The Historic District

I can't believe no one else bid on it!

Good save! Looks like older upholstery and it might be savable. That broken spring should be able to be repaired from underneath.

The styling is interesting as I'm seeing bits of both Rococo Revival and Eastlake. I'm guessing this would probably put it around 1875 or so.

Glad no one else bid on it and you were able to get a good deal.

Renaissance revival to my eye. Third quarter 1800s. Really nice genlemans chair. Would have been part of an expensive parlour set. Nice buy.

Great find Corsetière! You'll have to share some of your shopping tips and tricks.

Thanks, yes, definitely Renaissance Revival.

I'd like to complete the set with at *close* pieces in a couch and ladies chair....

Well, keep doing what ever it is your doing. In no time you'll be fully furnished, and for a pittance if recent finds are any indication.

When I was growing up, I had a friend whose family had lived in a big old pile of a house since it was built. Its original section was Greek Revival, but it had been added to many times over the years. (I remember, in the 1960s. asking my friend's great-aunt Josephine, then in her 90s, about the lack of shutters on the house. "Oh, they don't use those anymore, do they dear?" she replied. I asked her what she could see from her front porch when she was a little girl. She said there was a store across the street - Main Street - but beyond that it were tobacco fields all the way to the Connecticut River.)

But I digress - the parlor had furniture of this color and style. It was period-correct, complete with antimacassars, marble-topped tables, crystal lamps, snuff boxes and plush Oriental rugs. The rest of the house was a wild commotion of kids and dogs, but that little room was an oasis of tranquility, frozen in time. I suspect that this style, because of its sumptuous appearance, enjoyed great popularity and you'll be able to complete a set without too much trouble. Good luck!

Very nice, Corsetière. Is that a relief carving of a flower vase on the seat front, or something else?

Lily left the valley wrote:Very nice, Corsetière. Is that a relief carving of a flower vase on the seat front, or something else?

Thanks! Yeah, I think it is some sort of urn shape.

Gothichome wrote:Well, keep doing what ever it is your doing. In no time you'll be fully furnished, and for a pittance if recent finds are any indication.

lol! Yes, I nearly splurged at the same auction on what was almost certainly a Meeks sofa, but I just could not stand the thought of bidding over $1200 on one item (even though it is worth many times that!). Beautiful things can be had for very good prices these days. So instead I got the chair and then bought a couple of obscenely cheap room sized oriental rugs at a nearby antique mall.