Ok, I think i am in love with this rocker. AM thinking of making an offer. Please offer any opinions on the chair and what a fair offer would be, as you can only make 1 offer. And does anyone have any knowledge of the seller, Joe Nevo aka Joe Mission?
Thanks in advance...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7376...%3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1&rd=1

The pad on the back is not original, as you can see from the 4th picture showing the back braces. As a result the correct thing to do would be take it off, but then you're left with 25 fairly obvious tack holes on the top brace. This of course influences the value. Otherwise it looks pretty good. Don't know the seller but he certainly has a lot of stuff and his feedback score is good.

I think this is one of the more common LJG models; I'll check around for prices.

Hello Ken,
As Stonecat stated, the back is not original and because of that I feel the price is a little high for the chair.
Repairing the brad nail holes is no problem but you would need to get someone to make a new back cushion. If I were bidding on it I would not go over $400 as is. Who knows that might be the winning bid. However don't start at that price.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

i agree the price is high based on not original upholstery, tack holes, and uneven finish. although you expect wear over 90+years use, this seems excessive. it may just be dirt and grime that can be cleaned, but it is difficult to tell from photos, so you wouldnt know until you actually get the piece...

a question for Ken...what part of the country are you in? is there anywhere close you can visit a dealer that specializes in period pieces? i would suggest trying to go to shows, antique shops in person to educate yourself on finish, quality and condition before relying on online sources. just a thought.

Thanks for the feedback. I am in Oregon, just south of Portland. Antique prices, especially Arts & Crafts period are excessive here compated tp what i have seen online, which is why I typically buy off the internet. That and my time is VERY limited, but i work in from of a PC all day, so is the best way for me to learn. Am forunate if i can go out to live shows/stores and such every few months. So unforunately, online is pretty much my main resource. Am certainly glad to have found this forum and all of you, as i have learned more in the past week about this period and style than in the past year :=). Have also ordered a few books about the movement that I am waiting to get, including the 'Pegged Joint', (thanks for the recommendation Stonecat).

..not exactly the same model, but close enough..


March 05 at Treadway's

276. L & JG Stickley rocker, #803, ladderback form, with three horizontal slats to back, recovered leatherette spring cushion, refinished, unsigned, 26”w x 24”d x 32”h, very good condition. est 300-400

...sold for only 200, plus buyers premium of whatever, say 20%, so only 240

Keep in mind that auction price might only be 40-60% of retail, so if a dealer bought this he/she might be selling it for 500 or so.

Having looked over various auction listings, past catalogs, and retailer sites, in the last few days for the Limbert you picked up and now this one, its clear that simple open-arm rockers are essentially the cheapest valuations for all rocker styles. These things would have been pumped out of the factories by train car load after train car load, back in the day, which is why so many are still around and hence the value - no 'one of a kinds' here. Any of the known makers all seem to be in the 400-800 retail range with maybe a pristine Gus open arm going for 1000. Generic makers go for less, say 200-500 tops.

i got this generic rocker on ebay several years ago for $102.50.

Nice looking rocker Don! Thanks for posting the the treadway info stonecat. Now a couple of things I notice with the rocker from treadway.
1. it is unsigned.
2. it is refinished
Now from what i understand, it being refinished decreases it's value by about 50% as oppsed to a decent original finish, and it being unsigned decreases it yet again. If it had it's original finish and was signed, wouldn't that rocker likely go for about $400 at treadway and perhaps $700-$800 retail? Or am I way off on that?

'Nice Buy' Don, but did you have to put some work into it (because you have the picture named as "restored3")? The slat sides definately make it worth more than an open-arm plus the 5 back slats mean arguably more production steps than a 3 or 4, so this adds value as well. I picked up an Oakcraft (Ramsey-Alton) for 45 I think it was at a farm auction but it needed seat work which cost close to 200 including taxes, for good leather. Recovering and repairing seats and cushions is something to always keep in mind for valuations, especially with leather.

To add to my previous comment about open-arm rockers being the cheapest valuation, I should add that simple no-arm nursing or sewing rockers (without the drawer that some have) are of course even cheaper.

quote:

Originally posted by Ken:
Nice looking rocker Don! Thanks for posting the the treadway info stonecat. Now a couple of things I notice with the rocker from treadway.
1. it is unsigned.
2. it is refinished
Now from what i understand, it being refinished decreases it's value by about 50% as oppsed to a decent original finish, and it being unsigned decreases it yet again. If it had it's original finish and was signed, wouldn't that rocker likely go for about $400 at treadway and perhaps $700-$800 retail? Or am I way off on that?

True enough on the refinishing, but the unsigned doesn't matter too much as long as you have the receipt from the auction house with the identification statement, plus this one is in the LJG reprint catalogues as confirmation.

So it becomes hard to compare to the eBay one because this one still needs to be repaired, probably cleaned, and now that I've brought up the stuff about seats, maybe it needs a new seat or at least some repairs???

edit - its hard to tell if the seat is leather; I think the bottom should be open for original - not covered; the back looks like vinyl so is the seat vinyl, or maybe vinyl over the old leather?

i did some finish work, the chair had a sloppy overcoat of shellac so i rubbed drips to smooth and did a fresh coat.

also, the sob story... the shipper broke one of the rockers during handling. i was refunded the $100 shipping charge and got to keep the rocker. i made the repair and enjoy sitting in it every evening.

more on the sewing rocker statement. i got this on ebay for $75 with $25 shipping.

What about this one? A Gustav Stickely V Back rocker? Pretty rare? And finish does not look too bad except a worn area on the slats?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-GUSTAV-STICKLEY-V-back-Rock...ZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

Not very rare actually. The V-backs seem pretty common; came in an straight arm chair as well. Do a Google image search and lots of examples pop up. They sold for $12.50 'back in the day' according to catalog reprints (which was actually pretty high back then)



May 2002

GUSTAV STICKLEY V-back rocker with five vertical backslats, open arms,
and green vinyl covered seat. Worn original finish, replaced leather seat,
loose joints. Unmarked. 35" x 26" x 24"

sold for 600

...and this one in 2004

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/s/lot-469701.html?q=stic...manauctions&t=a&so=y

sold for 1000

So Joe Nevo's looks to be priced more or less in the middle of these auction prices. One other thing about these auctions, the Rago/Cohen Craftsman auctions seem to get better money than the Treadway auctions, maybe just because its more of a retail crowd and T'way is more of a dealer crowd; don't know for sure but Rago has the better reputation as well so I guess people assume they are buying well scrutinized pieces - I'm not knocking T'way at all because they have awesome sales and personally I'll probably never be worthy of attending/buying/consigning anything much with either of these houses any time soon (unless I get that lucky find in an old barn or something).

Thanks for that info. Looks like he has this one priced better than the original one in this post. And my understanding is that Gustav's are usually higher quality than his brother's furniture? Which year would this one have been from according to your catalog? And what do you think of the original finish on this?

True, Gus can be a bit better quality but I think rockers will be pretty close, and there are a few LJG pieces that some would argue are better. On the other hand there are also a few things from each that are quite simple and no better than generic, but overall Gus quality is top shelf.

The V back is in the 1910 and 1912 cataologs but not the 1915, and I don't have earlier than 1910 but there are references for the early years. I would guess it was made from 1905ish to 1914 (Gus was bankrupt in 1915 and this catalog is mainly wholesale junk from other companies).

Finish looks OK, not great but OK, the wear is certainly in the right spots, but there is a lot of finish missing, so in relative terms if you say 20% missing then maybe its a 20% haircut on good original condition value which might be 1000 or so. It gets a little subjective unless you are a full time dealer and see these chairs regularly.

I guess the final thing to add is, will Joe Nevo get 875? I bet he will - someone will see it, do some Googling, decide its in the ballpark and not an unfair price, and click on the Buy It Now.

It is a nice looking rocker & the seat color actually matches the color of our living room wall. I am very tempted to make an offer on it if my wife likes it too. Does an offer of around $600 sound pretty reasonable then?

Did Stickley or Limbert use metal screws in any of their rockers? Under the plugs?

Yes they used screws, usually to hold the back of the arms to the back post, with plugs to cover the hole. In addition, the 45 degree corner blocks supporting the seat frame were attached by screws. Virtually all companies did this because steel is stronger than wood in these critical spots. They did not use screws to peg the tenons of the front posts to the arms or the back braces to the back posts; here they used wood pegs.

I looked through his whole list of pieces and am thinking he is a little high on average with most of his prices, by up to 25%. Nonetheless I'd suggest 650 as an offer instead of 600 for the V back; shipping will be above avergae for you because of location, I assume.

Off topic a bit, since we talk about Shop of the Crafters so much here, I like his SoC clock

http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-SHOP-OF-THE-CRAFTER-Grandfa...ZphotoQQcmdZViewItem

...compared to the guy trying to sell a painted SoC cupboard for 1500 (discussed in another thread, and bidding ended with no action) this clock looks pretty good at this price.

the stairs are kinda funky, but nice place for some small objects.

my local dealer had one very similar to this a while back, but dont think it was SOC.