Vintage dining room set (6 chairs/sideboard and table)

[jmajjfrank]

My Mom bought this set 1951 from a neighbor for $55.    Lots of carving on this set as you can tell.  I have looked all over for anything like it and cannot come close.  I inherited it from my Mom and am going to move it to NC and have it refinished.  Thoughts?  All of us kids were terrified of it as children as we thought the carvings looked like scary faces!!!  I just would like to know when/where it was made and if it's worth anything other than sentimental value. My sister is FREAKING out that I'm going to refinish it as I may "ruin the value".  But the value is sentimental!!!

[frogpatch]

That is from the 1920s or 30s. It is a Spanish revival style that was very popular back then. The legs were usually made fronm several pieces of wood that were glues together and shaped. The finish would have a color that coated rather then penetrated the wood to hide the piecing together.

[jmajjfrank]

How interesting! My sister swore it was Victorian.  It is a very dark finish/coating.  I wonder if I would ruin it or if the piecing would show if I had it refinished..  Based on you saying it was pieced together I'm betting it's not worth much..  Thanks for the info!

[Rauville]

Jamestown Lounge Company from Jamestown, NY was famous for their "Feudal Oak" line of furniture. They had competition from other makers producing similar designs, but it's worth doing some research to check out your set. Look carefully for any identifying marks on the bottom of the table and chairs, or on the back of the buffet.
Yes, I would guess the set was 20-some years old when your Mom bought it.

[frogpatch]

Do not take te finish off. It will expose a lot of things that you will need to cover up. Just use a little liquid gold and clean it and give it a coat of wax. It is not worth much right now but what is? It has sentimental value and like everything else it may go up. Use it and enjoy it for now.

[frogpatch]

Go to this link and scroll to page 8. There is a similar set for sale in 1931 in this newspaper.

http://209.212.22.88/data/rbr/1930-1939/1931/1931.01.28.pdf

[mart]

I must respectfully disagree with Frogpatch on this one !!  Just google "30`s Jacobean Revival dining furniture" and you can see many examples of the turnings on this set !! There has for years been confusion on these two styles because of the similarities !! But the table stretcher in gateleg style would indicate Jacobean rather than Spanish revival !!  Actually it would be Victorian since Jacobean, Empire, Spanish and Colonial revival as well as Eastlake and a few others all were during the Victorian era !! But what is commonly known as Victorian with all the turnings and carving is actually Pilgrim or Colonial revival if I remember correctly !!

[frogpatch]

Look at the ad from the thirties that I posted the link to. You can call it Jacobean or Mediterranean.  It is definitely a product of the thirties. I will take a closer look at it but it sure looks like the one my brother and I tried to refinish and the one in the picture..

[frogpatch]

I looked again and I still say it is that fat legged 1930s style. It is does not look like oak and the carving is all done by machine. I have actually the same style with really fancy book matched veneers. They had no boundaries. In the ad I believe they call it Colonial.

[mart]

It would take two days for me to download that link !!  Dial up you know !!  Actually it make little difference what we call it,, its from the same time period !!

[frogpatch]

That is true. You must be in a remote area, Mart. I had dial up and it is maddening. I would put the ad up but it is a PDF and I would have the save it, crop it, print it and scan it to a Jpeg. I don't have Adobe Acrobat. That's how I did the other one.

[mart]

Actually I am not that far from a small town >30,000 people, but cost for BB in our area is more than I want tp pay for something to piddle on !!

[frogpatch]

I can't blame you. I personally could not survive without my high speed broad band. Although it is slow as dial up at times during peak hours. I need to send and receive too much when I am busy. We bundle everything through the cable company; TV Phone and internet and its not that bad. I like the wireless because I can work anywhere including outside when the weather is nice.  I better get back on subject before ai get moderated

[mart]

LOL  We have great moderators !! We often get away from the subject at hand to just BS !!