A Hunzinger Chair: Aesthetic Movement

This is the second Hunzinger chair we have had in the last year.. Just like the last one this was  a major restoration.

We chose a great period style upholstery for it. In our showroom for your purchase.

Antique of the week: A English Victorian Aesthetic Recamier

So beautiful it will make you swoon! Fainting sofas (recamiers) were a part of Victorian Society and were handy in case Women , confined in those corsets , needed to rest.

Today they are a "must have" display piece in most parlors, most antique dealers charge thousands for restored ones and good ones are hard to find.

This one is one of the best we have had. Wonderful Aesthetic Movement "Persian inspired" fabric upholstery, Tassels and fringe complete the exotic effect. Most importantly, its priced affordably!

You can find this Recamier and other items on our Ebay site: Ebay Inventory
This is our annual spring cleaning sale and many items are one week only listings.

Antique of the week- A very special sale

Antique of the week is aimed at showcasing affordable pieces for the home restorer who has probably already spent more on restoration than they ever expected to.

This week, for the Holidays, we are offering a very special sale to our blog readers. We just got these in and they are very hard to find, a PAIR of matching Empire Flame Mahogany Settees. Circa 1860 these are perfect for any Victorian home.

These are offered on our website Victorian-Antiquities   for a very reasonable 1250.00 (dealer have charged as much as 1800-2400 for a matched set like this.) BUT,  for our Blog readers you can buy this rare Pair of matching Parlor Settees, for ONLY 750.00! a Five Hundred dollar savings! just contact us and mention you saw this on Antique-of-the-week.

Need this in a different color? We offer very affordable upholstery services!

And for our loyal readers, you can take 20 percent off on ANY item in our inventory! Sale ends December 17th.

America's 100th Birthday: Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition 1876

The Centennial Exhibition, was the first major "World's fair" to be held in the United States. The  Philadelphia Centennial opened on May 10th 1876 on a 285 acre tract of Fairmount park overlooking the Schuylkill River. The expansive Fairgrounds were designed by a 27 year old German immigrant Hermann J. Schwarzmann. The exhibition was host to 37 nations and numerous international exhibits housed in over 250 individual pavilions.

 Ohio house

Naturally the states at the time were well represented and Ohio was no different. Amazingly the Ohio House is the only state building left from the Centennial Exposition! The building was empty for years before its careful restoration by the Fairmount Park Historic Preservation Trust. The exterior stone work features 21 different Ohio sandstones with inscriptions indicating the quarries from which they came.

I'll take 10 of everything! Imagine the availability!

For those of us into Victorian design, it would have been an incredible opportunity to have a time machine. Imagine be able to see booth after booth of everything Victorian such as this incredible display of register grates by one manufacturer.

Look closely and you might see some familiar tile designs from Dayton street mansions

Even legendary manufacturers like Minton were on display. One must wonder if wealthy Cincinnatians from Dayton Street perused the Minton booth for the latest "update' for their mansions.

As far as furniture was concerned Renaissance Revival was king of the show and American manufacturers displayed their finest wares. It is also interesting to note that we see the first examples of what would later become the Arts and crafts movement first exhibited here too.

Americas up close exposure to exotic lands seen at this show started a number of revival crazes including Egyptian Revival, Moorish Revival and  the Japanesque styles. If you were around during the bi centennial in 1976 you no doubt saw just about everything in a 'bicentennial edition" the centennial was no different, there were books and magazines and illustration put out about the exhibition. many of the wealthy commissioned special sets of parlor furniture, sideboards sprouted patriotic themes like flags and eagles. The 'fad' was short lived so few examples remain.

Walnut renaissance furniture was in its heyday during the Centennial but you won't find eagle crested chairs in your typical antique mall these days.

Of course we have ways to get the rare of the rare, including this rare pair of carved eagle crested parlor chairs. We haven't been able to 'attribute' this piece, its is similar in size and style to Jelliff and Herter Bros but it could also be one of  the several fine east coast furniture designers.

The carvers art is apparent in the detail shot.

The typical Female figural form that one might expect on a piece like this is replaced with the eagle head carving, Obviously not a high production piece of furniture and one might expect to see this as part of a larger formal parlor set which if intact would be VERY valuable.

This might also be found in the Gentleman's Parlor as well. The price on this rare pair of chairs is 950.00 for the set and you are not likely to run across another pair. If you are interested please contact us at victiques@gmail.com if you'd like to own this rare pair of renaissance 'centennial' chairs.

The Antiques Shopper : Exit 76 Antique Mall

From time to time I try to cover regional antique dealers and malls to enable you to find good resources for your home restoration or your homes furnishing needs. We have decided to brand these blogposts under 'The Antiques Shopper" and will throughout 2011 try to bring you at least once a month a review of a regional Mall or dealer that we think provides good values and inventory and is "Worth the drive"

Finding early furniture is getting more and more difficult but this nice desk shows you can still find it here.

Exit 76 Antique Mall is located in Columbus Indiana and is one of the largest antique malls in the state of Indiana with over 72,000 square feet of space. The site has plenty of parking and is just north of a major Outlet mall at the same exit.

This booth had some great lighting and most of the hanging lights pictured were priced from 35-75.00!

Overall its definitely the better part of the day to see everything, especially if you are the kind of buyer who literally looks at everything. The mall is well laid out with standard size booths and they have a numbering system and provide a cheat sheet so you can write down booth numbers and what you saw that you might like to come back for.

The mall is well staffed and if you find something they will take it up to the front for you, for checkout when you are done. There is also an ATM on site and I recommend paying with cash or check and don't be afraid to ask for any discounts as there is almost always 10 percent and sometimes more. Of course they accept Visa and master card.

This Victorian settee came with two matching side chairs and the whole set was priced for less than what Ive seen just a chair sell for.

What you will find. Everything. They have some craft items confined mostly to the North End, unlike some malls there isn't 'junk masquerading as antiques, Most items fall into the pre-1940era. I have shopped here for years. Several book dealers (I picked  up a first edition history book  from the 1840's for less than 5 bucks). I have scored some major finds at this mall over the years including a Belter chair I bought for 40 bucks. Bargains are there and its worth a visit anytime you are close.

Exit 76 Antique Mall ,2595 North Executive Drive, Edinburgh, IN 46124-9067, (812) 526-7676 Website at:
http://www.exit76antiques.com/