Ebonized settee and first post!

For my first post I thought I'd start with one of my favorite pieces.

I discovered this ebonized settee a couple of years ago and couldn't live without it.  The green silk upholstery is slightly lighter in the pics than in person.  I've been through all of my victorian furniture books and am still unsure who may have made the piece.  Some elements look rather like Kimbel & Cabus but I've not found similar designs from any maker.  I'm very attracted to its design quality which to me appears to be a step above the numerous lower end pieces out there.  I wonder if anyone has seen anything like it or cares to make an attribution.  I've love to find other pieces if it was once part of a set.

Thanks much,
Jerry

Wow.  I don't think that I have ever seen anything quite like it.  Very nice find!  Care to tell us how much fair market value was back when you purchased it?

- Jason

Very interesting amalgam of styles... we have an Aesthetic Movement armchair with the exactly the same canted and carved frieze at the top of the back, but we've never gotten a Kimbel and Cabus vibe from it. Who, if I may be so bold, is your upholsterer?

Hang on to your seat!  I paid 9k for it.  I very likely set a record for an ebonized upholstered piece.  I bought it from a dealer at the rather high end Hillsborough Antique Show in the San Francisco bay area.  The seller has been dealing in Herter, Pottier & Stymus, Kimbel & Cabus and Hunzinger, etc. for decades.  She attributed the settee to Herter.  This gets complicated as I've found some of Herter's ebonized pieces to be the least typical of their designs.  I do think the quality of the design and workmanship could point to them but who knows.  I've planned on this being a very long term investment which is fine as I love it today as much as the day I bought it.

I'd love to see a pic of your armchair misslilybart.  I bought the settee with its quite fine silk upholstery job already on it but I did get the name of the shop who did it.  It may take me some time to find the card as I moved from San Francisco to Rhode Island last year and my papers are an absolute mess!

Hey JRE,

Welcome to the boards, I'm new here myself.

That's one lovely settee and in 24 years of studying and collecting I've never seen one quite like it either.

Herter did make ebonized Aesthetic furniture, this cabinet has similar feet to your sofa:

http://i83.photobucket.com/albums/j285/zekenstein/Hertercabinet-1.jpg

This link is a sofa that has, at least, a similar "feel" to yours, it does seem to have very similar feet. It also has carved dragons:

http://www.chaliceantiques.com/inventory.php?a=3&id=162

I know this isn't much, but I hope it helps a little. Ebonized pieces of this quality are rare and the book on them has yet to be written.

It's a fantastic piece, whoever made it.

Zeke

Quote from: jre2100
I'd love to see a pic of your armchair misslilybart.

The chair is in storage at the moment, but the next time I am over there, I'll pull it out & photograph it.

I bought the settee with its quite fine silk upholstery job already on it but I did get the name of the shop who did it.  It may take me some time to find the card as I moved from San Francisco to Rhode Island last year and my papers are an absolute mess!

'Tis much appreciated, although an upholsterer on the left coast would probably be of more use to others on the board, since I am in New Jersey.  :)

Thanks for the links Zeke.  Misslilybart, have you attributed your chair to a particular maker?  The shop who did the upholstery is Torres Custom Upholstery out of Redwood City, California.  Their phone is 650-368-7431.

Quote from: jre2100
Misslilybart, have you attributed your chair to a particular maker? 

We have not, and I'm not sure where I'd even begin to research it... what I have is:

- it definitely is related to your sofa, yet other than the carved frieze, and ebonized finish, there is no stylistic similarity.
- Our chair was purchased in NJ, your sofa in CA.... which really isn't at all helpful, considering that in 1880, there were about 175 furniture makers in (centrally located for purposes of this exercise) Chicago alone.

I have looked through all of our 19th century furniture references, and was not able to find anything to hang an attribution on. When I do get the chair out for photography, I will give it the once over and note/photograph any construction details that might be helpful.