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closeSunday, Feb. 24, 2008
Dine well on value of inlaid table
By Terry Maurer, What's it Worth?
"East is East and West is West and never the twain shall meet," said Rudyard Kipling. They surely don't meet often, but East and West come together in today's What's It Worth, as we respond to reader's questions about their Western spurs and a very fancy table from much further east.
Q. Our table is just beautiful, but we really don't know too much about it.
Can you help with identification and value? It has a stamped mark on the bottom, "Bennett Bros." and a terrific design of music and horns on the top. -- Melinda in Burbank
A. This is a prime example of a very fancy marquetry-top table in the Eastlake style. Marquetry is the inlaid design made from small pieces of variously colored woods.
The period when Eastlake furniture -- recognized here by the design of the legs and top edges of the table -- was popular in America between 1870 and 1890.
Named for Charles Locke Eastlake, an English designer who inspired mass-produced furniture that ranged from simple to elegant, the style was made in large quantities by many U.S. manufacturers.
It is generally felt the Eastlake style led directly to and overlapped with the Arts and Crafts movement in furniture. Arts and Crafts, popular from 1885 to about 1915, is highly collected today. Eastlake is less popular with collectors, but quality pieces like this have good value.
The table probably was made in a large eastern city in the latter part of the 19th century, or perhaps in or around the area of Grand Rapids, Mich., a hotbed of such production in that era.
We had no luck in finding anything about Bennett Bros. Furniture, the name stamped on the bottom of the table. That leads us to believe they were the retailers -- a furniture store or jobber -- and not the manufacturer.
A similar table, with somewhat fancier inlays featuring a bust of George Washington but by the well-known manufacturers, Killian Bros. of New York, sold for nearly $30,000 in 2006 at a Midwest auction. It had been estimated at a sales value of $5,000 to $ 7,000.
This table is not quite up to that quality and the Washington image doubtless drove the price to that lofty level. Still, it is a wonderful example and seems in excellent condition. We value it between $8,000 and $12,000.
Q. I traded for these spurs a few years back and have always wondered if they are very valuable. They're in good condition and marked "Les Vogt." What can you tell me? -- Carol in Mesa
A. Authentic "used on the range" cowboy items are hot in the marketplace these days.
Anything "cowboy" will find a collector and usually at a strong price. What collectors want is material with background and history. Such things as signed spurs from famous Texas-based makers of the early 20th century, hand-braided lariats (especially those done by convicts in state prisons!) and old chaps and clothing, draw strong bids at auctions all over the country.
One name to look for in our part of the country is Hamley, a company that started in Idaho and ended up making saddles and other gear for decades in Pendleton. Older production from the Pendleton Woolen Mills also is sought-after.
We've seen a pair of marked Hamley chaps valued at $2,000, a complete braided leather bridle and reins setup said to have been made before 1900 by a convict in the Walla Walla Penitentiary valued at $1,850 and a Pendleton Mills child's vest from about 1900 that appraised for $200.
Les Vogt is a different story and rather at the other other end of the collectible spectrum. Yours are modern spurs by a well-known maker who's still in business today.
You can buy new spurs from the Vogt Co. for between $450 and $600. Vogt products are well-regarded and sold in tack shops from the U.S. to Europe. As used items, these spurs are in the $300 range.
w Read more of Terry's What's it Worth columns at www.tri-city herald.com/lifestyles/antiques/
w Terry Maurer, a Tri-Cities personal property appraiser, is a member of the Certified Appraisers Guild of America. You may submit your antiques and collectible questions to What's It Worth by e-mail to whatsitworth@@clearwire.net
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