Shield Back Armchair

This chair has been sitting at a Houston charity shop for a few weeks and was wondering what the experts here can tell about it. It feels older and better made than the usual period style chairs you typically see at resale shops. My main question is what do you look for in a chair like this that might make it more special/valuable?

 

More than one. Single dining chairs don't have much value/interest. It is nicer quality but still a reproduction.

 

Indeed, single chairs are a tough sell even if period unless using it as a statement piece or built by a famous maker.

 

I suppose you could reupholster an armchair like this in brown leather and present it as desk or library chair (but that would eat too large a chunk of any intended profit).

 

As a desk chair it might go; it just needs a desk. Or a dressing table, for that matter.

 

Thanks for the replies. Yes I realize single dining chairs are not valuable. I was more interested in what you’d look for when looking at chairs like this. For example, what are the signs it’s period or reproduction?

 

Construction details RULE in matters of period pieces. Was it built with the tools of the period or not? Naturally, that will vary from period to period as tools became more advanced, and countries as well had differing woodworking techniques. RIVEN!

 

Of course, once you get to the 1840s-1850 in the USA, steam power came in and that was THAT! Furniture built by hand became a thing of the past as it simply could not compete with steam-powered machines.
Even in rural settings where one would think the old ways would continue, they did not. Railroads had an explosion of tracks/rails laid and if in the furniture building biz you did not equip your shop with steam you were soon out of business.

 

Getting back to your chair, popular during the Federal period (1790-1830), is it built by hand or machine? If the latter (as it appears in photos) it has to be a reproduction & not a period piece.

 

Thanks, James, that is helpful info. What are the signs on this chair that it's machine made?

 

You can't "see" the construction details on your chair except for one, the carved medallion in the second photo, it appears to be machined carved in the photo. Speaking of photos, they often miss & do not show construction details that are easily seen in person which is why it's impossible to authenticate old furniture with photos alone. It requires an in-person examination.
Generally Speaking:
That the various furniture parts were manufactured with machines rather than hand tools. In "boarded" (not riven) furniture, for example, were the boards planned by hand or machine planners?
Boards planned by machines will be PERFECTLY FLAT & true, if by hand they will not be even if they appear to be. You can "feel" a board planned by hand with your fingers or see it in a "raking" light.
Turnings, are they all PERFECTLY ROUND or each slightly different? Copy lathes spit out perfectly matched wood turnings where a "pole" lathe for example will not, all the turnings will be slightly different.
BLA BLA BLA
With antique furniture, it's ALL about the details.

 

Generally speaking again, you are not going to find pre 1850 hand-built antique furniture in a charity, thrift, garage, yard type sales. It just ain't there unless something is seriously wrong with it like, project piece, needs structural repairs, lived a very hard life, bla bla bla.
There is a reason it's at a charity shop.

 

This is not true. You obviously haven’t spent that much time in charity shops, garage sales, etc. especially since the collapse of antique furniture prices. You’d be amazed what slips through the cracks. Mark specializes in buying underpriced unrecognized pieces - maybe he can tell us the most he has gotten reselling a charity sop piece?

 

As Evelyn said, it needs a desk (think Parsons ilk), or a dressing table, or perhaps a place in the hallway next to the table with your keys in a bowl.

 

I agree that in general the items you find at thrift stores and consignment shops are low to medium quality reproduction-type pieces. But the vast majority of Americans know next-to-nothing about vintage and antique furniture and it's quite possible someone with a valuable item consigns or donates it thinking it's just some worthless old junk. My main focus is 20th century furniture, and I've found many valuable Danish and American MCM pieces at thrift stores. Probably the biggest profit I made on one item was on a George Nelson bench and cabinets I bought at a consignment store for around $500 (meaning the consignor was happy with $250). Those sold at auction in Chicago for $5K ($6K with buyer's premium). Items like that are pretty rare, but they are out there.

 

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL!
Your example of the 5k MCM cab is, I am guessing VERY rare but, the question then becomes how much time/hours does it take on average to bag a similar experience with good to great profit? Minus acquisition, auction, transport fees.
Looking at it that way I am betting the profit margin shrinks significantly.

 

Absolutely. Most people were happy with furniture from Sears or equivalent retailers in the MCM time - the real imported Danish stuff was in specialty shops and cost more. Even those who wanted the real Danish stuff often made compromises. My Dad was an architect who lived and breathed MCM style, but he had a family to support and our house was furnished with MCM furniture but it was mostly reproductions because that was what he could afford.

It is even worse with antiques than it is with MCM pieces, because MCM pieces are usually in reasonable condition after only 70 years of use/storage. In contrast, period antiques after 270 years tend to look pretty beat up. I have more than a dozen 18th/19th century American Windsor chairs that I didn't pay more than $50 for - usually free or $20. And my best two pieces of period Boston Queen Anne furniture (a chair and a tea table both from 1750) were both FREE because they were in original/old finish and looked like hell. Of course in the antique world original/old finish on a period piece is a bonus, but it doesn't look it to the average homeowner.

Exactly my point. These pieces are definitely out there, even in the highly desired MCM market.

I wish I was close enough to Wright's auction to consign stuff there. MCM stuff does pretty well here at retail, but Skinner and the other local auction houses do poorly with MCM.

 

Yes those scores are few and far between, certainly not something you can build a business on, especially these days when more people are competing for quality MCM items.

 

Agreed, additionally, the internet is not your friend when it comes to hidden treasures. Charity shops may not yet have the visibility that auctions do today but, 5 years ago auctions didn't either.

 

Even the charity shops are getting tech savvy. The Assistance League thrift store in my town posts on Instagram daily and has 1,823 followers. Any MCM furniture they post usually sells within 30 minutes.

And yes, Wright in Chicago and Bidhaus in NYC seem to get the highest prices in the country for MCM. But $500-$700 for shipping on most items, plus seller fees means it only makes sense for the rare high dollar items.