Featured Here a jere, there a jere,

OK, back once again!

This one is by J. and J. Meeks of New York and New Orleans, ca. 1855-60. It's rosewood and rosewood veneer. the bottom section demonstrates their method of attaching sheets of rosewood at right angles to each other, then shaping the final form in a caul.

The top or "bonnet" shows that the Victorians pioneered producing the same object at different price points. The lowest price got you pretty much the same etagere, with a simple bonnet attached to the top. There were several more options, culminating in this one, made of rosewood "piecework." This etagere could also go with several Meeks parlor chair designs and tables to present a unified roof full of furniture. If you were super wealthy, that is.

 

at this juncture I would like to point out that upon seeing the Title..for the 1st time....late at night....
i thought it said.........here a jew, there a jew..........

 

Oy vey!

 

Thanks for thinking of me, Fig - I'm just seeing this now.

Much I love Beatrix Potter, I do not collect the figurines...

I do have all of my own & my kids' Potter books, however, as well as my daughter's childhood Beatrix Potter china - tea services (full size and child-size) and much more, all packed away in two bins in the attic. (Whether she will ever decide she wants it, I can't begin to guess, but I DO hope she will.)

 

Thanks for replying! I just thought, one never knows... Sounds like you have a pretty big collection of books and other things, though.

 

VERY nice Ghopper!!! NOT the 'run of the mill' wall hanging for collectibles!!!!! Don't think I've ever seen one that size before!!!!

 

Thanks Aquitaine! The Meeks Company tended to create pieces on a large scale, which is one way good way to attribute their stuff.

 

Just got a new (old) one to share with my furniture pals. This is a rare one, which I also attribute to Meeks. It's design mimics their 9-foot plus top of the line model, but it's only 8 feet. Never seen another one like it. Rosewood and maple ca. 1850. If anyone out there has scored an etagere in the past few months, now's the time to post a pic!

Picture to follow.....

 

Are you missing something?

 

I'm still about a million dollars short of being a millionaire....

 

Me too.

 

I'm working on my second million.


Gave up on the first.

 

Your etageres are beautiful! I’ve had this for years. Would this be considered an etagere or what not, or something else?

 

Very nice Patty. I have a somewhat similar one that I inherited from my grandparents. Mine is smaller and sits catty corner like a triangle.

 

Thanks. I had a corner one at one time as well. I think these are fairly common.

 

Yes @Pattywithay, I would consider yours to be an etagere. These pieces cross over into "Whatnotland" once they get small enough, but I don't know what the demarcation point is.

Thanks for posting. Very cool!!

 

Yay! I have an etagere. It seems much more elegant now. Thank you Ghopper1924.

 

Are you certain that the first etagere you are showing is Mallard? There has been a good amount of research here in the south about his work and nothing has been found in the New Orleans area that indicates that he had anything but a large showroom from which he sold pieces from several manufacturers, on being J & JW Meeks. It seems that most of the pieces that he sold as Mallard pieces were made in France and he had ships that brought rare woods up from South American and Central America that he sent to France with plans for commissioned pieces and then were picked up by the ships headed for SA and CA for wood and then returned to NO with the completed commissioned pieces. Also, it seems that there were other furniture makers who also used the egg and ribbon motif on their pieces.
At the museum where I volunteer we had an etagere that we were told was a Mallard piece by the family that placed it there on loan. Then in researching all of our pieces, I found this picture of an etagere in reference book on antique prices that was exactly like the one at the museum and it was referenced as a J&JW Meeks piece. There is a fine article by NED HÉMARD in New Orleans Nostalgia,
"Mallards in New Orleans," Copyright 2006 that tells about Prudence Mallard.

 

It's actually the second etagere. The first one I showed is attributed to Mitchell & Rammelsberg.

I'm as certain as anyone can be about Mallard. The research I've seen indicates that he may actually collaborated with Alexander Roux - a fellow countryman - the high-end cabinet maker in New York. It may have been Roux and/or his workshop that constructed much of what Prudent (not Prudence) Mallard sold. Or it may have been folks in France that made the pieces. Evidently when Mallard's possessions were probated at the end of his tenure as a cabinet maker/seller, there were none of the usual tools for cabinet making to be found. Which doesn't mean that he never had them.

Nevertheless, there are labeled pieces by Prudent Mallard. The etagere I have was definitely made in New Orleans as I have seen others with nearly identical features, all of which are said to have been made in the Big Easy, at least one of which has never left the family who bought it back in the 1850s. They share identical Rococo Revival features such as crest carvings, feet, wood tracery over the mirrors, shelf shapes, and supporting brackets. I've also seen various of these specific features on vintage mid-19th century bedroom sets originating in New Orleans.

It seems to me that if it takes multiple ship voyages to produce a finished piece of furniture then the cost would become too great to compete with your furniture producing neighbors. Not that it's impossible. Also, J and J Meeks did have a branch office in New Orleans aside from their New York headquarters, with an eye towards selling to wealthy merchants as well as plantation society. Meeks furniture of the 1850s and 60s, of which I show two examples in this thread, has a very distinctive look and scale which cannot reasonably be mistaken for Mallard or any other cabinet maker. It may have been convenient for them to use Mallard's "Ware Room" for sales, but it seems odd that they didn't have one of their own, given that they were a decades-long established business in their own right.

Since this furniture is out of fashion, there is not a lot of research going on to who actually made these pieces. Right now most people still attribute them to Mallard, rightly or wrongly. Perhaps it would be better to say "New Orleans" or even "France." But most folks who care understand "Mallard" well enough.

Heck, at one time everyone called New York Rococo Revival furniture "Belter furniture," no matter who built it. We've come a long way since then.

I read Ned Hemard's excellent article (thanks for the reference) some time ago, when researching this etagere. If, in the future, Ned proves conclusively that it was actually Marie Leveaux who built these pieces, I'll cheerfully say that this is a Leveaux etagere