interesting blog

hi, neat blog. although victorian isnt my main interest in furniture i am glad to see someone track whats going on market wise in their interest area. the posted articles are concise and very informative. i wish there was a blog like this for early american furniture, in any event, GREAT BLOG!

Thanks.  It's never going to be 100% accurate but, if anything, it documents my dogged pursuit of the history of these pieces.  I'm glad people find it informative.

No reason you can't start an Early American Blog - www.EarlyAmericanBlog.com is available  ;)

lol @ No reason you can't start an Early American Blog.....rare, if you could see this hunt & peck with one finger typing technic i have here you would realize thats just not in the cards for me to do, it would take me hours to get a single post out.....on the furniture front, am i correct that in the victorian world the main debate is "attributed" to this or that maker? if so, you guys/gals have a good serious debate going that actually discusses the overall form of the furniture itself and this is very refreshing to me. in the early american world, often the debate on the form itself has been lost to a "original finish fetish" which is, in my view, destructive to the furniture itself for many reasons.

I would say less there is less (or any) talk about the use of the attributed label than should be happening and the original finish debate is also alive and well in Victorian Furniture also.  You might be interested to read this perspective from a 30-year restorer of Victorian furniture:
http://www.bradfordsantiques.com/Woodstripper.htm

rare, well dang, sorry to hear the finish thing is here too.bob flexner, who i consider an authority on finishes has arguments that are well thought out, reasoned and very persuasive. he challenged AR furniture "experts" in 2002 and forced this reply from peter cook, exec. producer of the show....... "So where does that leave us? Let the record show that Antiques Roadshow generally agrees with this notion: Well-conceived and well-executed refinishing and restoration usually enhances the value of just about any piece of old furniture. Exceptions are those rare (often museum-quality) pieces that have somehow survived in great 'original' condition. If we say or imply to the contrary, we should be called on it." ......in this 2006 article flexner spells out the damage thats been done in the antique furniture world and the "dogma" ( my word not his) thats been spread among the public at large. this guys got guts. GO BOB!!! heres his new piece....http://www.masterpiecefurniture.com/design_notes/flexner/antiques_roadshow.html

as a follow up to above post, i have been researching the beginnings of the " grunge movement" in american furniture and discovered that john t. kirk was one of the Founding Fathers of this rather odd movement. mr. kirk, an art historian at boston univ. (now retired) wrote a book in 1975 in which a chapter was titled "BUY IT RATTY AND LEAVE IT ALONE", addressing the then disgraceful practice of some to strip painted furniture in hopes of trying to sell it as an earlier piece. in 2000, mr. kirk penned an article in The Magazine Antiques commenting on his earlier book and what had transpired in the past 25 yrs., heres an excerpt "During the late 1970s and early 1980s the love and monetary worth of the ratty and dirty expanded from painted furniture to pieces that were highly styled and made to show off expensive woods, such as walnut, cherry, and mahogany. By the late 1990s the acceptance of the grungy was so widespread that on December 10, 1999, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled "Collecting, Today's Art Lesson: Grime Pays," with a subheading announcing "A Status Symbol: Filthy Furniture."  to read mr. kirk's entire article....http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-66217947.html

I agree that this is a GREAT website.  I check in every day, generally more than once.  I love Renaissance Revival (and some Aesthetic) furniture and I appreciate the insights I can pick up here.  The articles are interesting and, for me, very informative.  I'm also in the market for a few select items and I find the search links most helpful.  Thanks for sharing.  Happy Veterans
Day to all the vets in our midst.  Thanks to you, too. 

Go Heels.

BornaHeel