Featured Sideboard Herter style

i thought this might be a Herter at first but don't think so. Wondering if anyone could identify or say more about this from the one photo I have.
Thanks

 

Regardless of maker, the piece appears to be a top missing a bottom.

Debora

 

Would think more European than American but certainly possible by one of the top US makers. I would think it more likely a bottom missing a top than the other way around (assuming the top is finished) but it could be complete as it sits.

 

very nice.....nice rug too !

 

I think it's complete, brad. I'll see if I can find an image, but you see these in our stately homes a great deal.

 

What a gorgeous piece! It appears complete (I don't get top only as the finish on the bottom is appropriate...ie the doors don't go to the floor) and you've decorated it in a way that tells me the top is finished?

I'd be willing to pop it into a truck and haul it away if you feel the need heh heh

 

And another interesting piece. Aesthetic ebonized and inlaid rosewood. I believe hardware is English.

 

I don't really see the aesthetic influence. Detailing is more classical Victorian. Drawer handles are English arts and crafts or art nouveau. Would think circa 1890.

 

The desk form is classic mid 19th C and onwards, albeit that flared top is unusual, as are the chamfered sides. The handles wouldn't be called A&C here, they're too fussy. The ebonising and that squared border work are very Georgian. So it's a bit of a muddle! Not aesthetic, anyhow.

 

Interesting. I had a bedroom set with virtually identical handles that I considered A&C. Searched the web to come up with similar example and this is the closest I could find. Would you not consider this arts and crafts?



A bit less similar but equally fussy......

 

First one, absolutely. It's that combination of clean geometry with a soupcon of curves in the metal detail. Very Voysey. Lovely thing. It's a very simple, symnetrical shape with just the plaques as the perfect accent. Said plaques verging on the Art Nouveau.

Second, too twiddly! Far too many extraneous curves and bits and pieces. It isn't a coherent design, it isn't clean, and almost looks repro.

That may or may not make sense.

 

Not implying that it applies to ANY piece shown in this thread, but keep in mind that as styles changed, manufacturers had to cater to "local" tastes. Take the "new" style, tack on the familiar, and it will appeal to the masses who are afraid of the radically different, or who "expect" to see certain traits. You can also add in the fact that "regions" where much more circumscribed - tastes could vary widely between Brooklyn and Secaucus.

 

Very true. And often forgotten in historical TV dramas, where prop sourcers insist a 1930s house ought to be pure Deco, forgetting people already owned stuff, or liked the familiar.

 

Which is why I'm wondering: why the mirrors on a bottom piece?