Featured $100 chairs I was going to paint until...

In the mid '90s, the owner of the antique mall I co-managed brought in shipping containers of similar Indonesian teak chairs (even similar box cushions) and caned planter's chairs, along with some truly dreadful dark-stained mahogany 'Victorian' reproductions. I left soon after, but they were not inexpensive at wholesale, and actually sold pretty well at retail - will also add that teak does not like to be painted, and I wouldn't choose to paint either, but would most likely work okay with a really good primer...

~Cheryl

 

Thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge and opinions! I've spent the morning reading about Jepara - fascinating! Confirmation that it is hand carved is a bit daunting. it may sound silly but instead of being a couple chairs to flop down on, I feel a sense of responsibility to protect someone's art.

 

Oh Boy! were we ever!
And to a lesser extent germany, NL, france, italy, bla bla bla
Naturally we put our own spin on British furniture styles but, no doubt about the dominance of those styles for much of our history. Matter of fact, America did NOT have a single piece of american built furniture in ANY major museum until the late 1920s. It was not considered worthy of collecting until the 20th century.

 

A crying shame!

 

Americans had an inferiority complex about fashions in general for whatever reasons and pretty much followed western european fashions as to what the "latest" style should be.

 

"You had no monarch, but were still influenced by British fashions, that may be it.
We were more influenced by our close neighbours on the Continent than by the distant Brits on the other side of the Channel. And we had our own monarchs (to worry about)."

Sounds reasonable.

 

"America did NOT have a single piece of american built furniture in ANY major museum until the late 1920s. It was not considered worthy of collecting until the 20th century."

I suppose the New York Victorians )) like Belter, Meeks, Horner, Pottier & Stymus etc. were considered to be offshoots of Rococo Revival, Renaissance Revival, etc. from European models? Don't know how else to explain their absence from museums until...when? the mid 20th century?. Seems like G. Stickley would have afforded the U.S. a place in the world's museums before the 1920s as well.

Evidently the U.S. was not the only country with a dim view about U.S. furniture. A crying shame, like A.J. said.

 

Well, think about the Goddard/ Townsend shop in the 18th century and their 12 million dollar desk/bookcase, the most expensive piece of american furniture ever built. NOPE! not worthy of exposition! Looking back, it seems rather silly now.
Thing is, we were a colony of GB all during the 17th and most of the 18th century, then in the 19th we had that catastrophic bump in the road, the civil war so thinking on it that way, we were BUSY! with other matters. Just easier to consider europe the leader in fashions of the day, not only in furniture but all manner of stuff, clothes, architecture, the arts in general.

 

Yeah well, is pretty sure many europeans helped feed american insecurity in those matters, better for them to if they wanted to sell more product!
So in a sense, it worked out all round!

 

Not really sure on that as victorian styles are not my thing but, the first serious attempt to display american furniture permanently occurred in the late 1920s.
The director of the MET talked Mrs Russell Sage into buying the Bolles collection and donating it to the MET, considered at the time (1909) the finest collection of early american furniture known. From the MET
"For those who know the American Wing today it is hard to believe that in 1909 not a single piece of American furniture was owned by the Museum. Everything was borrowed for the occasion. But before the exhibition was over, Mrs. Russell Sage had purchased from it the entire collection of Dr. Eugene Bolles and presented it to the Museum. Thus was laid the foundation for the American Wing's collection, which now numbers between nine and ten thousand individual pieces of furniture, silver, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, and architectural settings."

 

The American Wing opened at the MET in 1924 & a few years later (1929 i think) the Bolles collection of early american furniture FINALLY took it's place & was opened to the public. About time I'd say.......
I think Belter made his debut at the MET in 1980 so, not that long ago!

 

Had a loveseat with similar pattern, late 1800s, Chinese export?

 

They are still beautiful, not super cheap even if they are modern. Those are really beautiful for new homes. A taste of the exotic

 

That could have been from Jepara as well. They have been making furniture and carvings there for centuries. If it was also teak, it is very likely that it was.