Bonham/ first ever east coast furniture sale

Bonhams is opening their first ever furniture sale with a BANG, the victorian furniture is in last few pages of online catalog, some of it Herter.

http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=EUR&screen=indexEUR

WOW!! I had a hard time navigating & finding the pictures/ listings - but there are at least 16 amazing pieces made by Herter Brothers (probably my favorite cabinetmakers - Allen & Bro. are also in contention for the title). Some phenomenal pieces here for sure. Many have estimates of 100k + including a Herter Bros. bed estimated @ 3-500 k. Many pieces from the Milton Slocum Latham residence, Thurlow Lodge, Menlo Park, Ca. (Shortest Term Governor of California - 5 days). As jacon4 say's - they are the last couple pages of the listings (Jan 22nd auction). I couldn't get the link to work for the pages, but this link should bring up the bed, then click "View All Items in the Sale", then click on "Last Page" (also look at the page before the last one):  
http://www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r?sContinent=USA&screen=lotdetailsNoFlash&iSaleItemNo=4115196&iSaleNo=16932&iSaleSectionNo=1

If you click the main link, halfway down page, click "american furniture and decorative art online catalog"

mind-boggling.  probably the most important pieces of Victorian to be sold for some time.

John, yeah, they have some early american thats not to shabby either. I say Bonham is trying to make a statement here and i think they have done it.

According to the press release (click above catalog), these Herter pieces have been off the market since 1942, when Warner Bros. Studio purchased them. I'll be interested to see how the prices do next month. There could be a record here for an american victorian piece of furniture, what is the record? anybody know? To bad they have to break up the bedroom suite but with these estimated prices i guess theres no choice.

GEE WIZ, where is everybody at. One would think this thread would have generated a ton of posts considering the offerings. Maybe everyone is away on holiday.

I have always been curious about what happened to the principal bedroom peices from the Latham mansion after first reading about them in "Herter Brothers, Furniture and Interiors for a Gilded Age".  If you study the catolog photo's carefully you can see that there are many decorative peices missing and the legs and feet  of the dressers and cabintes are quite beat up. I guess they were not handled very carefully while in the set warehouses at Warner Brothers.

(I'll update this post as the lots sell, or don't... ... and I think I got them all.)

Lot 1284 Renaissance Revival Wooton patent desk
sold for bought in  (estimate $10,000 - 15,000)

Lot 1285 American Renaissance marquetry library table 
sold for bought in  (estimate $4,000 - 6,000)

Lot 1286 American Aesthetic inlaid and ebonized parlor table 
sold for bought in (estimate $4,000 - 6,000)

Lot 1287 American Renaissance parcel-gilt and carved walnut pedestal; Herter attrib. 
sold for $30,500 (estimate $15,000 - 20,000)

Lot 1290 American Renaissance parcel-gilt and carved walnut folio stand; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $85,400 (estimate $40,000 - 60,000)

Lot 1291 American Renaissance parcel-gilt, carved and inlaid rosewood and maple music cabinet; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $85,400 (estimate $80,000 - 120,000)

Lot 1292 American Renaissance inlaid and carved walnut buffet; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $194,000  (estimate $100,000 - 120,000)

Lot 1293 American Renaissance parcel-gilt, carved, inlaid and ebonized bedstead; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $326,000 (estimate $300,000 - 500,000)

Lot 1294 A pair of American Renaissance carved, inlaid and ebonized night stands; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $23,180  estimate $12,000 - 18,000)

Lot 1295 American Renaissance carved, inlaid and part-ebonized shaving stand; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $61,000 (estimate $50,000 - 70,000)

Lot 1296 American Renaissance parcel-gilt, carved and ebonized cabinet; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $230,000  (estimate $80,000 - 120,000)

Lot 1297 American Renaissance inlaid, carved and ebonized mirrored dresser; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for $103,700  (estimate $100,000 - 120,000)

Lot 1298 American Renaissance carved, inlaid and ebonized mirrored dresser; Herter/Thurlow Lodge 
sold for bought in  (estimate $100,000 - 120,000)

Lot 1299 American Aesthetic inlaid and ebonized slant-front desk; Herter/Mark Hopkins Nob Hill 
sold for bought in  (estimate $40,000 - 60,000)

Lot 1300 American Aesthetic carved and inlaid ebonized center table; Herter/Mark Hopkins Nob Hill 
sold for $48,800   (estimate $40,000 - 60,000)

Lot 1301 American Aesthetic inlaid rosewood center table; Herter/Mark Hopkins Nob Hill 
sold for bought in   (estimate $60,000 - 80,000)

Lot 1302 American Aesthetic carved and inlaid rosewood secretary cabinet; Herter/Mark Hopkins Nob Hill 
sold for $91,500   (estimate $80,000 - 120,000)

Lot 1303 American Aesthetic inlaid and carved rosewood center table; Herter/Mark Hopkins Nob Hill 
sold for $97,600  (estimate $80,000 - 120,000)

Lot 1304 American Aesthetic carved and inlaid rosewood sideboard; Herter/Mark Hopkins Nob Hill 
sold for bought in  (estimate $150,000 - 250,000

Prices realized are inclusive of Buyer's Premium, thusly:
   22% of the Hammer up to and including $100,000.00
   20% of the Hammer above $100,000.00, up to and including $500,000.00
   12% of any Hammer above $500,000.00

Interesting.  12 sales and 7 bought in.  5 lots go over estimate, a couple way over.  7 go at the low end of estimate.  Would you call this typical?  Can we tell anything about how high end Victorian is selling from this sale?

Quote from: TexMac
Interesting.  12 sales and 7 bought in.  5 lots go over estimate, a couple way over.  7 go at the low end of estimate.  Would you call this typical?  Can we tell anything about how high end Victorian is selling from this sale?

I have the same questions as TexMac... can anyone who follows the market make sense of this sale for us and place it into a historical context?

Yeah, i am with Tex & MLB on this one. I was hoping a dealer/collector with deep pockets would buy entire bedroom suite as its certainly rare to have all those matching pieces together.

It's my understanding that the record for a single Herter piece was 288k, set in june 2008. If that is true then we have a new record as bed sold for 326k.

Wishes a Joan Bogart or Lise Bohm would stop by and give us their thoughts on this sale.

I'm wondering if we can really take anything away from this sale as a sign of the market as a whole.  There are some things about this sale which make it unique, and thus maybe not the best barometer:

1) Bonham's first ever NY sale
2) Warner Brothers/Hollywood tie-in to the items - when else will you get that again?
3) The largest sale ($) of Victorian lots in decades, probably
4) The largest sale of Herter in 60 years
5) Very uncommon to have such a concentration of the highest end Victorian pieces
6) It wouldn't surprise me if 1/2 of these items were bought by museums

my 2c

The Bee's wrap-up article on the Bonham's sale:  http://antiquesandthearts.com/Antiques/AuctionWatch/2009-02-10__12-31-23.html

I attended the preview of this sale and bought a catalogue as well.  It was wonderful to touch/handle the pieces and discover little surprises.  All of the items really felt of a much higher quality than most victorian furniture I'm exposed to.  The solidity, thickness of woods, wonderfully detailed hinges and quality of the interior fittings are just some of the things I noticed.  Of course the carving, inlay work, finishes and overall design were great but these aspects can be observed the usual way, in museums, books, etc.

Some misc. thoughts:  Interestingly the mirrors on the back of the Hopkins slant-front desk had some very old looking glaze on them, (probably to avoid reflections in movie productions).  I noticed the Warner Bros. logo burn-branded onto the bottom of one of the tables.  As has been discussed, every piece had condition issues.  The Thurlow Lodge pieces seemed to have had more wear than the Hopkins House items.  The bedroom set in particular was quite bumped around with many small details and carvings broken off.  The bed was extensively touched up with black paint.  The marble/stone tops of all the ebonized pieces were missing and wood marbleized replacements were on each, (parlor cabinet, dressers, night stands, etc.)  These replacements weren't very well done but I supposed good enough for filming.  I really fell in love with the Hopkins House furniture as I love rosewood, the aesthetic movement and Herter inlay work.  The original finishes were in pretty good shape too!  I had to open every drawer and door and had a hard time walking away from each piece.

I really should have posted these observations before the auction.  I'll remember to do so next time.  It's too bad I'm not in a position to afford victorian furniture of this quality but maybe another day!  How lucky I feel to have experienced these pieces first hand!

Recent article in MAD on Bonham sale

http://www.maineantiquedigest.com/stories/index.html?id=1140

I've always wondered about the experts that attend with their clients.  What exactly is that job?  I've read about the Kenos doing this as well as others.  What is their responsibility?  The sales are generally well cataloged so there is little left to do but decide a target price range, raise the paddle for the client and spend their money, then bill the client a percentage of the sale?  I like that gig.

Brian Witherell has authored a couple of books (Berkey & Gay Furniture & Old West Art & Antiques), been on the Antiques Road Show as an appraiser, & has his shop & website. All of which help get his name out nationally and thus attract high end clients. The same goes for woodworkers and probably every other field too, the ones getting the big commissions / jobs are those that have built up their reputation - by getting their name out nationally. Frequently by authoring books, or articles in national, well read publications. They're not necessarily the best - just among the best at self promotion. There are lots of knowledgeable & talented people that work in near obscurity, and will never get the high end/ big commission work w/o having built up their reputation.
Seriously John, you should think about compiling all of the information and knowledge you have and are accumulating about Rare Victorian Furniture and writing a book about the subject. A book that focuses on high end Victorian furniture. The photo's, sale results, known makers, attributions, construction details, unique tidbits of information, etc. All preserved forever in a hard copy. It would be an invaluable reference for most dealers, collectors and scholars - sure to become a treasured classic in the field. I'll bet you'd sell a lot of them. It would also help promote your name and website - which could have far reaching benefits. A good deal of information - is already written by you in your own hand (no copyright infringements) on this site that would only have to be copied and pasted into your manuscript (w/ many, many hours invested in researching and writing it - something you obviously enjoy and are good at). Mark & Connie Stellinga wrote the only value guide book that exists today on Pool & Billiard Collectibles (based mostly on his own collection) - everyone with an interest in the subject owns the book - tons of them have been sold. The values given in the book are all very high, which set a guide line and put a high dollar value on his collection. 2 or 3 years after they wrote it, he sold his collection at a well publicized auction. I'm certain that his book helped generate more interest in his collection, and drove prices much higher than they would have been were it not for their book. Not to mention payment for writing the book & royalities from it's sale. Food for thought.   woodwright

Compiling a book on Victorian Furniture gets my blood pumping.  I would enjoy that.

The question is what would compel the masses to purchase a book more - a book that is more of an eye-candy book with glossy images - really artsy fartsy with images taking up the bulk of the pages or a book that is more of a reference with research and information.

My gut says the former, while the latter would be more truly valuable to the community.... hmmm.

Well, on dealers representing clients at auction.Let's just say for arguments sake that i had an extra 5 mil or so to spend and had my eye on an early american piece, for example that stool that just sold for 5 million. I would absolutely have an Albert Sack (or any other qualified expert that handles similar objects on a daily basis ) by my side when bidding, it just makes sense to me.

John, I have a ton of reference books - on a lot of subjects, including of course Victorian furniture. I have to admit, that when I'm scanning a book looking for something that interests me and what makes me want to buy it is the pictures. A book with great pictures that interests me will usually sell itself in a few seconds worth of scanning it. I don't know if I've read any of my hundreds of reference books cover to cover - but I've certainly looked at the pictures, and read the captions many times, and continue to refer back to them frequently. I will on occasion read information in the book based on what I am interested in at the moment. I don't think the 2 have to be exclusive of each other, and adding well researched reference material would add some valuable meat to the book and it's marketability. Lots of great pictures of high end furniture, maybe original catalog images or old ads found in papers or trade journals from the period, etc. They could possibly be grouped by known cabinetmakers maybe a section for Belter, Meeks, Roux, Henkels, etc or by period/ design i.e Roccoco, Ren Rev, Gothic, etc. - those labeled/ signed or otherwise known and those attributed, and the unknown. Which would help many dealers & collectors to identify their furniture. Most auction houses have archives of photos from past sales (a lot of great furniture) - they may give you permission to use their photo's for a mention or credit in the book to help promote their business and to play a role in helping bring all of this information together in print - which would of course help them out in the future to further identify furniture they are selling. I'd like to suggest a title for the book. What do you think of Rare Victorian? Put me on the list for a copy, just don't forget us little people when you make it big.   woodwright

Woodwright, I like the title  :)  I'm seriously considering doing this - and my brother is a trained photographer. 

I think we need a book like this.  Victorian furniture hasn't had a good book published in over a decade, by my quick observation of my bookcase.

If I every were to get this rolling in my withering free time, it would take a long while to get together.

Why not a lil take off of Albert Sacks "Fine Points Of Furniture"? For those not familiar with this book, it was written in 1950 and has become the bible of early american furniture. In it, sack offers 3 photo's of each type of furniture with a "good", "better", "best" tag above each pic and commentary on why its good, better or best.

One could do something similar with victorian or has someone done so already?

Now that i think about it, theres only 1 catch, access to the furniture to take the pics.

John, It would certainly be a sizeable undertaking, but it could pay off big. I hope you do talk yourself into writing such a book, I think the world needs one and you'd be a great candidate to make it happen. You're into it, obviously love it, have a lot of research and writing under your belt, many contacts already, the process would certainly further your thirst for knowledge about the subject, etc.
I believe I'm pretty well versed on books about Victorian furniture & to my knowledge - there is no book in existence that focuses on high end Victorian furniture that helps to clarify the "who made it" question and give as much information as is possible about the big names & other important cabinetmakers. The Dubrow's books are the best I can think of - but they cover a lot of other stuff as well and only touch on the subject. There are several maker specific books, like the Herter, Belter, Hunzinger, etc. books and sprinklings of nice furniture in a quite a few other books. But nothing that covers the major makers collectively and shows lots & lots of fantastic, phenomenal high end Victorian furniture - it could be just dripping with eye candy for Victorian furniture lovers. There is so much really great stuff that has come to light in auctions, through dealers and collectors that is yet undocumented in print - many may be willing to allow their photo's and furniture in the book -for the publicity/ advertising, and to help further the cause - maybe get them a free copy for their assistance.
This website is great - but you can only see what is on the screen at the moment, you need to search archives to find other pics and information, the images are on the computer - not in a hard copy to browse through over and over - unless you print them all off, much time, paper and ink - my printed pictures are not of book photo quality - and my ink is not permanent (it runs if wet, and I suspect will fade with time - albeit slowly - but never the less not last indefinitely - like a book would). I also wonder - will you tire of doing this blog? or what about when you're gone (I hope you have a long life ahead of you, but the reality is that everyone checks out sooner or later) or when you're no longer doing it - will the blog/website/ information remain? or be forever lost? I believe a book would be a permanent & lasting legacy for all that follow. Look at the books you have for possible publishers to contact.
Anyway, I've stated my case - hope I didn't beat the subject to death, but I do hope it happens. I'd love to see such a book. Put me down for the first copy - I'd like mine autographed please. Good luck if you decide to do it, keep us posted.   woodwright