Need Help/Direction for Antique/Vintage Furniture

Somehow I thought the screen would be older and the lamp newer, but I'm really out of my element on this stuff. I was wondering if the second set of chairs had Asian origins from the dolphin heads and also the finish being somewhat inconsistent. I'm coming around on the dolphins now that I've seen that depiction in older pieces of European origin. But, I figured a true antique would have a more consistent finish on the wood. I'll try to get a few pictures later to show what I'm talking about. If anyone wants more pictures, just ask and I'll try to get them.

The radio doesn't seem to be refinished. Or if it was, it was done a long time ago and really well. It has its flaws. I have a suspicion on the radio too. This one has shorter legs than most of the K-44 radio pictures I've found so far. I wonder if the lower part of the legs or leg frame was damaged over the years and someone cut off the whole lower leg frame. It's either that or this is a slightly different, lower model. I'll check the feet when we get the radio out of my truck. It's so heavy and awkward that we haven't had a chance to wrestle with it since we've been home. I would like to test it, but the inside is full of dust. It will need to be cleaned up at a minimum before I'd feel comfortable applying power to it. If it works, that would be great. If not, it's tempting to strip the heavy transformers and tubes out and stick a modern bluetooth receiver and speaker(s) inside.

 

How about a few more pieces that we couldn't take on this trip.

Sorry this is such a bad picture. There wasn't a good place to stand to get farther back from this buffet and get it all in the picture.




Looks like this is a match to the first one. Different lighting and maybe some fading on this one.



I'm guessing this one is newer.



There's a full bedroom set with this styling.



Wardrobe from the bedroom set (different lighting).



Also two nightstands and a King bed frame.

 

New pieces: First two are French provincial 1960s or so. Oak buffet/hutch is newer, circa 1990. Bedroom pieces circa 1970.

 

I'm curious, what are the details that would distinguish this from an earlier one?

 

No worries. This looked like a print on canvas. It would be interesting to know more about it.

Wow! I wouldn't have put the second buffet/hutch that new. I thought 1970s, maybe 1980s. I was pretty sure I remembered that being in the house when I first visited in about 1990.

I was curious about this too. My best guess so far is that the older stuff is more ornate with more carving on the uprights/supports.

 

We are pretty sure that we figured that one out. It is a tapestry of a painting called The Harbor by Francesco Guardi. It's apparently an 18th Century Venice harbor scene. It's a very big piece, but as with many of these things, it wasn't in good shape. It was too big for the frame so the right hand side of the tapestry, where in the original you can see a building with arched openings, was cut off. We planned to take it with us, but it was so big that we decided it would be best to take it out of the frame and roll it up. Once we had it out we could see that the right side was poorly cut off. If I have the story right, my Uncle picked it up in Italy, probably in the 1950's for $50.

 

I couldn't find a signature on that one. There was an interesting boat print that I almost took with me, except it was also really big. It had a signature at the bottom and the artists name in caps in the print area. I'll see if my wife has a picture of that one. Probably nothing famous or valuable, but interesting. My Uncle's passion was ocean fishing, so it made sense.

 

Here's that boat print. The artist name looks like Ralph Ropp. It is in the print in caps under the barrels toward the back of the boat and signed very lightly at the bottom left near the edge of the matting.



There was also a Pre-War Anker RZ electric sewing machine in the house that looked brand new. From what I could find, it seems like the value on those is pretty low.

 

Circa 1990 could be from the 80s. A lot of this pseudo-Victorian looking furniture was made by smaller companies in that time frame. I imagine some is still being made.

 

I took a few more pictures of the chair & settee set. The finish was puzzling me a bit but I might have an idea after taking another look.

The finish looks pretty consistent in some areas.



But it looks like someone liked sitting on the right end of the settee and it has affected the finish.



The finish under the back part looks like a slightly different color though. Maybe these have been refinished with some kind of stain that sits on top of the original finish.



The finish on the arms of the chair is also a bit worn.



Here's the underside of the chair. I know these pieces were re-upholstered and it looks like the strapping on the bottom has also been redone. I can't find any markings.



I thought I would get a better shot of the character on the screen.



As I said, the back is shredded. No details on the back either. We're thinking this was probably a modesty screen or some kind of room divider.



The tapestry on the front is also in pretty sad shape.

 

Thanks for the additional pics. I love the carved green man mask on the screen. Looks like he is wearing a jester collar.

 

@Ghopper1924 @verybrad Several of us thought this chair was much earlier. What do you see that we are missing? Thanks!

 

There was an Empire Revival in the U.S. in the early 20th century. The chair arms were typically thicker and heavier then their counterparts 100 years earlier. Seats were usually executed in needlepoint. The wood was often mahogany with a somewhat uneven stain. Also, look at the front feet: the paws are often "abstracted," whether to cover up the carver's lack of skill or to appear more "modern" is an open question.

In sum, the revival pieces often appear to be heavier and more "machine made" than the earlier Empire pieces.

I actually owned a love seat in this style from this time period a few years ago. A very nice piece!

 

Thank you for taking the time to explain! The more early classical/ pillar and scroll/American Empire/ Empire Revival pieces I look at, the less clear it becomes!

 

Agree with Ghopper but can add a couple points. Look how squared off the back is, as are the timbers that make up the back and arms. Period pieces tend to be more rounded both in form and construction. The splat of the back is rather plain wood. A period would have used a figured veneer, if it had a splat at all.

 

So the reason I have most of this stuff is that originally my mom wanted to hang onto it because she had a connection to it. We loaded it with the intention of taking it home to store at our house until she could move into a place where she could use it or we could bring it to her house (~1500 miles away). After we had it loaded and she thought about it for a bit, she decided that we should sell it instead. I really don't have a strong connection to any of the furniture. I thought the radio seemed like an interesting thing, but didn't realize how time consuming and challenging that might be to get up and running. I really have too many other projects I'd rather be doing. Ideally it would be nice to get top dollar for the pieces, but as they are taking up space in places where I'd rather be working on other things, I need to get them moved as quickly as possible. So what's the quickest way to move these pieces on to someone who would appreciate them?

 

Thank you!