Can someone tell me how Karges quarter sawn oak furniture compares with R J Horner, etc. I was contemplating selling a Karges dresser and bed made from quarter sawn oak and did not really know the value. Does anyone have any links to Karges oak furniture so I can compare?
thanks,
Bruce
Karges info
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Victorian Furniture thread on victorianforum.com · started June 11, 2008 by bburton10 · 4 posts · discussion in 2008.
Can someone tell me how Karges quarter sawn oak furniture compares with R J Horner, etc. I was contemplating selling a Karges dresser and bed made from quarter sawn oak and did not really know the value. Does anyone have any links to Karges oak furniture so I can compare?…
Bradfords Antiques sold one and here's another sold by Sydow's. Bradford's piece went for $8k as they have a good following and extensively restore and refinish to near new condition.
It's hard to make any comparison to Horner based on the two Karges pieces I found, for me personally, as I hadn't heard of Karges before. From what I've gleaned from the web, Karges was a moderately priced manufacturer. Horner would go from the moderate to the upper end. Today, the highest-end Horner Oak dining sets can bring $40k while other single Horner pieces can bring the $8k that the Karges piece at Bradford's brought and oftentimes notably less at $2-3k for some attributed hall benches, for example.
I was told that Angelina Jolie (probably her decorator, pre-Pitt) bought a pair of Horner bookcases from a dealer friend of mine for either $15k or $25k each, I forget. I know of a rare Mahogany Horner bookcase that goes unsold with $80k offers from buyers. Carving-wise, the highest end Horners are unbelievably naturalistic while some mid-level Horners can have moderately-skilled carving on par with these two Karges. Realize that a lot of "Horner" pieces are loose attributions, so it's hard to compare with accuracy. As an aside, Oriel was a contemporary of theirs and you might be interested to gaze at this piece. I know I've seen pieces from Oriel attributed to Horner.
Anyway, I think what you care most about is price and I hope I've confused you ;) enough with my thoughts above.
It's hard to make any comparison to Horner based on the two Karges pieces I found, for me personally, as I hadn't heard of Karges before. From what I've gleaned from the web, Karges was a moderately priced manufacturer. Horner would go from the moderate to the upper end. Today, the highest-end Horner Oak dining sets can bring $40k while other single Horner pieces can bring the $8k that the Karges piece at Bradford's brought and oftentimes notably less at $2-3k for some attributed hall benches, for example.
I was told that Angelina Jolie (probably her decorator, pre-Pitt) bought a pair of Horner bookcases from a dealer friend of mine for either $15k or $25k each, I forget. I know of a rare Mahogany Horner bookcase that goes unsold with $80k offers from buyers. Carving-wise, the highest end Horners are unbelievably naturalistic while some mid-level Horners can have moderately-skilled carving on par with these two Karges. Realize that a lot of "Horner" pieces are loose attributions, so it's hard to compare with accuracy. As an aside, Oriel was a contemporary of theirs and you might be interested to gaze at this piece. I know I've seen pieces from Oriel attributed to Horner.
Anyway, I think what you care most about is price and I hope I've confused you ;) enough with my thoughts above.
Found another one (Karges piece).
thanks for the reply!