Dining room set - Lifetime Furniture

[Sekhmet]

Hi all, new here.  I would love any input I could get on this lovely dining room table & 6 chairs I just acquired via Craigslist.  I have had some opinions that it is Jacobean in style, but also that the ornate carvings are more Italian Renaissance.  So far evidence seems to point toward its being from the 1920s-1930s.  Today I found a "Lifetime Furniture" label on the bottom (pic below), but I am finding VERY little about that company online; just that Lifetime Furniture is actually a trademark of Grand Rapids Bookcase & Chair Company.  All the info I can find on them is focused on their mission furniture line, which this clearly is not!

Anyhow, here are some photos.  Any information would be appreciated.

[hosman321]

What a beautiful set you have there, I love it! I agree with everything you know so far, 1930's-ish-Jacobean style. Are you looking for a monetary value or just some more company information? Welcome to the forum!

[mart]

Style and date appear correct to me !! I don`t see IR in it !!  Its probably walnut as much of that was used back then. I would fix the chair seats !!

[Sekhmet]

Thank you both for your replies!!    I fell in love with the set at first sight; the photos in the CL ad didn't do the carvings justice, and my heart skipped a beat when I first saw it in person.  I am curious about value, although I have NO intentions of selling it.

mart, what do you mean by "fixing" the seats?  They are pretty worn out; I'm just not sure what I should do to fix them.

hosman, I'm really looking for any input at all, including but not limited to:

1) As many opinions as I can get concerning the style & age.  I've been looking up Jacobean Revival furniture and while the legs seem right on, the only thing confusing me is that I haven't seen any that has the sort of elaborate carving detail on the chair backs; it seems like Jacobean has that sort of bubbly/twisting style of the legs, but not the more detailed carving.  According to one (unsubstantiated) source (see #2 below), Life Time Furniture introduced their Jacobean line in 1913, and by the 1920s "the company had changed direction and was making heavily carved European revival lines."

2) Any information on Life Time Furniture, aka Grand Rapids Bookcase & Chair Company - and ideally info on this line in particular.  (As I mentioned they seem to be best known for their mission furniture, which according to a couple different sites is considered on par, in terms of quality, with Stickley.)  This is the most helpful info I have found on the company, which is very limited: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Collectibles-General-Antiques-682/2008/2/Life-Time-Furniture-Grand.htm

3) Any comments on the wood type and construction.  I believe the chairs have mortise & tenon construction, because there's one leg that is pulling away a little from the cross-brace, and I could see the rectangular wooden joint.  I love walnut - once had a massive aquarium stand custom-built of walnut, so I'm quite happy that it seems to be walnut.

4) Comments on how I might treat it as there are various nicks and chips and scratches here and there.

5) Any comments on the upholstery & seats.  I'm thinking this is NOT the original upholstery?  The seats are not very supportive any more.  What should be inside the seats?  Springs?  There's definitely not wood in the seats.  I think they need to be reupholstered & probably need new seats.

6)  I am curious about value - particularly because I perhaps shouldn't put hundreds into redoing the seats if the set should turn out not be worth that much.  I know we got a deal as it stands because we only paid $240 for the entire set (plus a table protector pad, to go beneath a table cloth), and we probably couldn't get an 8' table w/6 chairs made of particle board & plastic veneer for that amount.

[Sekhmet]

P.S.  My interpretation of the label is that the second line is "Finish: Ven Ant," which I am thinking indicates an "antique veneer."  Agree/disagree?

P.P.S.  Hosman, is that a bengal in your profile pic?  I have an ocicat, and for a minute I thought that's what your pic was, but the face looks bengal.  Very pretty either way.  

[Sekhmet]

Thought I would add a few more photos (I took loads)...

[mart]

The pics are so large and I am on dial up. Taking all day to see them all !! What I was talking about on the seat is,, it looked like when they were recovered, not enough padding was used. In the straight on chair pic you can see clearly the outline of the front cross brace. It looks like if your legs rested against that wood it might be a bit uncomfortable to  sit in. However that  is a simple thing to correct if you recover them. The upholstery is not original. Construction on your set is typical for the period. Much like many other sets. You may find variations from company to company but nothing that is out of the ordinary. For the nicks and scratches just use a bit of Old English dark oil and they will all blend in and look fine !!  Value on this set would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $450. as this style is not particularly popular. Much like the old Empire pieces,, people just don`t like them because its hard to blend them into todays homes and furniture styles. While it would look great in a large old Victorian home,, it would seem out of place in todays houses.

[Sekhmet]

Thanks a lot, mart!  Very sorry about the pics - I didn't think anybody still used dial-up.  

I see what you mean about the style. We just bought a house built in 1908, and we've been furniture shopping because suddenly our Ikea furniture is not at home!  It's not Victorian, I'm told "late Queen Anne" with arts & crafts influences like quartersawn oak doors, but I think the set will be happy in our dining room once we get the place all put together.  

[mart]

Oh Yes !!  We are in the country and dial up still exists !!  Really expensive here for BB and personally I just can`t see the expense for something for me to play with !!  LOL
Your set should fit nicely in a Queen Anne style home !!
I can see the set redone in a muted stripe as looking great. You were asking about the veneer and it does have veneer on the top but probably not below that. Usually the large solid surfaces were veneered but since the other parts were not so visible, they used the same wood but smaller pieces and just gave it all the same finish. The chair seats probably have band type springs that go from side to side.   (Cross your fingers that it doesn`t have coil type but doesn`t look like it!!) Some may need replacing since the seats do seem to sag a bit but if you are a DIY person (or hubby) should not be difficult to do yourself. Upholstery is an easy one, just sew and dart the corners. A few tacks or a staple gun, some trim and a glue gun. I would love to see it after its transformation.  Hope you post pics of the "after" !!

[Sekhmet]

I promise to post "after" pics, but it probably won't be for a while, as my hands are VERY full with house renovating at the moment! 

I barely know which end of a sewing needle is the business end, but I think I might try to learn.  I know my mother-in-law re-upholstered some dining chairs of her own, so I can recruit her help.

I think the seats are totally open beneath the fabric - by which I mean, no wooden seat under there.  I pushed from the top and bottom, one hand on each, and could feel my fingertips touch.  I am thinking you are probably right that there are likely band springs running horizontally.  You are right that the seats are not very comfortable at present.

Oh, do you think the value is $450 as is today, or after the seats are all re-upholstered?  I want to get them into top shape for my own use, regardless, but it would be nice to know whether that money will be an investment, or not something likely to ever be recouped.

[mart]

That price would be after new upholstery and any repairs that need to be made.  Reglueing stretchers ect and a little Old English scratch cover !! You are lucky that it is as good a condition as it is and has all six chairs. Most times chairs are mismatched or finish is ruined. I think that once redone you will be quite happy with it.

[tiwaz80]

I almost have the same table and chairs! My uncle purchased them for my aunt years ago with the intention of refinishing them. However, they were too afraid to tackle all the moulding, so it sat OUTSIDE for years in the Utah desert. My mother and I refinished the table and chairs in 2003 as a graduation present. My table has a leaf that folds out of the middle and spindles that hang from the skirt in middle of the table (men can only sit at the head of the table). But the carving and mouldings are exactly the same as yours. The top does have a veneer on it. I discovered that the hard way while sanding. The chairs are very easy to reupholster. We just cut some foam and stapled the fabric down. (and we don't sew)

Have you found any new info on the exact time period? After what I've found, I don't think our table are part of the 1913 Jacobean line. I read that line still looks like heavy mission period with a few arches and some spindles.

I can't tell you how excited I was to find your table and chairs on here! I had no idea what the arm chairs looked like. I have four chairs and a strange stool. Sadly, I'm needing to combine two households soon and am trying to figure out what kind of price I should put on the set.

Oh! Funny coincidence - I have the same IKEA chair in the background of my table too! 

[mart]

Please start a new thread and post a pic of your table set !! I would love to see it !!  I remember some sets with the spindles !!