Note to Neal Auction:  free advertising on Rare Vic for infinity if this cabinet finds it’s way to my front door.  Don’t worry, it’s a covered porch.  Like they would need to bribe me since I blog about their sales anyway.

Yes, I’m drooling over this fantastic Allen & Brother cabinet coming up at the Louisiana Purchase Sale on the 11th.  They have another sale chock full of big names: Meeks, Belter, Pottier & Stymus, Herter Brothers, Doe Hazelton.  Yes, Doe Hazelton as in the House of Representatives desk manufacturers.  The desk in this sale indeed bears their stencil and it is a fine example.  There’s even a solo effort by Gustave Herter (attributed) in this sale in the form of a chair frame.

I have questions about a few of the attributions as I have the tendency to do - the P&S table resembles Marcotte more so to me and the Belter Library Chair is very reminiscent of the Henkels/White chair that Neal recently sold.  The key differentiator appears to be - lamination.  The chair sold prior didn’t appear to be laminated while this one is indeed laminated.  That’s an interesting distinction and I see where they are going with that one.

My hand got tired clicking through all the items but I’ve cobbled a collection of them for you below which will not be visible after the sale.  The full catalog can be perused here.

I would like to see one of these Belter youth chairs in person.  I have a Belter slipper chair and it is diminutive;  I can’t imagine how tiny these chairs made for children would appear.  At 27 3/4″ tall, I could almost walk by it and not notice it in the room.

Don’t be fooled by the size, however.  Although this design is reminiscent of Belter’s moderately carved designs such as the Rosalie, the price tag is many stratospheres beyond.  This chair’s pre-auction estimate is $25,000-$35,000.  I seem to recall a recent Belter youth chair being sold and the price comfortably reaching 5-digits, but I cannot recall which sale and when.

I believe that I have located the current owner - M.S. Rau Antiques, who has been asking $45,000 for the chair before putting it up in the Neal sale.

There is a unique design element on this particular chair - an open book in the crest of the seat back.  It was probably designed for a little fervent reader.  The question I have is, is this a one-of-a-kind chair?  I have never seen one with the book in the crest.

More at the listing.

Related items currently available for sale

Neal Auction’s upcoming sale will feature several pieces of George Hunzinger furniture, including the above sofa and a chair that would match it, were they to be upholstered in the same manner.  I expect there to be a wide range of prices on these items with the one above probably leading the hammer prices (Neal estimates $4-6,000) down to the more diminutive side chairs that he produced which may fetch around $1,000.  The rocker may also end up in that price range as well.  The full gamut is shown below:

In my opinion, Neal Auction is being a bit conservative in their attribution on this chair. I’m always very appreciative of Neal’s condition information and research that they provide with their listing and I feel they are consistently careful not to go out on a limb on attributing a maker unless they have a good case. I learn a lot from their catalogs which provide additional historical background on pieces that you will not necessarily get within their online listings.

In the case above with the Modern Gothic chair, Neal Auction has attributed it to Kimbel & Cabus. Judging by the image of the chair to the left from K&C’s 1875-ish catalog that the Smithsonian has, Neal has more than an attribution case.  I would say the chair is absolutely made by Kimbel & Cabus save for one concern: the incising on the sides above and below the seat appear to be missing on the Neal chair.  Hard to be sure from one distant image.  If it is indeed missing, it is likely a design variation for K&C.  Even the stretcher has a small notch in the center of both examples.  More at the listing for the chair.

Neal has a good sale coming up in 8 days and I’ll profile more items in the days coming.  In the meantime,  here’s a link to peruse the full online catalog.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Related items currently available for sale

Although picking up a pair of Meeks Stanton Hall pattern chairs seems like it could never be a bad investment, that all depends on the price of the acquisition, and with this pair, the asking price of $4,400 is above where auction activity has put these chairs.

A pair of abused chairs sold at Cowan’s for $1,700, though I wouldn’t use them for comparison for a set that hasn’t seen major repairs.  John Moran auctioned off a pair for $3,250 in November, and Neal sold a pair for $2,350 in ‘06.   You can’t compare prices with armchairs since they tend to nearly double those of chairs without arms so I ignore those prices.

If you were to buy these chairs in a retail environment, then a price like the $4,400 or more would not be unexpected.  However, on Ebay or at auction I would not be a buyer and assuming I had time to wait, would expect to find a pair pop up in the months ahead that could be grabbed at a $2,500-$3,500 range, including any fees.  … Or about the price that each of us Americans will owe on the $700 billion bailout.

The listing for the set on Ebay is here.

Related items currently available for sale