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Antiques, antiques auctions, recent purchases and discussion - Page 2

post #16 of 162
1/13/13 at 1:46pm
I'm terribly unfamiliar with prominent 19c makers which is why I'm asking which ones you seek out. The American revival furniture period coincides with the implementation of steam powered manufacturing which allowed manufactures to create ready-made parts for the first time, combined with a taste for the past, it created a period of ubiquitous design inspired by previous styles. While there still is alot of handwork and quality to most of what I've seen, it is unremarkable compared to the 18c American and European styles that it mimics.

However I still believe there was a handful of makers producing top quality, which seems to be the case in every era.
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post #17 of 162
1/13/13 at 2:25pm
Thread Starter 
^^ With antiques, I'm sorta mostly a 'dunno much about beer but I know what I like' kind of guy.

But I do understand what you are alluding to. I remember a piece coming to the (British) Antiques Roadshow, it was a dinner table.

The expert identified the table top and bottom as being from different eras.

The top was authentic 15th c, but the bottom had details that made it look 17th c. Where it got interesting was that the bottom was in fact not 17 c, it was from the 19th c and was a 17th c reproduction.

Where he spotted it as a reproduction was that it was intentionally made to look rough, which to an Edwardian was the idea of what a 17th c piece would look. In fact it was not the case, tables of this magnitude were perfectly executed and very polished, the cost a fortune and were only ever owned by elite.

The table was still worth $25,000. The appraiser said it would be worth over $100,000 if it was auth 15th c.
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post #18 of 162
1/13/13 at 3:38pm
I see, Goombah is talking about revival styles. I don't know much about them except that I do not like any of them. I don't think you can shop for manufacturers when it comes to antique furniture from 19C. I have not seen a single piece of furniture from 19C. that had manufacturer's label on it. That does not mean they do not exist ,but that shopping for them is pointless. It just was not done those days and if some shop did attach a label it was on paper and did not survive to our days. You might get lucky and find a makers autograph on the panel inside or underside of the drawer, but this is really rare, I mean extremely rare and the price of that piece would be 10 times what similar unsigned is selling for. Makers those days were not leaving a lot of clues to us, perhaps they lacked vanity:) I did find a few pencil marks and signs on a couple of pieces that I own but they are left overs from the manufacturing process and don't give any clues to the nationality let alone the name of the maker.
I am with Idfnl on this , buy what you like. Educate yourself a little ,so that you don't buy a fugeze, but buy with your eyes.
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post #19 of 162
1/13/13 at 3:47pm


Here is a tiger maple lowboy which is typical American furntiure peice. I think it is not very old , probably early 20th or later, but the workmanship is really top notch. The maker was obsessive-compulsive type ; each small drawer has 7 dove-tailed joints smile.gif . Also I believe that tiger maple is a typical American wood (never seen anything from Europe made of it) and very rarely used as veneer (probably due to low cost of maple) thus you are getting American classic made of maple solids (which is nice).
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post #20 of 162
1/13/13 at 4:28pm
Thread Starter 
^^ 99% sure Tiger Maple is American. Almost a dead giveaway this is a US piece.

Agree, that is quality. Where are you located Medwed?

To your point, I've seen/bought some solid reproductions. Reproduction in the furniture world is not the same as fake watches, etc. Its more like a homage. And its up to a craftsman to detail it.

I have this amazing pine dinner table that is a reproduction farm table. Its unbelievable. Probably the best score of my life considering what I paid for it. Anyway, this table was featured in a woodworking magazine with designs, an interview with the craftsman, etc. Its really a piece of art and the seller was the son of the mother that ordered it made in the 80's for a few thousand $, which is a lot during that time. You wouldn't believe what I paid. He just didn't value it.

I got it via craigslist. Sent him an email as soon as I saw it. 5 days later, after believing he got 100 emails and took the first I got a mail. He happened to be traveling. He said I was first and if I still wanted it, then it was mine. I was there within 2 hours and bought it. I've never felt so satisfied in 15 years of antiquing.

Another great score was actually recently and relates to this theme. Will have to take some pics. Its a Dragonfly reproduction Tiffany stained glass lamp. But its huge. Its a side table lamp that takes 3 bulbs, its more than 2 feet wide and weighs about 40 pounds. Came from hand maker in San Fran. Its superb. I cant drop $5000 on a real one, and the mass of this one makes it rare and special. So you see a reproduction can still be quality, rare, and special.

And BTW, the word 'pine' above has a totally different meaning than the young growth shit from IKEA.
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post #21 of 162
1/13/13 at 5:21pm
I agree with you that reproductions could be as wonderful as antiques, but antiques are cheaper and come with patina free of charge:)

Here is a good example of furniture with known provenance (not known manufacturer though):
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/14960450_the-thomas-robinson-walnut-veneered-dressing-table
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post #22 of 162
1/13/13 at 7:48pm
That dressing table is quite nice, seems to be 18c. I agree there wouldn't be a manufacturer, but likely there is a shop or house of these eras that creates top work at the time. In 18c it would be cabinet makers such as Boulle, Hepplewhite or Chippendale, but in the 19th century.....?
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post #23 of 162
1/13/13 at 7:59pm
http://www.christies.com/features/guides/american-furniture/makers.aspx
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post #24 of 162
1/14/13 at 5:33am
Thank you! That is a great resource.
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post #25 of 162
1/16/13 at 2:57pm
Two words: Knife boxes. ok ? I've restored 3 : two for correspondence storage and general mementos and one for liquor tantalus.
They looked beaten to death and dirty but most wood was intact, save for a few cracks. They look awesome now and probably the oldest wooden antiques I own.
Restoring them have been a steep learning curve. But I figured a few things you not going to read online or cannot google. 1. You can shellac/lacquer over acrylic paint No problemo. 2. Mixing Belhem powder pigments with slow epoxy or plastic wood does magic. 3. Acetone + plastic wood always better than without. etc.

Here is something completely different (i don't have pics of knife-boxes, sorry) , this is something I picked up at Doyle at Home auctions for a song . It cleaned up very nicely, I replaced a few missing cock-beads and green felt for the desk and it was done. Under the old drawer lining I found beautiful B&W shots of a young woman with NYTimes proof on them (circa pre/post WWII).

Edited by Medwed - 1/17/13 at 10:57am
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post #26 of 162
2/9/13 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
Picked this deco cast iron horse today, its about 12" wide:


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post #27 of 162
2/10/13 at 12:34pm
Nice horsey.
Bronze of decent quality is very popular and never cheap.
I have noticed a huge disparity in prices on similar items. That is what is exciting about auctions, you either have to pay through the nose for something you just love or you are getting it for a song for no reason at all.
Like this card table:
that have sold for $125.00+20%

There is absolutely no reason for such low price.

One of my 2012 acquisitions:
: I wish I could say it was cheap....shog[1].gif
Edited by Medwed - 2/10/13 at 1:46pm
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post #28 of 162
2/10/13 at 1:23pm
Both of those are awesome.
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post #29 of 162
2/10/13 at 2:09pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkinnyGoomba View Post

Both of those are awesome.

+1 especially the card table.


To Medwed's point, I watched 2 guys once bid up a thrift store coat rack to $500. The whole room started looking at each other when it got to $150. It was more valuable as firewood to me.


Cast iron and bronze seems like they're on an uptick. Its getting bid up. I have a Hubley cast iron dog similar to the one here, can you believe these things sell for $100-300?





EDIT: holy shit, I got mine really cheap, there some of these going for $750 on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-HUBLEY-Cast-Iron-Boston-Terrier-Dog-Doorstop-Store-Ad-Promo-FREE-Ship-/251165391254?pt=Antiques_Decorative_Arts&hash=item3a7a9fb996
Edited by idfnl - 2/10/13 at 2:22pm
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post #30 of 162
2/10/13 at 2:40pm
Internet certainly raised prices of many objects as well as allowed international reach for many buyers. At Leslihindman Auction, Chicago, today I have seen many items that got no bids from the floor but received a flurry of bids from the internet it was bizarre.

Here is chair I bought at Rolland 2 weeks ago. I did not get it cheap but I liked it so much I could not pass it up. The carving and tassels are awesome.
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CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 85
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