Saturday, November 19, 2011
RANDOM 341 OBJECT
Antique RENAISSANCE REVIVAL Victorian SEWING TABLE w Lift-Lid COMPARTMENTS+ BIN-$420
One of the most important things you’ll learn when it comes time for you too to start downsizing is that the pieces you’ve enjoyed for years, or even decades, have gotten embarrassingly dusty. I emptied the inside compartments, moved all the stuff off the top, and carried this magnificent walnut sewing table into the photo area of my little eBay dungeon, and Holy Cwap! . . . had it gotten dusty! I hope we’re not the only ones to let things get out of control like that.
So I wiped it off, filling three cotton rags with dust of the ages, and now it’s presentable once again. No: It’s more than presentable. It’s wonderful, glowing, and it retains either its original or a very, very old finish.
You’ll find a lot of Victorian dazzle in this piece, and I’ll show you more pictures than you probably want to see, but first I’d better give you the vital statistics.
The full top measures 23 ¼” by 16 ¼”, while the fabulous matched burl veneered top surface is 22” by 15”. The table is 28 ¾” tall and weighs 31 lbs.
Then there is the slide-out semicircular bin. If it were a full circle, the diameter would be 11 ½”, so it’s no small receptacle. Once you lift the lid, you’ll see a compartmentalized interior in five sections. It is 3 ½” deep.
How’s that for an impressive top? Crotched burl, when done by a master, makes the most intriguing surface in the world of antiques. That’s just my opinion, of course.
The table has two relatively minor issues, the first being the separation in the veneer seen above. It is the result of natural shrinkage and wouldn’t bother most people in the least. However, if you’d rather have it drawn together and made to disappear, I have a friend who is a furniture restorer with a lifetime of experience correcting just such issues for high end collectors, museums and estate heirs. I’d be happy to put the two of you together, but I don’t think it’ll really be of much concern anyway . . . once you see it in person.
The other issue is also easily fixed or ignored. You can see by looking up at the bottom that there was once a short-drop finial at each corner. I’d say one probably showed up missing, and the owner simply removed the other three. I wish they’d kept them, but they didn’t. Here again, my friend could replace them, or you could simply ignore their absence. There is plenty going on without them.
There is the 3 ½” deep, most unusual divided interior. See those little finials atop the intersections? Details such as that separate the ordinary from the exceptional.
I hope it’s not just me, but every single time I set a fine piece of Victorian in our living room, I feel compelled to put a Boston Fern nearby.
I think you’ve heard enough from me, so I’ll keep quiet, but I’ll show you a lot more detailed images below this memo.
I have two "Prime Directives:"
First: I never, under any circumstances, use a reserve, and everything starts at $9, sometimes even less. I never end auctions early.
Second: I rarely clean, repair, or otherwise monkey around with anything. Normally I push enough dust aside to note any flaws, but if I discovered it in some dusty attic, you can look forward to a little dust on it when it gets to your house. If it has a flaw or a wart, I'll tell you about it.
So rest easy and have some fun. Why not place a little tiny bid right now so's you don't forget about it later.
RANDOM ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA
FAIRFIELD, CN- near long island sound. consists of 1 spacious st of new handsome buildings 1 1/2 miles from black rock, the best harbor. settled in 1659. in 1779 burned by the red coats + gen tyron. p 1870 5,645, but since a portion annexed to bridgeport.
RANDOM ESTATE SALE TOUR
hampshire. i need to blog that sale last sat.
RANDOM EBAY OBJECT
i have a big one like this. 1 broken toe, but looks better.
