Table stamped JJ, Help please!

Discussion in 'Furniture' started by james ogden, Dec 21, 2015.

  1. james ogden

    james ogden New Member

    I'm trying to find the maker of a table I recently bought but with google alone not having much luck..
    Does any one know who's stamp was JJ, the table is marked to each draw.
    Thanks
     
  2. afantiques

    afantiques Well-Known Member

    A picture is essential, a table could be any period.
     
  3. james ogden

    james ogden New Member

    ahh,, ok I'll get one uploaded, I believe it to be late Victorian 1880, it has the later brown castors as opposed to the white porcelain ones.
     
    komokwa likes this.
  4. james ogden

    james ogden New Member

    Cant seem to lad a full picture of the table, I get a error image to large pop up... I think there must be to much going on it the background of the pic.
    I shall up load a full pick shortly, thanks in advance guys!
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    The largest file size for pictures is 1MB. Proper cropping and resizing will help.
     
  6. james ogden

    james ogden New Member

    Thanks Bakersgma, sorted now.
     

    Attached Files:

    yourturntoloveit likes this.
  7. komokwa

    komokwa The Truth is out there...!

    nice table !!!
     
  8. Bakersgma

    Bakersgma Well-Known Member

    Nice table. What is your impression of the material on top - leather? Or something else?

    Can you post pictures of the drawer construction (any dovetails?) and the wood grain on the drawer sides and bottom?
     
    yourturntoloveit likes this.
  9. verybrad

    verybrad Well-Known Member

    Possibly made in a small shop as opposed to a factory. Nice sophisticated design that points to a Northeast origin if American. Could be earlier than you think. Would like to see drawer construction to determine.
     
  10. springfld.arsenal

    springfld.arsenal Store: http://www.springfieldarsenal.net/

    Aren't these often referred to as "library tables?"
     
  11. james ogden

    james ogden New Member

    Hi Guys,
    I understand it to be English,and it is writing table as opposed to a normal desk.
    It has a leather top.
    Does anybody have 'ye olde book'of English furniture makers, the JJ on the draw seems a great lead?
     

    Attached Files:

  12. springfld.arsenal

    springfld.arsenal Store: http://www.springfieldarsenal.net/

    I see from the pic the mark isn't just "jj" but is "jj in circle." That's important in narrowing down possibilities. For example a ranch in Australia used that as an animal brand in the mid-19th C., maybe they branded their furniture too.
     
  13. springfld.arsenal

    springfld.arsenal Store: http://www.springfieldarsenal.net/

    IMO, for average, let's say, 19th C domestic furniture like your table, which would sell somewhere in the low to mid three figures, the fact that it is from one maker or another has no influence on the value of the item. When you get into fancy/collectible items that sell for five figures or more, the maker, if known, can influence value. But I dunno that much about furniture, Brad and a few others here do however.
     
  14. johnnycb09

    johnnycb09 Well-Known Member

    Looks Empire,or Empire revival. I don't know from wood,but is that mahogany ? That's a lovely little table,great size.
     
  15. Ladybranch

    Ladybranch Well-Known Member

    The only furniture mark of "JJ" in a circle I could find mentioned was for a Johann M. Jahn (1816-1883). It seems he immigrated to the states in 1844 from Barth in the Prussian province of Pomerania. He finally settled in New Braunfels, TX. He had a 5 year apprenticed in a Prague cabinetmaker shop and spent 6 years in Switzerland where he earned his master craftsman designation before immigrating. Much of his furniture was not marked and some marked with JJ in a circle with sometimes "the legend JJ/New Braunfels or Jahn in black paint." He is written up in several Texas archives with his furniture displayed in museums. Seems "Jahn produced furniture in the Biedermeier style..."

    Texas Furniture, Volume One: The Cabinetmakers and Their Work, 1840-1880 By Lonn Taylor, David B. Warren. Page 310, right column:
    "Examples of furniture from Jahn's shop exist marked with the initials JJ in a circle burned into the wood..."

    Page 80: Wardrobe by him
    Page 274: Safe
    Page 141: Side chair
    Page 220: Sewing table
    etc...

    https://books.google.com/books?id=rF1lW7QfNlsC&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310&dq=1900+Furniture+maker:+"JJ"&source=bl&ots=oPOIdsL7x3&sig=-ZbTVy4wvV5V0FT136_uAMpH8u8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjMzYaZ_O_JAhVFOz4KHfxiDZY4ChDoAQgoMAI#v=onepage&q=Jahn&f=false

    Other sites telling about him.
    http://www.co.comal.tx.us/Historical/RTHL_PDF/Jahn, Johann Michael.pdf
    http://sophienburg.com/blog/?p=610
    https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fjana
    http://texasartisans.mfah.org/cdm/singleitem/collection/p15939coll10/id/0/rec/2

    I haven't found a picture of his JJ in a circle mark to compare it to yours.
     
    komokwa and afantiques like this.
  16. verybrad

    verybrad Well-Known Member

    Here in the States this was called a work table. I think the idea was that it was a table set to the side of your chair that you could set your work on; whether it was reading, sewing, or whatever you might do in a chair. It is a term seldom used these days. Since this could be English, I don't know what term would be used there. The leather top is unusual and may be a peculiarity to it being English.
     
  17. verybrad

    verybrad Well-Known Member

    Styling and dovetails on this say that this could be as early as 1860 based on American examples. My understanding of English furniture is limited but believe that hand cut dovetails such as these persisted longer than here in the States. This could put it to 1880 as the OP suggests. .
     
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