Any idea on brand or value of this antique Victorian coffee table? (has partial label)

I inherited this from my grandparents years ago and am hoping to figure out the brand if possible and what I should ask on it if I decide to sell (needs a few repairs to raised edging on table top and probably refinishing).

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

Not Victorian. A mish-mash of styles and likely Post WWII. I think I recognize that label as coming from the Imperial Furniture Co. (Grand Rapids, MI). They made nice quality middle class furniture. Wood is Mahogany veneers with solids stained to match. Value would be minimal. I would think under $100.00 in most locations. I would be lucky to get $40.00 in this condition in my semi-rural Midwest neck of the woods.

 

Brad you are good!

Example of a whole label

https://kaiyo.com/imperial-grand-rapids-imperial-grand-rapids-mahogany-coffee-table/


Some company history:
http://www.furniturecityhistory.org/company/3638/imperial-furniture-co

 

Thanks! yeah I didn't think it was the Victorian era, I was guessing at the style. I suspected more 1920's/30's as a lot of their other stuff was. Too bad it not something more special though.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the label info, even if it's not worth that much it's great to know the brand.

 

Coffee tables didn't exist until after WWII, if that helps. Pretty thing, but it would be a tough sell here too.

 

Don't know how accurate this is, but I saw the same information on more than one web site...
"In Europe, the first tables specifically designed as and called coffee tables, appear to have been made in Britain during the late Victorian era."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_table

 

Not what I heard, and not what I've seen either. Unless they mean a taller table than we have now.

 

I read the Imperial Furniture Co. link that say_it_slowly provided (http://www.furniturecityhistory.org/company/3638/imperial-furniture-co). The company claims to inventing the “coffee table” which is unverifiable but it implies they were at least one of the first providers of them.

 

That same article goes on to state:

"a table designed by E. W. Godwin in 1868 and made in large numbers by William Watt, and Collinson and Lock, is a coffee table. If this is correct it may be one of the earliest made in Europe. Other sources, however, list it only as "table" so this can not be stated categorically. Far from being a low table, this table was about twenty-seven inches high.[citation needed]"

Looks like @evelyb30 was correct. Most Victorian tables in the U.S. are/were 29.5 inches tall. 27 inches is almost as tall, so this is not a coffee table in the sense that we use it. The coffee table is a post-World War II furniture type.

Agree with @verybrad on value. In my part of the U.S. Midwest $40.00 would be optimistic.

 

My understanding is that the low coffee table is a 20s-30s art deco invention. Taller occasional tables were first used in front of seating and you can find many historic photos of such. If I recall correctly there is an example of a large low table with birds at each corner that was used in the interior of a famous art deco apartment in Paris. It was generally considered the first use of a low coffee table. I can not find a photo or verification of this on the internet. I would need to consult my books that I do not currently have access to and track this down. I agree that low coffee tables did not come in to wide use until after WWII.

Of course, the Chinese were using low tables for centuries. They just were not used in the same way that we use a coffee table. They were often used in conjunction with a kang in colder climates. The Japanese also used low eating tables. It is not too much of an intellectual jump to consider either of these as inspiration for a coffee table.