A Jelliff bed- with provenance!

Those interested in John Jelliff's furniture are aware that solidly documented examples are rarer than hens' teeth.  The only collections having provenance of which I am aware are the pieces in the Newark Museum which descended in the Jelliff family, the "Edwin van Antwerp" furniture which was purchased from Jelliff in 1858 and has existing bills of sale, and the suite in the Metropolitan Museum's "Renaissance Revival Parlor".  Any attributions to Jelliff must really be made with comparison to these very few examples, since there are no known labelled Jelliff pieces, and no known catalogs illustrating Jelliff designs.

Neal Auction Company in New Orleans has just posted its catalog for the upcoming June 25-26 sale, and included is the Jelliff bed illustrated in the April 1990 Antiques Magazine article on John Jelliff's furniture by Ulysses Dietz of the Newark Museum.  Mr Dietz's article identifies this bed as "probably the 'Rosewood High Bedstead'... that cost $150... and was probably in Van Antwerp's own bedroom". In 1990 this bed was still in the collection of the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark.

From the Neal Auction catalog description:  "An American Renaissance Carved Rosewood Bedstead, c. 1858, John Jelliff, Newark, the headboard with foliate scrolled crest and finials and centered by a strapwork cartouche, conforming paneled arch footboard, height 71 3/4 in., length 75 in., width 58 in. $2500/3500
Provenance: Edwin van Antwerp, 53 Washington Place, Newark, NY, 1858; Grace Robertson, granddaughter; Trinity Cathedral (Episcopal), Newark, 1989, by gift; The New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, by transfer; acquired by the current owner.Illustrated: Dietz, Ulysses G. "Edwin van Antwerp's Jelliff Furniture", Magazine Antiques. April 1990: p. 910, fig. 6. "

How this bed came to leave the Historical Society's collection is not clear.  However, it is not impossible that this may be the one and only documented piece of John Jelliff furniture we will  ever see on the market.