Rare Victorian

Gold Gilt Belter Furniture

John Werry — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:20:22 +0000

I recently ran across this four-piece set of John Henry Belter Rosalie chairs online and asked the owner if I could post the image here. What struck me about this set is that the crests are gold-gilt. I have never run across this treatment on Belter furniture and so my initial reaction is that it [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

Compiling Top 10 Antique Blogs List

John Werry — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:04:14 +0000

I’ve been asked to compile a top 10 list of Antiques-oriented blog for Blogs.com and I’d like to solicit feedback from the Rare Victorian community. If you have some favorite antiques blogs that you follow, please pass them onto me at via the contact page. I will share the list once it is compiled and [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

Rare Victorian Forum: Restoration Tips for Cleaning Compo

Cynthiab — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:01:20 +0000

Tcandkk may be a newbie poster on the Rare Victorian board, but it’s already obvious that she’s not a newbie when it comes to buying Victorian furniture. She loves a deal and is prepared to put the work in to bring a less than perfect piece back to its original glory. One of her new (old) [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

George Hunzinger Lounge Chair

John Werry — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:49:52 +0000

George Hunzinger furniture fans will probably be interested to see this chair design by him based on the 1869 brace patent. This is not a common form and I personally haven’t seen one in the past. You can see the chair without arms in the Hunzinger book on page 66. Of interest to me [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

Neal Auction Summer Estates Auction

John Werry — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:08:46 +0000

Neal Auction’s next sale is coming up this weekend and it has it’s share of worthy lots which I have provided a sampling of below. I have been so busy recently that I haven’t had a chance to review the paper catalog that is sent out but their website has all the details. Attributed pieces [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

John Jelliff Neo-Grec VSA Article

John Werry — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 16:01:34 +0000

I recently “met” Roberta Mayer virtually through this site when she saw my posts on Jelliff and the “Jenny Lind” carved arms. She made me aware of an article she had written on the same topic several years ago for The Victorian Times for VSA. Roberta is an accomplished and widely published author and presenter [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

My Antiques Roadshow Experience Part II

John Werry — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 16:46:12 +0000

I left off with my Antiques Roadshow experience in the last post at the paintings table. Both Chris and I had lugged our final appraisal items through this, our longest line – long enough that it was broken in two, which was not apparent until you reached the “inner circle”. Chris took a large “Russian-looking” painting [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

Does “Victorian” Really Have Any Meaning?

Hollie — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:30:56 +0000

Photo courtesy of Liveauctioneers Now that we’ve tackled the semantics of Empire vs. Late Classical, let’s take a crack at something larger – the word “Victorian.” Does “Victorian” really have any meaning? Did it ever? There are those who would argue that the word has become a generic term with muddied applications, while [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

Auction Results Round-Up June 20th Edition

suemellish — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:27:22 +0000

In what will hopefully become a regular feature on Rare Victorian, I’ve invited Sue Mellish, who has been an antiques and collectibles writer for Antique Week in the past, to wrap up some of the recent Victorian auction highlights for us. The estate auction of Mrs. Katherine Creamer of Mobile, AL had some fantastic pieces sell [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]

I’ll Gladly Pay You Tuesday For A Hamburger Today

John Werry — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:17:19 +0000

No sooner do I put up a post about J.W. Hamburger than woodwright points out the Great American Auction sale coming up tomorrow. I had previously reviewed the lots, but since I just did the post earlier this morning, one stuck out for me this time around. The “Jelliff” chair on page 2 favors [...]

[Click on the article title for the complete story]