Hello Antique Furniture Buffs,

I am in the process of getting estimates to restore a sofa & rocker. They were given to me by my grandmother and given to her by an elderly friend. I am not sure if they are worth restoring but I will probably have them done just because I love the clean lines & the cane. The top of the ID tag is inserted between the wood on the underside of the sofa. I would appreciate any information. So far the prices for the restoration of the cane, wood & upholstery are running about $3,500.00.

Thanks,
Karen

Here are a few pictures:

Hello Karen,
Welcome to the Arts and Crafts Society forums and your pictures are nice subjects for conversation.

Depending on your location it would be advisable to locate a reputable furniture restorer to complete your pieces. Make sure they know what they are doing in the art of restoring pieces such as your without ruining the origanal patina.

Respectfully,

Ralph

Karen,

I believe that your furniture pre-dates the arts and crafts furniture made by the Binghamton Chair Company.

They made "fancy chairs" and caned furniture in the 1980's and published a catalog of their goods titled: Illustrated Price List of Double Cane, Oval Reed and Splint Chairs and Rockers

The company made furniture into the 1920s.

As to the value, I'm not sure what the market is for Victorian fancy furniture, but you could search the catalogs of the big auction houses and on eBay for similar pieces and get a rough idea.

We'd love to see images of the Morris chairs if you have some.

Lauren

Hi Karen, I'm not even close to being an A&C expert but did have a thought about your restoration project. Your quotes don't seem to far fetched if you consider what needs to be done. Upholstery needs to be taken off right down to the frame, refinished, then recovered.
My main point of this post is that if you have seperate shops do the uph. and the refinishing get the furniture to the same upholstery shop for the tear down as the recovering. A good shop will hold onto the old bits and pieces as a reference when recovering. Don't try and cut costs on the restoration when it comes to fabric selection. You won't regret any additional expense in ten years.

Thank you all for your responses.

My first estimate was from a group of shops that specialized in each aspect; upholstery, wood restoration and cane. I am working with a second group but believe the price is coming in around the same range.

I will be taking all of the advice I get here and am grateful for the info.

Lauren, I was using the 'Morris Chairs' name only because it is on the label (see picture above) of the sofa. Sorry if I confused anyone.

Karen

I see the "Morris Chairs" now. I changed the title of the thread for the clarification of the other readers that might click.

Lauren

Karen, Please don't let total cost dictate your final decision. I'm going to digress for just a minute and relate a story that may be useful. Had a very nice women come into the shop about a year ago. Within about a minute this complete stranger, an intelligent, well educated woman, was in tears because she just had her furniture upholstered and was less than satisfied. After some thoughtful fabric selection and reupholstery (again) she had an honest smile on her face.
This is not the norm but it does happen. Make sure you get a good, unhurried look at a couple refinish jobs and some upholstery work from the different shops.
This can be an exciting process, be sure to enjoy it!

The label does look like Binghamton Chair Co. Located in Binghamton, NY the Stickleys kind of got their start there in the furniture business. I think even Gus worked there in before the turn of the century. But later, I believe the Binghamton Chair Co. became Stickley and Brandt with Charles Stickley one of the partners. But the prior to the Arts & Crafts period, which your piece seems to look like design wise, the company did make "fancy" or revival style furniture, or Victorian style stuff. Works from this period are not considered valuable on the market. The fall in the area of period reproduction style. There maybe a market for people who have a house decorated in a Victorian style manner. I would try and match the upholstery to that style of pattern when you reupholster. Or research the period to see what was popular then. If the finish seems fine, don't touch it. It can be touched up. But don't refinish unless it has been in the past. Again, be careful no to spend too much money into repairing it because the resale on it won't be as you would expect. Because of what I stated earlier. Most American furniture is only valuable if it came from the late 1700s to early 1800, old New York or Pennsylvania. But anything from just before 1900s don't carry much auction value. And when it comes to Arts & Crafts, only early Gustav Stickley commands a high price. Or a rare early Limbert. But after 1907, I don't consider even Stickley pieces valuable. They are overpriced, yes. But the late Stickley pieces became too plain. Much more veneer. A lot of cost cutting near the end of his businss.

You could probably find similar pieces in very good condition for a fraction of the price of restoring these. If they were rare pieces, the restoration would make more sense.

Approx. 14 yds of fabric at a starting price of $45.00 per yd for quality fabric. New foam for seat cushions easily $200.00 plus. Or rebuild/replace Marshall spring units starting at the same. Replace 100 year old feather back cushions....labor for reupholstery, replace caning, refinish frame....
Don't want to be controversial but it all starts to add up quickly. Geography can play a significant role in the price. If your in L.A. it's gonna be one price, less than some thriving metropolis another price.
About 60% of the uph business that comes through our door is from folks that can't make the huge scale/over sized furniture of today fit in their homes.
Depending upon the details of your uph. job alone a price of $1500.00 wouldn't be out of line. New down/feathers, spring repair, a more costly fabric which is easy to do and it starts to make sense. Now it simply depends on whether you think it's worth it or not. Be sure to compare apples to apples though. You'll have a fine quality piece of furniture when finished, not something you'll find in a typical furniture store. By a long stretch. Good luck

Good Morning Flash and others,
Speaking of prices, when I build custom made pieces I can make them less than others as I don't have to make a living building pieces because, I have enough income to take care of all of my bills and that leaves me the freedom of building what I like to build much cheaper than others. The quality if my pieces is a true as can be and if I say so they don't look bad either.

Here is a Morris chair with out slats or known as open sided.

Respectfully,

Ralph

Sorry Folks,
It must have been too large for it to be shown, however if you would like to see it just email me at Ralj7@aol.com.

Respectfully,

Ralph