Hunzinger Fancy Parlor Chair

 A stunning Hunzinger Parlor Chair/ Lovely robins egg blue upholstery with coordinating fringe, Ebonized and Gilt as well.  Rare find.

Italian Gilt Bronze Clock

 An amazing  Italian Gilt Bronze clock with German Walt Movement. fantasic top detail with rider and hound. From our Fall 2024 Curated Collection.

Burgman Restoration: The Great Stencil Project continues !

The wall field section taking shape

The  "Grand Hallway" because of its length and width are about the equivalent of doing 3 normal size rooms in most houses not to mention the 12 ft ceilings. However to accomplish this feat will be quite the challenge and its occupying a lot of my available free time.

Essentially we are following the Aesthetic Movement ethic. This requires a more elaborate approach that typical stenciling . In our case will  have the  marbleized wainscot, a multiple bordered mid-range field panel that consists of multiple bands and inset small paintings with 3 different stencil elements, gold leafing/gilding and a large upper wainscot that will feature more color bands (each stenciled differently) and a large frieze.

At this point we are working a on the first panel as one comes to the top of the stairs and it will feature all the decorative elements of the other panels that go down the hallway although each small  half round painting will be different. So the first section is where we determine all the color interaction and shades to get it just right.

A key focal point are the 'stained glass panels' in opposite corners, this follows a design ethic you often see on English Aesthetic transfer ware china and tiles where corners are anchored by a decorative element. These panels are based on aesthetic stained glass and take elements from the design for the stained glass window that will be at the top of the stair window.

Within the "clay colored border" are two small paintings one at the top and bottom, again slightly offset 1/3 into the wall panel width on opposing sides . These follow the same basic colors as the "Crane mural" on the curved wall we discussed in the last post. they are loosely executed and will eventually be 'aged' to look "period" for the age of the building as will everything else.

The Golden Tan of the main panel is being banded with a stencil executed in a period pattern in a light green color that takes its cue color wise from the colors in the mural and acts a balance color wise between the clay, Pompeii Red and gold. This along with the gilt stripe band create a elegant display.

Next Time? The "clay border" and gets its stencil and the Golden Tan panel gets its stencil design

Preservation Day at the Burgman

LtoR: Paul Willham, Greg Drake, John Shiflet, Paul Hayden

Some very dear friends of our John and Debra Shiflet from FT Worth Texas came to visit Greg and I as part of their annual "architecture vacations". John is the Moderator of VICARR a group dedicated to the discussion and sharing of information about houses and structures of the Victorian era. They were I town to look at two Victorian Homes for sale as they have their own home for sale and are looking for their next project as they head into retirement.

Paul Hayden and I discuss the history of a slate mantle in the shop

Paul Hayden from Indiana Landmarks joined us, and after we explored two great homes, we came back to the Burgman building.

Greg with Debra Shiflet in front of the Burgman Building

I gave them a tour of the building and we all sat down in the Persian parlor to discuss the homes we had toured and Preservation in general. It was a great way to spend the day and we were pleased to show off Historic Logansport to experts in the field.

Discussing the history and paintings in the Persian parlor

We hope to host more Preservationists in the future as we show off the incredible architecture that Logansport offers.

Burgman Building: Some more history revealed

People just keep stopping in and telling us their stories about this Burgman Building. We met some former neighbors who were present when the 'big auction' was held years ago after Mr. Burgman died. The furnishings were quite elegant and dealers came from all over to bid. He talked about the copper  tub that was in the back building they drug out from under a bunch of stored stuff. The star of the auction was a 1959 Chevrolet that was in the garage and had been sitting for years. I wish I could go back in time for that one as I'd be outbidding  everyone for that one (it sold for 1200.00!)

Another elderly lady was telling me she attended one of Mr. Burgman's parties years ago when  she was quite young. The front Persian Parlor was emptied out and used for dancing. I imagine it was quite the elegant affair. This home and building has so many happy memories for so many people.

The big find was gentleman who stopped by to show me his Burgman memorabilia . He had an original Burgman  Billhead from 1908 and a Burgman Beer bottle.

Speaking of bottles, we cleaned out the cellar under the saloon and have bunch of old bottles. We are keeping a couple but will clean up the rest and sell in eth shop. These are great old green and amber glass bottles.

Business has been great and the number of people coming through our doors exceeded my expectation's. The next push will be to glaze windows for winter and get the back shop space ready for us to expand and offer more inventory.

The Charmed life of Historic Homes: A Historic Rossette come home 22 Yrs Later!

Historic Buildings often go through great trials and tribulations in their life. Many get lost by the wayside, demoed to progress their beauty and secrets lost forever. The Burgman Building has certainly been a treasure to us,  having spent years saving many "lost cause" buildings from demo. The completeness of the building and most importantly its decorative frescoes are a source of enjoyment as we proceed with the buildings restoration and conservation.

With any building there are always some missing things and such is the case with our building. We have remarkable window cornices but one was missing both its zinc rosettes and another one was missing one. These are not the sort of thing you just find on Ebay or go to your local hardware store and replace. In fact I had resigned myself to probably having to cast duplicates which is a long process.

We made the acquaintance of the man who supervised the façade restoration on the building back in the 1990's last week and we recent spent an afternoon with him getting as much history as we could from him. He is 73 and winding down a bit. He mentioned somewhere in all his stuff, was some pieces to our building, Well today he rang the doorbell and in his hand was box  with three zinc Rosette's. One original and two reproductions .

You just can't get these at a hardware store

The box was from the WF Norman CO of Nevada MO and the postmark on the box was Aug 3, 1993!

The original on the right in this photo

One of the rosette's had been taken off and shipped out to be duplicated or matched, It had been sent back but in eth confusion of restoration these missing pieces got misplaced and were never installed.

And now that original Rosettes and his two duplicates are back home 22 yrs.' and 7 days later Reunited with the Burgman Building. The gods of preservation are looking out for this building!

Antique of the Week: Set of Four Victorian Parlor Chairs

Its been a while since we have had a set of four open back Victorian Parlor Side chairs. This is for two reasons. One usually they are broken or have been sold off separately.

Finding FOUR matching chairs like these is a rare event these days. We recently got these end and have reupholstered them in a very elegant looking black upholster with gold paisley pattern. These will sparkle under gas lights or candle light

These have a very sophisticated look as a result and would be at home in your formal parlor or around the dinner table and would pair well with any settee you might already have.

Priced at 300.00 for the set, (special for Blog Readers), this is less than you might expect to pay for one nice Victorian chair these days. Pickup is available at our Indianapolis location and we are happy to work with your blanket shipper.

More information can be obtained by contacting us at victiques@gmail.com

Antique of the Week: A Great Stained Glass Window

We just have a hard time getting in stained glass. In part because its hard to find and two because we only buy it from trusted sources.  So today we have a special treat.

Top Sash

This is a huge stained glass window, that came from Central Illinois. Actually two sashes/one window overall although they could be used separately depending on your application. The bottom sash is 39x40 and has two condition issues. One pane has BB hole in it, and one pane needs to be refitted in its cane.  The top sash is 39 x 39 and is in good condition. In a functional frame with weights this would work out to a 39x78 size (Because of the way the windows come together for the locking mechanism) . AND it still has the window lock on it.

Bottom sash

Building a window frame unit is not that difficult and a number of window sash rebuilders can actually build you a functional frame. This would be ideal in a tower or maybe a landing and of course these could be hung in front of an existing regular window.

Specially priced to Blog readers at 425.00 (Cash Paypal, Major credit cards) This will be going on Ebay soon (where it will bring a much higher price) So if you need a window for your home, hurry! Contact me at victiques@gmail.com. As always you can pick this up or we can work with blanket shippers of your choice.

New Blog Focuses on Midwest Preservation

We  have started a new broader based preservation blog at your request. This new blog Rustbelt Preservationist takes a look at Historic Preservation issues across the Midwest and focuses on promoting endangered properties and historic preservation opportunities. We expect to focus on Historic Preservation Bargains with our new Friday edition called "Friday Fix!" which will focus on preservation opportunities under 25K

This will allow us to focus this blog more on Historic Period Design, antiques, our restoration work and Victoriana in general. We hope you will check out Rustbelt Preservationist and add it too your reading list. Don't forget to support our sponsors and advertisers who make bringing this information to you possible.

Antique Of the Week: A Great Summer Cover with Surround!

Antique Of the Week features affordable antiques and architectural pieces aimed at the old house restorer.

Summer Covers with surrounds are getting impossible to find. This one has great detail and is designed to work with your tiled fireplace, which more than likely doesn't have one. Measures 23 1/2 inches wide and 27 1/2 inches high, the inside arch is 17x 24 1/2 Estimated ship weight is about 30 lbs.

Priced at 225.00 . We are not offering shipping with this but can put you in touch with a shipper our buyers use locally who has an excellent reputation for properly packing and shipping items like this. Interested? Contact me at victiques@gmail.com

We have a wide variety of antiques and architectural salvage so do not hesitate to let us know what you are looking for.

Small Buildings should be preserved too.

Grand style in a small package

Some preservation organization seem to only care about grand mansions built by famous local architects. However, Indiana Landmarks is different, they apparently believe that good things come in small packages and while they do help save "grand mansions' a lot of their efforts are on saving the everyday workers cottages, small homes and in this case a unique but small commercial building, the Frasier and Isham Law Office in the small town of Fowler Indiana .



Window seats in the bays

The building is a example of the design skills of the firm of J. F. Alexander & Son . The style might best be described as Eclectic in my opinion but the round turreted bays of brick and stone shown "Romanesque'  influence . The Romanesque style is generally reserved for large mansions and government buildings. Its use in a small structure like this is rare.

Can't get more secure than your personal vault

The building is on the registry and Indiana Landmarks has attached protective covenants that will insure its future protection. The property is for sale at 45,000.00. It even has its own vault!
You can see the landmarks listing here. Landmark for sale

Encaustic tile floor

This property has great encaustic tile and woodwork too and perfectly illustrates that our "built history" often comes in small packages.

Just In: A remarkable Aesthetic Movement 3 piece Parlor Set

The stars and moon must be in a rare alignment, because we are finding some remarkable new finds. Such is the vase with this just in American Aesthetic Movement three Piece Parlor set.

The Aesthetic Movement was a move away from the more formal Rococo styles and even to some degree the  Renaissance style. The Aesthetic Movement was a sort of transition from the more exuberant Victorian era to the Craftsman era.

Of course, within this movement it took many forms, in some cases towards the Anglo-Japanesque, or in this case, a more restrained example that dealt more with the artful carved images of leaves. In either case the Aesthetic movement blended style with nature and was in some ways a precursor to the more honest and simpler craftsman ethic.

This set with its design themes is probably a Cincinnati or Grand Rapids manufactured set designed to go in an upper middle class parlor. The Settee in particular is most attractive with its central back flanked with two carved panels on either side. The Arms are separated from the main back to create more airy open design.

The chairs reflect the arm design in their side design. All in all, a nicely designed set that would be different than the more formal Renaissance and Rococo and perhaps even a bit daring and exotic for the day.

This set has older upholstery with some minor issues, but is serviceable for the typical parlor. My initial temptation was to reupholster it in a two tone scheme, but why argue with success and a nice presentation as it.  We will replace some of the arm gimp before sale and replace few missing nail head trim nails, that held the gimp but it will be a very presentable, and reasonably priced, parlor set in our inventory.

If this Aesthetic Movement Set speaks to you, speak to me at victiques@gmail.com about pricing info and how you can make this yours.

Antique-of-the-Week: The little red chair!

Everyone is always looking for small side chairs and frankly they are getting hard to find or they need upholstery. Here is a wonderful Eastlake Victorian style chair and its in  a deep red upholstery. Walnut incised trim and its original castors too!

Priced for a quick sale at 125.00 and we can work with your shipper and if you are in the Indianapolis  or Cincinnati areas you can pick it up in person.

Antique of the week is an ongoing series aimed at the old house restorer who is looking to decorate their home affordably. We can invoice you via paypal, email me at victiques@gmail.com for more info.

An Anglo-Japanesque Aesthetic Movement Mantel Restoration

Regular readers of this blog may recall we obtained a high end one of a kind Anglo-Japanesque Aesthetic Movement Mantel. This mantel had suffered the indignities of being painted a dull gray which largely obscured its delicate designs.

Polychroming this mantel required some exploratory of the surface to determine some of the colors used, however you then have to adjust the colors which over 100 years have faded. The idea of course to reclaim the 'exuberance' of the Victorian Aesthetic Movement.

The background features a delicate fern leaf pattern with stylized flowers and medallions. One can but imagine the Parlor it came from..

In fact if you need a one of a kind mantle you can find it listed on our ebay  Auction.

But if you do not need a mantle, never fear, I am pleased to announce that we are releasing stencil design based on this mantle soon, so you can have a little Aesthetic Movement in your home.

Antique-Of-The-Week: A Victorian Era tile fireplace surround

Antique-of-the-Week is a series dedicated to affordable antiques and materials for homeowners doing their own restorations who are on a tight budget.

This week we have a Victorian era White Tile fireplace surround. This surround is 42 1/2 x 42 and has a 30x30 inch opening. it could easily be modified to work in a smaller opening more details  and photos are here: Fireplace surround . We are happy to direct you in how to properly reinstall one of these as part of restoration or as  a new decorative fireplace application.

Price is 150.00 and we can arrange pickup in Indy or Cincinnati and we are happy to work with your shipper.. Please visit our website or contact me at victiques@gmail.com for more details.

The Artful Interior: Stencilling in the Victorian Era

Trade magazines often featured stencil designs like these fora "proper upscale artistic ceiling",

Once upon a time every major city has several; "stencil artisans", usually members of the Painter and Stencillers Guild. The Victorian era also was the first time when their were "decorators" whom one turned the house over to to elaborately stylize...that is if you were wealthy or upper middle class. Stencilling, at least in the Victorian era, typically wasn't cheap. While a roll of wallpaper might cost 3-5 cents a gallon of paint could cost 75 cents.

Beyond mere painting, this ceiling rises to artform

Unlike today when we think nothing of going to the home improvement store for a gallon of paint and doing it ourselves, most Victorians would not do such work and painting was a hired task. And while some 'painters' were also did stencils, the art of stencilling was usually a specialized task, reserved for someone with experience.

Tens of thousands of homes were artfully stencilled during the Victorian era yet so few exist today. Or, as in the case of our home, hidden from view. Since Milkpaint was the prefferred choice of the stencil artisan, unless it had been shellaced or a lowered ceiling put in ( often with courthouses or government buildings) finding them is rare indeed though there are still some out there.

These elaborate stencils are almost gone now, as is the  Endangered house they sit in in Missouri, The only records will be the photos I, and other preservationists took, almost a decade ago.

Makes you want to discretely scrape the paint off your old house ceiling or wall to see if such a treasure exists in your home, doesn't it?

Victorian Bargain Hunting: We scored a great find

I'm always on the lookout for bargains, and you never know just where you will find them. Oriental rugs are just plain expensive. if you own antique ones they are expensive and you really dont want to put them on your floor and enw ones are often expensive.

Today I had to go to the local home improvement store for some materials I ALWAYS take a quick look through the entire store because things get discontinued or marked down or sometimes are special orders that get returned.

Today was good day as I found this new Oriental for 25.00! This was the display carpet that hangs on the rack. It still had the "Display only" sign on it whih was stuck to it with a rubbery glue product, BUT, I brought it home took a little goo gone to it and It came off perfectly and you cant even tell where the sign was at. Retail on this rung was 479.00! It will be perfect for the formal dining room when its done. So remember "bargains" are sometimes in the most unlikely places!

Antique-of-the-Week: A great Wall Sconce with cut glass globe

This week we are offering another great wall sconce! this one has a wonderful cut glass globe. Black cast iron with some great details this would look great anywhere in your victorian home. Priced at ONLY 95.00 this one will go fast! We can ship this for 17.50 anywhere in the lower US.

More photos and detail are available on our website or you can contact me at victiques@hotmail.com. We accept paypal as well.

http://www.antiques.com/dealers/34818/Victorian-Antiquities

Each week Antiques-of-the-Week features a great piece from our inventory. If you do not see what you are looking for just ask. Only a  fraction of our inventory is on our website.

Keeping Time: Victorian Mantle Clocks

I was reading online the other day and came across an article proclaiming that the watch and clocks were dead due to availability of cell phones and computers. Downstairs I could hear the chime of my mantle clock as it ticked off the hours. Clocks may be dead but they certainly are not forgotten.

A with most things Victorian, mantle clocks were a 'status symbol' and certainly the mantle clocks of  the day reflected the exuberant taste of Victoriana, Finishes ranged from Black to faux marbled versions. Most clocks took a Greek theme with classic columns on either side usually 2-4 on each side.


Clocks were placed in a place of prominence , usually the center of the mantle. If no mantle was in the room the clock might be displayed on a wall shelf or placed on a marble topped table. These clocks were built in large numbers and are relatively speaking plentiful.

You can find them at antique malls and of course online resources like Ebay and Ecrater. Prices vary by region with east and west coast prices higher. A non working clock will run you from 50-100.00 working clocks typically run from 100-200.00. Expect to pay more for a "restored' clock from a clock shop or dealer will be 225.00-450.00. If you buy a non working clock repairs may be as simple as having the mechanism cleaned to spring replacement. Usual cost 50-100.00.

Popular Brands Ansonia, Ingraham, Sessions. If you find a elaborate clock with issues like a cracked column or a broken foot, parts are relatively easy to find. You should stay away from clocks with bad finishes or scratches as that is costly to fix.