Duncan Phyfe Style Antique Desk Manufacture Date?

Hello,

I'm looking at a table that is stamped with "1897 Lex Chair". The seller assumes the Lexington Chair Company. It's hard to research furniture companies.

I'm wondering if it was built in 1897 or if that was when the company began. From my research I see that there are other stamps with the same "Lex Chair Co" or "Lexington Chair Company" with different dates. So I assume the date is 1897. However it is a Duncan Phyfe style which was reproduced in the 1930-40s. And the original DF was manufactured around the 1860s. This date is in the middle which makes me wonder. Thanks!

It looks to be a desk or library table with a drop leaf on either end.

 

nice table..........

 

It's probably a manufacturer number or model number they used to identify parts as they came off their line.

 

Would this be a more recent version of "sofa table" ? thanks

like this ?

http://www.onlinegalleries.com/art-...early-19th-century-kingwood-sofa-table/310837

 

Methinks the 1030's - 1940's style. Brad will know.

 

I dunno - 1030 to 1940 is quite a range.

 

LOL. Typos can be difficult to see first thing in the morning.

I'm sure she meant 1930s - 1940s.

 

Gosh gee Duncan's ancestors weren't even born!

And...who sees first thing in the morning?

LOL!!

 

40s give or take. With those drop leaves, would think a server but could be used a lot of different ways.

 

No, Duncan Phyfe retired in 1840s but his sons tried to keep the shop going without much success & i think the shop went out of biz around 1850s.
Phyfe was HARD HEADED, he didn't sign his pieces and he simply REFUSED to change the style of his furniture, he and his sons after him made classical furniture ONLY! long after it had gone out of fashion.

 

It looks like it's solid wood stained and sealed without a veneer but I can't be sure as I'm still researching.

It could be a part number but I haven't seen any desks/sofa tables/servers/library tables like this to compare it to.

It looks to be 30s-40s to me as well but the lack of veneer leads me to believe it's a higher quality piece meaning made before then?

I know Duncan Phyfe wasn't the maker as the Lexington Chair Company was but I'm having trouble identifying any info on the company itself.

 

Yes, thank you. I meant around 1760-1840 when DF was alive. Not sure why I said 1860.

 

I would guess Lexington Chair Co was in Lexington NC which is close to High Point & a major american furniture manufacturing base back then.

 

Did you ever figure this out- I have this same table and trying to figure out what it is worth- really would like to get some money from it? Any help would be great thanks.

 

Very little, it's not antique so basically used furniture at this point. There was a 20th century Duncan Phyfe styled revival here and there are literally millions of pieces of this vintage furniture around.

 

Agree that the "1897" was likely a model number, not a date. Saw another Lexington drop leaf Phyfe-style table with the number 1834 stenciled underneath. It also had this great description of the woods used. Not sure if it's totally accurate but it sounds like the person knew what they were talking about.
Early in the 20th century the idea of “lumber core” plywood became the norm in the manufactured furniture industry in America. This new “wood” started with a solid lumber core of an inexpensive wood such as gum or poplar which was very nearly the thickness of the anticipated finished panels. In some cases oak was used even then as the core on better grades of furniture. Then cross bands of veneer, also of an inexpensive wood, roughly 1/20 inch were applied to both sides of the core with the grain running at a ninety degree angle to the grain of the core. Finally the piece was finished off with the application of another layer of cheap veneer on the bottom of the panel and a layer of face veneer, usually mahogany or walnut, on the top surface with the grain running in the same direction as that of the core. The resulting five layer veneer sandwich was now stable enough to be used as a table top, dresser top or drawer front. This lumber core plywood was the foundation for most American furniture manufactured from 1920 to 1960. The skirt, pedestals and legs are made of a secondary wood called red gum that has been stained to look like mahogany.