Featured What kind of old chair is this & is it worth 80 bucks ?

Just saw this in a local store today and they were asking $80. Considering the relative (with exceptions) worthlessness of 19th century antique wood furniture these days,I thought I'd ask our experts if this is worth buying,OR-is it a 'run of the mill' pseudo aesthetic/nouveau big yawn.
The front wheels are rollers that someone replaced w/ 1970's-80's golden office chair roller-ball wheels.
Thanks All again very much !
@verybrad
@Ghopper1924
@vitry-le-francois.100/

 

I absolutely love it but $80 is steep. That splat is divine though. Maybe its just the pics,but it almost looks cobbled together. That bottom looks victorian,the splat looks deco and the top art nouveau?

 

You're right Johnny-it's a hybrid ! Yes,with brown wood furniture prices at an all-time low,it's either MCM or hold onto yr cash.
PS-Hate to sound like a butcher,but I wonder what could be done w/ that wild splat,it's damn cool.Like something Aleister Crowley or Oscar Wilde would have over the mantelpiece-cosmically pagan.

 

hood ornament for ones transportation....?

 

$80 is a lot for a single chair but where will you find another one? Nouveau meets aesthetic movement, circa 1890.

 

It is impressive! A very unusual chair.

Ditto.

 

I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

 

I wouldn't buy it for the chair, but I'd buy it for the slat. But not at $80.

 

As above stylistically. I’d pay the tariff for the splat alone: then replace the casters with period-correct ones. Craftsmanship!!

 

$80? One could spend that much at Starbuck's in a month or two and have nothing to show for it. And, as my esteemed fellow-forum member wrote "... where will you ever find another one?"

Debora

 

yup...... $80, my take away Chinese Resto barely feeds 3 for that.....

re-castor, re-upolster....and don't let anyone sit on it.....specially drunk uncle !!!

 

I'd give $80 for it, an' promptly. Then get it home, pull the 'splat' out of it an' burn the rest of it for heat on a winters day!
I'm aware of the gasps of disgust that must accompany my confession but...I've been collecting chairs (among a select few other things) for 50 years...I've got plenty of assets.

 

bums in the seats !!!!

 

assets for asses !!!

 

Thanks for the help.It's time like these when you run into something so unique and odd (but beautifully done)-where it helps to have some feedback.
PS-I'm going have a 'ponder' on this one.

 

GO fer it, Dude!

 

Bosko, can you say whether that splat is plywood or not? An' the central carving...is it applied to the splat, or carved from it? Can you show a pic of the back? Thanks!

 

No pics of the back,but i'd guess the face medallion & rays were (perhaps) a single piece.There's some slight cracking and I don't think it's plywood.Would the material be Fruitwood ?

 

If you’re buying it to keep it and sit on it, then it is worth $80. If you are buying to resell it depends on your sales venue, but probably not.

 

Not necessarily, but possibly...I'd have to see it to even guess about that.