Featured Grand hall bench

I purchased this from a collector and was wondering on some of the carvings, time period, etc. I am still relatively new but my best guess is early 1900’s from France, could be totally off track though. Any estimate on potential value would be awesome, not planning on reselling but it takes up so much space and I always like to know potential resell value Incase we need the space or want to change things up.
The purchase price was $500 which I know is extremely low for such a piece but have seen benches in the line ranging from $1800 up to 4/5k. Any info is much appreciated. Thanks guys!

 

At least someone is buying brown furniture.
From the size of that and no clue where you are...I have to say $500 may not be so low as you may think !

 

Located In Dallas Fort Worth area. It is almost 6 foot tall and about 7ft wide.

 

It's a stunning piece....But I don't know of a member here who has the room for that in their home.
The furniture guru's will be along to add their comments !!

 

It’s massive, my fiancé and I just purchased our first home and are currently filling it up. If we did not have 11ft ceiling height there would be no way this would look right in here. 1920s craftsman so a bit off track with styles but one day we would love a true Victorian or gothic home.

 

Best of luck to you and your bride to be !!

I would suggest you turn your attention to Mid Century Modern furniture.
It's lighter...in color and style....and seems to be gaining traction among furniture buyers.
While it's been said here that Brown Furniture may be making a comeback......there's a good reason you got it at what you see to be a very low price.

But that's just me thinking out loud............

 

Haha not in it for the money or popularity, we love the castle look.

 

Then my friend....I say ..GO FOR IT !!!
This Forum is littered with dark old furniture of all sorts that folks have come into, by it being passed down.... that we just can't stop saying how nice it is...& how little it's worth on todays market.
Dallas....may be a bigger market than some other folks are in but if that's the look you're going for.....there is a lot of things out there that you should be able to find........at firesale prices.

GOOD HUNTING !!!!!

 

more pics needed. especially from the inside below the seat to see the original color of the wood.
if French then the one crest could be Mulhouse.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulhouse

but frankly - the second got me stumped. is that leo holding an ice hockey stick ?
at the moment I think historism ~1850s.

 

Think you hit the nail right on the head. The carving in person looks identical to the wiki link image.
Will have more pics soon. The top seat opens up for storage as most of these do.
I am just as unsure of you are as to what the Lion is holding lol. Right under it is a knights helmet if you couldn’t tell from the pic cause I took it straight on. Most definitely going to think it’s a hockey stick every time I see it now lol

 

all in all, the elements are rather generic. the shells could be St.James' hinting that the bench stood in a church or abbey on one of the many roads to Santiago etc..

 

I would say Mechelen, Belgium, mid 19th to early 20th century. Possibly made for a Dutch family.
The lion with the hockey stick looks like the Dutch lion with a lance. Belgium was once united with the Netherlands and Luxemburg.
The lion with the lance was first introduced as a symbol ca 1600 during the Dutch war of independence. It originally had a pileus or freedom hat on top of the lance, as a symbol that the people of the Low Countries were no longer 'slaves' of the Habsburg dynasty.
Like on this carving which was originally on the back of a cart:


I think the two crests on the bench could be the crests of two families coming together through marriage. After independence several families in the Low Countries used the lion with lance freedom crest.
The wheel crest is used in varying colours by several Dutch families, like the Hoogendorp family crest, on the left:


The shells are a generic part of Baroque decorations imo.
There is more on Mechelen furniture in this PDF file, in Dutch but with nice photos. Scroll down to page 15 for the Historic Revival style:
http://www.tento.be/sites/default/files/tijdschrift/pdf/OKV2000/Het Mechelse meubel 1500-2000.pdf

 

Yep, looks NW European, renaissance revival.

The guy in the U.S. to look for in this style is R.J. Horner, who often (not always by any means) signed his stuff. He was also big on renaissance revival, 1890s-1910s, most often in oak but the earlier stuff is sometimes mahogany.

As the auctioneers say, "carved to death." Unbelievable skill and finish.

I love Horner's stuff, but you do need a big house with high ceilings. His dining room sets could go upwards of $100K in the old days. I was recently at an auction where one of Horner's high style, 9-foot buffets couldn't get $12K, so the owner withdrew the set.

Obviously, now is a good time to accumulate these large, heavily carved pieces if you love them as much as you say you do. Good for you! It's anybody's guess, however, what their future may be.

 

Wowser! A few notes: such pieces can go in loft-like spaces with pipes and brick, as well as in your high-ceilinged home. Also, they can be used as room separators. And in a dining room. Hallway.

(I'm a throwback. I love "brown furniture," especially occasional massive pieces. At the moment, I am in a 300 sq. ft. room with 9' ceilings -- believe it or not, there is a PERFECT place for your bench. Acrually, TWO places!)

 

Silverthwait's the best!

 

LOL!

 

Think the others have pinned this down pretty well. Will add that I see oak in the third picture but believe the carved panels could be something else.

 

Hi,
I was stunned when I saw your hall bench. Especially since you bought in the Dallas area. 30 years ago I had a piece that is identical to yours. I was living in Brooklyn and moving to a small CoOp only 500 sq ft and 8 ft ceilings. I sold my piece to a friend (and dealer) in Dallas. I am wondering if it is the same piece. Mine had a chalk mark on the back saying Carroll St Brooklyn. of course it might have been wiped off by now but still a shock seeing it.
greg

 

Wouldn't that be serendipitous!!!

 

That would be crazy. I do not plan on reselling but the man I bought it from owns around 30 pieces of furniture in the likes of this. It came from one of the bigger malls in the area, I have made friends with the dealer (not really a dealer just a serious collector and is renovating and remodeling and started selling most of everything) so when I see him next I will ask him where he purchased it and see if there’s any connection. He has been collecting for 30 years so wouldn’t be surprised if this is one he has had for half of that time.