Yellow PagesAntiques Considered
The Journal - King George County/STPNS
KING GEORGE, Virginia (STPNS) -- A writer in Montross has sent these pictures of two of a set of seven recently acquired from an antique dealer, who in turn had purchased them from a private home in Fredericksburg. The dealer told them they dated from 1830, and possibly had come from Baltimore.
These chairs, often called Klismos or saberleg chairs, are numbered in Roman numerals, and from the enumeration it is clear that there was an eighth member in the original set. The wood is mahogany with the splat in the back being crotch mahogany veneer. The fabric is old and the owners would like to retain it, but cover it over with something similar.
Indeed, the chairs do date from the early nineteenth century; I should say 1820 to 1840. They might have come from Baltimore, but their place of manufacture is very difficult to determine, barring the presence of a label or signature. From the appearance in the photographs, they look like New York or Boston. They represent the growing interest in Greek things in the decorative arts that had a mirror image in politics with the rise of Jacksonian democracy.
To have a set of seven is an increasingly rare phenomenon these days, when families have broken up such groupings in various divisions over the generations. It is maddening not to have the eighth. As a set they are worth about $1,500., assuming all are of the same condition as those in the photographs.
\Over the years I have been delighted with all of the work done on matching antique fabrics by Banes Northern Neck Upholstery in Callao, Virginia. Jim Banes, Harry Booth and the staff there are highly knowledgeable and their selections are excellent.
* Henry Lane Hull is a member of The Certified Appraisers Guild of America. He and his wife, Lisa, operate Commonwealth Antiques and Appraisals, Inc. at 5150 Jessie DuPont Hwy, P.O. Box 35, Wicomico Church, VA 22579. Write to him or email at comantqu@crosslink.net with photographs and descriptions of items you would like him to treat in "Antiques Considered.
© 2007 The Journal - King George County King George, Virginia. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from STPNS.
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