Hi, I saw this footstool on ebay listed as a limbert. The seller said he verified this with John Fontaine of Pittsfield, MA and he said it was a Limbert piece. It is similar to a Gus but the dimensions are different and not pegged. I happen to have one just like it that I picked up at Brimfield a few years ago thinking it may be a Gus. I checked the 2 Limbert catalogs that I own and did not see it listed. Can anyone verify this to be a Limbert? Jeff http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1600...name=ADME:L:RTQ:US:1
Nope, don't see it. Not in the book by Bartinique "Kindred Styles, The Arts and Crafts Furniture of Charles Limbert", either, or the Grand Rapids book by Marek that has some more Limbert stuff.
Just another ebay seller who wants it to be something and hopes that a buyer wants it to be the same thing and so if they both believe it then it has to be what they want it to be (haha), circle of BS.
I e-mailed the seller with some questions and a request for additional pictures 3 days ago which went unanswered. Generally I was curious if the rails/stretchers were round dowels or were flat (at least on the outside facing surfaces).
I'm almost positive this is not Limbert and is fact an early Gus (with possible additions or alterations). I have an almost identical piece, signed with the early box mark expect it is 11 inches square. The footstool in this auction was rectangular (15x11). I've never seen the Gus 302 footstool (the more common form pegged and with the "straight" legs) or the earlier version with the "notched" legs in anything other than a square form. I assume it could have been a custom order and short lived variation.
Below is a link to the Cathers & Dembrosky website showing a set similar to the stool I have and possibly similar to the one JeffOC may have been lucky enough to find at Brimfield.
Thanks for the info on the "Monk footstool" I have a 15"X11" model like the one on ebay which by the way, reached $257.99 and did not make reserve. I found it at a little flea market out side of Brimfield and paid $10.00 for it. It has the original leather under an old leather layer. The original leather and webbing is quite deteriorated and falling apart but the stool itself is in pretty good shape. It's an interesting design but really not a very functional piece of furniture. To answer your question about the rail/stretchers it appears that mine utilizes dowels. It is hard to tell but while holding the joints up to the light it doesn't look like flat tenons but maybe 2 dowels. Did Gus Stickley ever use dowels? Jeff
I had a chance to take another look at my Gus monk stool and it seems the rails/stretchers are dowels(not certain i'm using the term in the same sense those familiar with woodworking would use it) joined directly into the feet. If I remember correctly a similar method is used on some early Gus v-back chairs that had rush seats. I believe digging through old Rago catalogs would probably produce a picture of a v-back without a seat.
So... what is the conclusion here? The feet/legs look exactly the same but the ebay item has square stretchers and Stonecats ref appears to have round dowels. Also, the ebay item is 11 x 15 x 5 and the one above is 12.5 x 12.5 x 5...
I am not sure what to make of it - is the ebay a copy of a Gus or the real thing?
Good work on finding the ref Stonecat. I suppose that is what the old auction catalogs are good for!
