Rapids, Home, House, Mirror, Table, Victorian

Back on October 26, I wrote about a post that I’d discovered on the Rainring blog, in which the author talked about his purchase of an antique Victorian mirror. He has just directed me to another of his posts, in which he discusses his acquisition of a Victorian chest of drawers.

It’s a pretty piece of furniture, made of mahogany, with three rows of “harmonious” drawers. Also, as “94” puts it, it has “funky extra bits sticking out at each side.” These extra bits look a little like shoulder pads and give an air of confidence to the piece.

What I really like about this writer is the entertaining insights he gives into the psychology of an amateur antique collector. He analyzes himself as much as the furniture. He admits to having no formal knowledge of antiques, and he refuses to read up on the subject. So he allows his own taste to guide him, along with what he has learned through the process of shopping and buying.

Having been raised to be careful with his money, he struggles when he comes across a desirable antique with a price-tag that stirs his sense of guilt. This chest of drawers was such a piece, and his description of how he reached his decision to buy it is a lively bit of writing. You’ll know if you’ve read the post on the Victorian mirror that 94 has a way of allowing the universe to decide for him.

Click here to read about it in his own words.

Technorati Tags: Antiques, Chest, Drawers, Mirror, Victorian