Vintage American pieces - identity and value?

Hello,

I have been lurking on these boards for a bit, and I am impressed at the breadth of knowledge displayed by this community! I figured it was time to stop hiding in the shadows, so I created an account and this is my official hello to everyone. Now that we're properly acquainted, I would like to request your assistance with something.

My grandmother recently moved out of her home of 25+ years into a much smaller townhome in a retirement community. She needed to get rid of most of her possessions, and we managed to sell all of her "daily use" furniture via Craigslist or donate it to local charities. However she had some nicer vintage American-made pieces in her parlor room (the room that she always played bridge in and that we were never allowed to go into as kids). I say vintage rather than antique because I am pretty certain that they were all manufactured within the last 100 years.

I convinced her to let me take those nicer pieces, store them at my place, and try to determine if they're worth anything. She was to the point of basically just giving them away, so I am hoping that they might actually have some value. I would love to surprise her with a small stack of cash - anything is better than nothing!

Here's where I need some help -
1) Can you please help me try to identify these pieces? The obvious exceptions are the rugs, since they have tags.
2) Can you give me a rough idea of how much these might be worth to an antiques shop versus a private buyer (if there's much difference at all)? This will help me to determine whether I should just go the easy route and sell them all at once to a shop or take the extra time to try to sell them off privately one at a time.

Here are images of the furniture (six pieces in total):

1. French brocade sofa
2. Rocker
3. Floral chair
   • Front view
   • Side view
4. Victorian chair
   • Front view
   • Side view
5. Large Karastan Lanamar Kirman rug
   • Full view
   • Detail
   • Tag
6. Small Karastan Lanamar Kirman rug
   • Full view
   • Detail
   • Tag

I did some basic searches for these items online, and my general impression is that the large rug may be worth quite a bit, but everything else probably doesn't have much value.

Thanks in advance for your help! I really appreciate it.

- Kevin

 

Welcome aboard....
here's a couple of tips....

While this is not a site for values.....there are times when members offer up ballpark figures...should they have that information.....barring that , we do try to point you in the proper direction to find prices that may be out there.

We love good clear photographs to help us help you.....
many members here though....like me...will not click on links.

 

Hey komokwa,

Thanks for the quick response. I appreciate the clarification on what to expect as far as getting numbers from folks versus trying to hunt them down myself. I will take whatever ballpark figures I can get, but of course guidance toward the best resources to do it on my own would be a great help as well.

As far as the images, I understand the concern about clicking on links, especially with me being a new member and all. If you hover over the links you'll see that they all point to an image hosting site. I figured it was easier to post everything there so that 1) I don't clog up this post with images and 2) I can easily share the images with others across various formats without having to re-post the images each time.

Tell you what - for now I will post one image of each item in a separate response below, and we'll go from there.

Thanks!

 

Welcome to the forums! I can't help you on values for I don't sell. Others with more furniture knowledge will be along. I have taken the liberty of posting the pictures of the furniture in this message for many will not click links.

I guess the sofa would be called French Provincial. The rocker would probably be called a Lincoln rocker type. As to age, I just don't know but think relatively new. The floral arm chair might be in the French Provincial style also. The Victorian arm chair would be called a balloon-back arm chair. If it dates to the Victoran era or is in the Victorian style, I don't know. As the rugs are American made as opposed to authentic oriental woven rugs, their value would be affected. Do wait for the furniture gurus to chime in.

BTW, all the pieces look in good condition, certainly a plus!

--- Susan

 

Here are direct uploads of the images. Let me know if you'd like to see any of the pieces from other angles.

1. French brocade sofa
   
   
2. Rocker
   
   
3. Floral chair
   
   
4. Victorian chair
   
   
5. Large Karastan Lanamar Kirman rug
   
   
6. Small Karastan Lanamar Kirman rug
   

 

Thanks Susan! You beat me to it by a few minutes. I appreciate your information about the pieces.

I'm going to leave my images up as well, as it looks like you can click on them and blow them up for microscopic analysis if desired.

Is this thread the proper place to ask about the rugs as well? I noticed that you excluded those from your images.

My apologies in advance if I've labeled anything incorrectly - that's part of what I'm here to gain more knowledge about!

 

Welcome, Kevin.

If the floral fabric is any indication, I'd think roughly 1980's for that particular chair. My mother bought an entirely new set of (formal) living room furniture then and that floral/vining pattern is quite reminiscent of the major pattern for the room.

As for the rugs, I think they are fine here. You probably know that Karastan carpets are machine made and have a excellent reputation. If they have their labels intact, you should be able to use the information there (series name, number etc.) and the sizes to search for secondary market offerings.

 

That French brocade sofa is to die for ! Furniture from that era is pretty popular right now,depending on where you live of course. Hipsters love this stuff. Here in n. fla it'd get $150-250 range. The rugs are very pretty,theyll sell on that merit alone.The other stuff is 60s-80s , I see a lot of it dirt cheap and it doesnt move well.

 

As Johnny suggests, the sofa is French Provincial and the styling suggests 1960s. Popular in some areas, not so much others so location is important. I am in the Midwest where this is less popular. Would probably be worth more than Johhny's price in California. The Lincoln style rocker and the chair after likely date to the 30s-40s and, if in very good condition, maybe $75-100.00 at retail here. Auction and dealer prices 1/3-1/2 that. Can't tell if the Victorian balloon-back is period or a later reproduction. Either way, out of fashion right now so probably not worth much more than the other 2 chairs. All three chairs could have been reupholstered and nicely done (First definitely). None of this is junk and has some value. How easy you can sell and how much you can get will depend on location.

 

Thanks for all of the feedback, everyone. Please keep it coming!

I'm a bit torn; I think I'll list some of these pieces at the suggested price ranges online and see how it goes. If that doesn't work out I'll probably look into antiques shops.