Featured A Merklen Brothers Table: What a Difference a Day Makes

OK, it's time for fun with furniture restoration, largely made possible by Howard's, sponges, elbow grease, and time.

Merklen Brothers was a "name" furniture manufacturing company in New York City. They existed for only a relatively short time in the 1880s and 1890s, specializing in tables and chairs. Their work has been frequently confused with Hunzinger, which it superficially resembles. Merklen's work, however, is noted for consistently employing ball and stick valences, brass fittings including finials, and iron claws gripping wood spheres for feet, rather than the better known glass globes.

So enough connoisseurship. Here are before and after photos only one day apart. The mahogany table exhibits the Merklen tell-tales, so I'm comfortable with the attribution. It was in the home of a St. Charles County, Missouri European settler ca. 1845, apparently the last of his particular line. Although he died a couple of years ago in indolence, the quality of the family pieces lived on. Evidently a great, great, great, great ancestor had money, and this is how an 1880s piece by a New York maker ended up in what at that time was the middle of nowhere, although their house was nicer than most by the standards of the time. They also owned a beautiful 9-foot walnut secretary by the Cincinnati firm of Mitchell & Rammelsburg and a gorgeous walnut etagere, both far above the expected backwoods quality of the location. Neither had been moved for 150 years!

I was fortunate to know who made the table beforehand; there were only a couple other bidders that seemed to know what's what. It was just as fun, however, to see this old estate, now sadly fallen to ruin, and piece together what life may have been like in better days.

 

WOW - it is now lovely again!

 

Bravo! Your day of work makes a HUGE difference
Lovely

 

Is the pattern on the top from a lace cloth or something being on it or was there a pattern on the wood?

 

The pattern was from a lace doily. The furniture had not been maintained for, literally, YEARS! The doily supported the household's favorite oil lamp. I don't think they were ever moved, thus the condition of the piece under all the dirt and grime was almost mint.

 

"insolvency" rather than "indolence"?

 

I choose my words with care.

 

I too thought you meant indigence.

That must have taken the jumbo size bucket of elbow grease. Beautiful, just beautiful.

 

I expect indolence is what will strike me down.

 

A labor of love!!!! WELL DONE!!!!

 

Indolence leading to insolvency, then indigence. :

 

excellent work bring that table back to life !!!!

 

The same old sad story.

 

Once upon a time the family had money. Then "stuff" happened, and then this poor table ends up looking like I was in charge of dusting it for the last 40 years.(LOL) (tells you how often I clean anything.) I'm glad you got hold of the poor thing.

 

I was looking at something of mine the other day and felt embarrassed for myself


Beautiful piece @Ghopper1924 ! I love pieces with a story

 

I have 2 words for your work
Stun ning.

Very nice and thanks for sharing.

 

Indeed, so do I! Yet another great feature of antiques.

 

Very nice resurrection! I love it when you can do a restoration that comes out so well with only modest effort. Usually I end up needing to at least re-glue.

I had never heard of Merklen before, though I recognize the general style from that time period. One thing I noticed googling them, is that they tend to have rope edges or other fancy table top edging on their tables, where yours is quite reserved. Have you found some from them with the same edging?

I love old houses too - did you happen to take a pic of the estate?

 

That is just lovely, great job on the clean up!

 

@Jeff Drum

Here are 3 with reserved edges. Looks like the Merklens tended to keep the reserved edges for mahogany, although there is plenty of rope edging and gadrooning there as well:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/382851999030?hash=item5923c1e536:g:JRcAAOSwWFRbfV~M

https://www.ebay.com/itm/263796035105?hash=item3d6b780e21:g:v6AAAOSwqYBbPS3c

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284444703614?_trkparms=ispr=1&hash=item423a39bb7e:g:XNEAAOSw9EVhFzZ8&amdata=enc:AQAGAAACkPYe5NmHp%2B2JMhMi7yxGiTJkPrKr5t53CooMSQt2orsSwcmzw5CLtzTE60FqHcnq2IrFz%2FSSjBZNQ99nWQm4fF1IGRkwuTtug%2BBPD1RruatFXXzjIPw4wpeed11NtsPY0qVo%2F%2F1bcKxIFYtNMvfPpyBHmxJRxoLKVNIgJPzhOhB%2BAT2VB%2B6M%2FxsBA0vSoI6gQw6TiKmBU83wY0q6nHywR%2Fk%2FG6KE2iMi6RKRZ%2FfkUZruao7I6LEBNOhl23wYMSEtwA9Gzu70ChT9BQD0%2BejjGBwXcYganYpgC%2FLFPpiu1QX9nyhK1W%2FUdHoXb2qIeHvIbJwUfPKJxetEeCtpFOjx%2FktNs4nIH1u2Eqc0aASOYSM4j9KW%2B0jrAe%2B6DQp8lfZAUxubjM3q9Zg%2BK%2BNnMeEmdv4H4NvYsbTDf20ufFNMgiR6acKPBCnzADiM6w8Gu33vKxQ3Re%2FWutjSEX1X1eHoT4LgJNF1TBlCgBMsVy7nAsZy53oR3QF%2BEvMVpihvukHVVVpTKO8Qfqsgs1uR51Ugu%2BK%2BeiDhvyLcsgcaTeFoFdydozbJ9T%2Br9Bt7yXJRI4%2FvYmmkR6QClPx3qYUrzq3ZbBJM0JhBF9RfWjzuA%2BIpFENnuZlRl7rdbzb1BajNWk6W3yMxHZgSk5H4CqRyr65iE3bDsQxmboq1tYKmPhYA%2FI4kjIOV%2Fs7hd9ohMgPgKcm9%2BW%2F%2FZcIWkKJ8kEKx9yFsuHOlE%2Fd7gig6DKEVro12qHz4zrVn1kLBL21h30ap9X8uLEw7KK2jyWPn1O5%2BjUluwfzDDFVI5CfqxcdqB7ZQa0lekqJ%2B1rKQ5%2BzVZwpG%2F2ItgdAJwgTNpmLX27onmceRI8S4OYMsvxNJ9kYl8FdYASnt|clp:2334524|tkp:BFBMjJn19aJf

I didn't get any good photos. There were hundreds of people milling around and it was difficult to get a good shot. So envision an I house within an I house. The present house's footprint is formed like an I, with the perpendicular ends extending out both ways. I believe that the one-story center section was the original part of the house ca. 1845. I think originally it was one room; now a bathroom has been "carved" out of one side. It was most recently used as the kitchen. To the south is a mini-I house, built ca. 1875. It has two rooms above, two below, and a two-story porch. Of the two rooms below, one is a study/parlor and one a bedroom. Above are two bedrooms. No plumbing at all. Lovely paired brackets hold up the cornice on the outside. This section of the house is side-gabled, with tall one-over-one windows. At the other end of the "I," is a more recent, one-story, 20th century addition with an office on one side, a narrow perpendicular hallway, and yet another bedroom on the other side. Each of the bedrooms had beautiful Eastlake and Renaissance Revival walnut furniture. The parlor/office had the best stuff, as you might suppose. Here's a photo of the walnut secretary from Mitchell and Rammelsburg of Cincinnati and St. Louis. Although it's 9 feet tall, there's room to spare. Note the ceiling falling down. The house was rife with water damage and vermin. Even though the last owner had only died two years ago (he was a carpenter of local renown, yet he evidently did not lift a finger on his own house), the place looked like it had been abandoned for decades.

In addition to the secretary, I took a photo of the walnut etagere, which I seriously lusted after. I even took the marble piece off and cleaned out the drawer underneath, which was filled with silverfish. But oh what a beauty! And what filth! Well, I had to leave it behind because I don't need another etagere, but I'm also certain that I'll never forget it.