Author Topic: French-canadian 3 piece suite  (Read 1806 times)

If-Only

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French-canadian 3 piece suite
« on: January 14, 2006, 07:15:36 am »
Hello to all, I've come to ask for your expertise regarding a 3-piece suite we came into posession of a while ago.

The history behind it is as follows:

My Fiancee's Grandmother kindly gave us these furnishings for when we moved in together. She said they are antique and were given to her by Canadian relatives, who purchased the items (as antiques) in Quebec. Unfortunately, I do not have any dates, but at a guess, I would say they were handed to 'our' Grandmother over 50 years ago, which must make them quite old.

Description:

The suite consists a tub chair, a taller armchair, and a 3-seater sofa. They are all VERY heavy, mainly due to the amount of solid wood they are made up of.

The feet have a simple, but smoothly and deeply carved five-toed paw design, about 7 inches wide, and hold the seating a mere 2 inches from the ground. They don't protrude from the edge of the sofa at all, and are quite vertical. There are 4 on each chair, and 6 of them on the sofa.
Above each foot, there is a square shape (Roughly 3x7 inches), with a simple flattened diamond design within.
Around the base of each piece is a wooden trim, about 2 inches thick with regular, wavy bumps around 2 inches apart all the way around, except where the aforementioned squares are, and along it's back, which is just upholstery.
The front edges on all of the seats, which go up to form the arms, are also exposed wood, and have a deep carved, single flower design as it approaches the armrest. I find them very decorative, even though upon closer inspection, they are not precisely carved.
The upholstery seems kept on by what seems to be some rivets, or some very 'round-headed' nails, spaced between 1 and two inches around the edges of the wood. They all have velour-type upholstery, but I'm no expert on fabrics, and I'm also unsure as to whether it is the original material.

Any information anyone could give me would be very much appreciated. I understand a photo would explain a thousand words, and I will try to post one as soon as I can.

Thanks for your time!

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French-canadian 3 piece suite
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2006, 11:19:43 am »
a picture would be nice.but it appears your furniture could date from. circa 1840 to 1890. late empire period. carrying a value of. (sofa value )  $900.00 to $2,000.00 dollars.

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French-canadian 3 piece suite
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2006, 01:01:42 pm »
Thanks for your reply.
I've been looking around and I can see that similar furnishings from that period do resemble ours. The only thing I would add is that it does not have any wood detail across the top, just fabric.
I will have a camera by Monday evening, so I will post some detailed pictures.
Your estimate came as a suprise to us, could this be the value of just the sofa?
Are these desirable in the UK?

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French-canadian 3 piece suite
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2006, 12:58:19 pm »
that was the sofa.there are different styles.

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French-canadian 3 piece suite
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2006, 11:29:14 am »
Hello again.

Here are the images as promised....



Hope these help.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2006, 04:12:49 pm by If-Only »

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French-canadian 3 piece suite
« Reply #5 on: January 17, 2006, 05:07:03 pm »
this set is known as the barrel style. $1,200.00 dollars u.s.

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French-canadian 3 piece suite
« Reply #6 on: January 18, 2006, 11:11:57 am »
Thank you for your time. I am considering taking it to an auction, or an antiques shop, but I'm also thinking of Ebay, what do you think would be best? Do you also know of anywhere (websites/books etc) I could look to find out more about this style of furniture?

Thanks for you time.