Help on date and style of a sette

Hi again everyone.

I have accumulated quite a few pieces and have had some luck in identifying them but this sette has me stumped, any help is appreciated.

 

Regency in 'style'

regency sofa - Bing images

 

This is where I have trouble identifying things. What features make it regency

 

Difficult for me to explain. I'm certainly no expert, but "Regency" sprang immediately in my mind. Compare its "shape & style" to those on the link I gave you. Your example as been well upholstered too! I couldn't say when it was made though...

 

Looking at the link you sent I see that most pieces have somewhat straight backs where as the one I'm trying to identify has a camel back. I had seen that camel backs were common both in Victorian and American empire

 

This piece is also quite small, under 6' in length, the seat height is about 12-14 inches off the ground and the back maybe 35" high.

 

Like I said, I'm no expert. I'm sure others will know for certain... It doesn't look typically Victorian to me, or American Empire, but???

 

Quite right George. Victorian ca. 1860.

 

What makes it so? I'd like to learn. It looked Regency in style to me?

 

It's sometimes confusing.

Is this style furniture typically so small or is this more for decoration.

I also have a vanity that is quite small, the center section is only 23" tall.

I believe that it is 1930's art deco. If I'm wrong feel free to correct me.

 

Yeah, the desk is Deco.

Victorian-era sofas can vary from smallish to hugeish. This one, with its back topped with an S-curve and grape leaves and its splayed arms, tends more towards Rococo Revival, which in the U.S. was at its peak ca. 1855-65. The overall form is descended from the neo-Classical/Regency era of the early 19th Century, but has been updated to reflect (then) current styles.

 

Thanks so much for the information. It seems most pieces I've accumulated are transitional, they seem to have features that don't seem typical to one style.

 

That's a dressing table missing a mirror, rather than a desk.

 

My thoughts were that it is a bathroom vanity , mainly because of its small size. I do not have the mirror unfortunately.

 

The dressing table probably had a round mirror. If you look at the back you'll see the 'ghosts' of where the supports were mounted.

You have to remember that back in the 20s & 30s bedrooms were small and people/women were also smaller/shorter.

Sadly it has little value today. Prime example of what some people would 'upscale' by painting. I've know others that take them apart and make 2 nightstands out of them.

 

You can see where the mirror was mounted, it was broken many years ago. I do see people "Repurposing " these but this is in very nice condition, regardless of value, I personally would not cut it up or paint it.

 

My late Mother (and many women of her generation) had a similar dressing table suite which included his & hers wardrobes, 2 bedside cabinets and matching bed with head & foot boards. The dressing table also had a stool which tucked under when not in use. It was common to have a glass or porcelain Table Set with powder pots and trinket dishes displayed in the 'well' part of the dressing table, and have a candlestick upon each of the side upright draw sections.

 

I have a couple of other vanities which are slightly older than this but substantially larger. This piece has a makers label marked 3/4, does anyone know if that's a reference to it's size

 

You say you want to learn, so an excellent book for identifying the details of American furniture style and age is Professor Oscar Fitzgerald's Four Centuries of American Furniture. https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/four-...tzgerald/510257/#edition=3321985&idiq=6147049

 

Thanks for the reference. I've been looking through some info on identifying pieces but it seems I find lots of info , some contradicts others , I'm thinking it's because furniture makers add their own features and possibly use more than one style components, perhaps transitional pieces.