Featured Complete Art Deco salon set (4 armchairs) - Dutch, ~70 years old | Origin & value?

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping someone here can help identify the origin and give a realistic valuation for this complete salon set of 4 armchairs that belonged to my grandmother her entire life.

What I know:
• Set of 4 — 2 "gentleman's chairs" with fully upholstered arms, 2 "lady's chairs" with open carved wooden arms
• Purchased in the Netherlands approximately 70 years ago
• Originally green, professionally reupholstered ~20 years ago in dusty pink velours (cost approx. €4,000 for the full set at the time)
• Solid oak frames with ornate carved woodwork — acanthus leaf and scroll motifs, ball feet
• The open and closed variants each have their own distinct carving style
• The carving appears to be handmade but I cannot confirm this
• Maker/brand unknown, will check underneath the fabric soon
• Fabric is in good condition (some minor light fading), 2 of 4 chairs need some work on the springs

The set has always stayed in one family home in the Netherlands and is now looking for a new owner as my grandmother moves to a care home.

My questions:
1. Does anyone recognize the style, maker or period more specifically?
2. What would be a realistic asking price for a complete set like this in today's market?
3. Any idea whether this is Dutch craftsmanship or possibly Belgian/French? They have been bought by my grandmother approx. 70 years ago and have always been in her posession and handled with great care. Have been reupholstered twice on their lifetime.

Happy to share more photos if needed. Thanks in advance!

 

One more thing, if there is a brand or maker's mark, where would I typically find it on chairs like these? The bottom of the chairs has been closed off with black fabric and staples by the upholsterer. Is it likely that a mark, if present at all, would be hidden underneath that cloth?

 

Wow! These chairs are fabulous. Although if you hadn't told me that I needed to sit in the lady's chair, I wouldn't have known . I have no expertise with Furniture but am looking forward to what they have to say.

 

Hahah, AI said that that was the reason so that definitely doesn’t make it true, somebody else can probably confirm I’ve sat in both of them a lot during my lifetime and can confirm; both of these models sit great. To be honest, I think after all these years they still sit better than most chairs I’ve ever sit in!

 

Spectacular set, 1920s imo. They would have been second hand when your grandmother bought them ca 70 yrs ago, and she had a great eye for design and quality.

Any of the above, although I am leaning towards Belgian.
Do you know where she bought them?

 

Of course.

 

you think they’re even older then 70 years?

My grandma can still have a very sharp memory at some times but most of the time it isn’t anymore so asking her can 9/10 times result in ‘I don’t know’ and that 1 time she could exactly know where they would come from. However, i won’t put her trough asking it 10 times on different days though haha.

My aunt thought it could have been bought from an (local) atelier (if that’s the correct word in English as well). My grandmother comes from Assen but I think she had these chairs from when she lives in Son & Breugel.


Since they’ve been in our family, these chairs have always had these round wooden blocks as the front feet. However, I’m starting to wonder if they may have been added later, as they do not seem fully original to the design. Considering the weight and style of the chairs, I was wondering whether they might originally have had small casters/wheels at the front, which seems to have been common for heavy armchairs from that period according to AI however.

 

Update:

my aunt knows for a fact they have been bought in Assen in the Roldestraat

 

I do.

A lot happened in those 70 yrs, it is impossible for her to remember everything.

Atelier is workshop, although I'm sure many of our native English speakers will recognize the word atelier as well (I am Dutch).
That suggests an artisan type shop, maybe they restored furniture?

Excellent. Does she remember the shop? That might help in knowing the type of things they sold.

 

Many Art Deco chairs didn't have casters. You can check if the back legs have holes in them to attach casters. I suspect they don't.

 

She says a furniture shop / dealer. My aunt remembers a lot from stories from grandma as she wasnt even there yet haha. She going to ask grandma tonight and that’s either going to be an ‘I don’t know’ or a very specific all telling description of the shop, as she sometimes has a very good memory of these things.

 

I’ll check this tomorrow morning when I’m going to make more pictures of the whole set and when I’m going to remove 1 of the black dust fabric cover on the bottom to check for a mark, label or anything that might identify.

My family wanted to list this set for free as they think a lot of antiques isn’t worth anything anymore like it used to. But I feel
Those chairs, especially a full set, are not your everyday antiques you can find anywhere and believe they should have some value. They are still in such a good state and have served as the main chairs for so many years which only confirms their quality I guess.

I just want them to go to a new owner who will give them a new life. But not to someone who’s gonna make a grand for a free listing they saw haha.

have you got any idea what would be the bare minimum that a set of these chairs would be worth with only the facts we have right now?

 

Oh no!
Brown furniture is a problem, but Art Deco furniture is still hot. Your biggest problem is the size though, they are very chunky, and a set of chunky chairs could be even more of a problem.

We don't do appraisals, but if I were you I would check out a site like reliving.nl. That is a venue where anyone can sell good quality vintage and antique furniture and home decorating items. They have a range of Art Deco furniture as well.

Look into prices of delivery services like brenger.nl , so you can offer delivery. Buyers will pay for delivery, but you will have to arrange pick up and make sure that it is packaged safely. There is plastic furniture foil that you can wrap around furniture.

 

I was curious to see what similars Google Images would come up with. Here they are:

https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/s...rniture-velour-carved-oak-wood/id-f_47984692/

https://www.lavainteriors.com/loft/pair-of-swedish-art-deco-club-chairs

https://www.etsy.com/listing/186777...how_sold_out_detail=1&ref=nla_listing_details

Debora

 

The above all have prices but... caveat. They asking, not selling prices.

Debora

 

On reliving:

https://www.reliving.nl/zoeken/art-deco-fauteuil

I see they sell sets of two as well as single ones. Your grandmother's look like two sets of two, that could be easier to sell.

 

Thanks a lot! Will check those options out!

And tomorrow morning I will share any new detail found, from removing the black fabric on the bottom

 

The black fabric is "scrim" in English. I have no idea of the Dutch term, and translations on line can be odd, on a good day and being polite. That chair is most definitely Deco; while American young people might not like it, Deco has a huge fan base.

 

Fantastic and unusual chairs with definitely value. They are exceptional.

Following this thread!

 

So I’ve opened up one of the bottoms of the chairs and I couldn’t find any makers mark, at least not at the base. It’s hard to look inside very good, not sure if they could be there or if course, maybe it has none (anymore). Only found 2 pencil marks, but those are almost certainly from the upholstery that has been done 20 years ago haha. I do have some images now of the internal work like the springs and how they are all tied together and as you can see in the picture we do see that part of the original green upholstery is still there at the bottom.