hunzinger library table with griffins and lion head feet

I am curious about this table that has been in the family for over a hundred years.  It is rose wood with 4 griffins and brass lion head feet.  I know it is a Hunzinger but know nothing else about it.  Please assist in id and value.

jorant

jorant

Welcome to the forum!  Please post pictures or send them to me at [email removed] and I'll post them.

John

Looks like a Merklen Brothers table to me.  I've attached your picture to this post after lightening it up a bit.  You can see a similar table here and track how it does at auction.  Note that they misspelled Merklen as "Marklin".  That sale should give you a feel for your table's worth.

If you get brighter pictures we'd love to see them.

John

This is definitely a Merklen Brothers table.  The Merklen Brothers made furniture in New York City between 1879 and 1897 and specialized in what they called spiral furniture.  They patented many machines to make spiral and twisted parts like these legs.  They also had a well known French sculptor, Emile Garet, who was responsible for the very fancy and sometimes very grotesque creatures that are incorporated in their furniture.  See my article in the May 2005 Magazine Antiques entitled Moorish Fretwork Furniture which talks about the Merklen Brothers and the Hunzinger misattribution problem.

Paul Tucker