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.
Jul
28
Take a look at this article from WorthPoint. Evidently the Victorian table was not complete without its napkin rings.
Feb
7
According to a recent article in the Daily Gazette out of Schenectady, NY, there are a number of pressures working to push down prices of Victorian furniture and other antiques and collectibles.
Current economic conditions, for one, are leaving people strapped for cash. Mark Lawson of Mark Lawson Antiques of Sarasota Springs says that more and more people are coming in trying to unload collectibles. In the past he saw this only once in a while, and it was often the elderly trying to pay property taxes. Now he’s seeing younger people.
As he explains, “Because of the economy, people are desperate to raise money to live or get by on. That’s really new.”
Unfortunately, what these people don’t understand is that the market has sunk because of online sites like Craigslist and eBay. Collectibles relatively rare in the past are now widely available and therefore less valuable. Hummel figurines, for instance, that used to sell between $100 and $200 are now worth no more than $30.
Also, the market has simply changed. Young people aren’t collecting. It’s not fashionable. Antique Victorian furniture used to sell well. Today the market for it has shrunk.
David Ornstein of New Scotland Antiques in Albany tells of a woman who brought him a Victorian marble-top table. He offered her $100, thinking he could get $150 for it, but the woman thought she was being cheated. “We’re caught in a tunnel we can see no end to,” he explains, “and I’ve been in this business for 30 years.”
Is there really no end to this? Or does this represent an unusual opportunity for the more astute? The greatest investors have always bought when the masses were selling.
And here are some earlier posts of mine that deal with the current market for antique Victorian furniture: Dec. 9, Dec. 8, Nov. 27, Oct. 25.
Feb
6
I found an interesting article at the WorthPoint blog, written by WorthPoint worthologist Tom Carrier. Tom tells how he had the chance to follow Will Seippel, WorthPoint founder and CEO, around the huge antique show in Brimfield, MA. Three times every year the town of Brimfield, population about 5,000, doubles in size as 5,000 antique dealers show up to create the “Antique Capital of the United States.”
Will Seippel wanders around commenting on various things he finds, including a Sheraton style New England work table dating to around 1820, with its characteristically thin legs, some Victorian drawer pulls, and a Victorian bed. Will remarks that the bed is “a little bit higher end of Victorian furniture.” Fruit carvings adorn the head and foot of the bed.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that there is a video accompanying the article. We get the chance to follow Will Seippel around ourselves. The Victorian bed comes at the end.
Jan
6
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.
Dec
26
If you feel that you really belong in the 19th century rather than the 21st, you‘re not alone. A woman named Barbara Johnson, who lives in northern Baltimore County, is so sure of it that she has transported the interior of her 5,500-square-foot home back to Victorian times.
A recent article in the Baltimore Sun tells us that Mrs. Johnson has been reinventing her home ever since she and her husband bought it newly-built back in 1991. Today it’s full of antiques and collectibles such as toys, photographs, china and, yes, furniture.
The original dining room is now a train room showcasing a “Department 56 Snow Village” with over 30 buildings, trees, carousels, a snow covered mountain and sledding children. Her living room has become her parlor, with a camelback sofa and loveseat.
The living and dining area has been shifted into an elegant addition at the back of the house. The article says that the design and décor of this space is breathtaking. It features velvet draperies, two crystal chandeliers, and a 13-foot mahogany table that seats 18.
Where did Mrs. Johnson get her inspiration? She does have an interior decorator, but she also says that the key to decorating is to “create a presence; to go inside yourself for some kind of feeling.”
Click here to read the article and see some photos of the presence she’s created in her home.
Dec
23
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.
I myself unfortunately don’t have a parlor. I wish I did. Life without parlors is hopelessly unsociable and modern.
Dec
9
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.
Dec
5
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!
Dec
2
I almost missed this article out of London from the Kilgore News Herald. It talks about the Christmas traditions that we owe to the Victorian era, especially the meal. And it discusses the influence of Charles Dickens’ description of Christmas at the Cratchit’s, the family of Tiny Tim, in A Christmas Carol.
A Christmas Carol was published on December 19, 1843. Within a week 6,000 copies were sold!
Dickens, the article says, was the first to paint this “portrait of celebration,” complete with a stuffed goose, mashed potatoes, gravy, applesauce, and plum pudding. Apparently, in the early 19th century, Christmas was not a cause for great celebration; but Dickens’ picture of “everyone sitting around the table with a great big goose” helped to change all that.
It’s not just the feast, either, that we get from the Victorians. The Christmas tree itself, although already a long established tradition in Germany, became widely popular in England only after a print was published showing Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the children all gathered around one.
There’s so much more to antique Victorian furniture than cabriole legs. Perhaps that Victorian table you’re thinking of buying offered up numerous Christmas meals for a happy Victorian family, who feasted under the intoxicating influence of Dickens. You may not know it, but those ghosts of past Christmases are still sitting there.