Page 15 - 1018

October, 2018 The Antique Shoppe Page 15
I recently found a walnut Kittinger dining room table. It has pull out leaves. It is
Questions & Q. “Jacobean” looking in design. The dimensions are 30” tall, 69”long without the
leaves, each leaf is 29”, and it is 40” wide. Is it valuable? How old do you think it might

Common Sense Answers be? Is there an interest in such pieces today and how do I contact someone to sell it?
—Anne.
Anne - Your table is called a “draw” table because of the way the leaves are
with Fred Taylor A. extracted. It was a form developed in England during the reign of Elizabeth I
and reborn in America during the Colonial Revival of the Depression Era. The table was
probably made in the 1930s. Kittinger was, and still is, a maker of high-quality furniture.
If it is in good condition it would sell at auction in the area of $300-
Mr. Taylor - Can you estimate the value of this chair and
Q. provide any information concerning the Johnson Chair Co., $500. Your best bet is to contact a local auctioneer if you want to sell
it quickly. If you have time to wait you may be able to consign it to a
Chicago? Thank you. — Jim M. 20th century furniture dealer or a dealer at a mid-level antique mall.
Jim - Johnson Chair Co. was founded by Andrew P. Johnson. Be aware that the dealers have to make a living too and usually are
A. Johnson was born Andrew Jearager in Voss, Norway in 1835, only prepared to pay wholesale for merchandise. You will probably
and immigrated to the US in 1850. He eventually fought in the Union get closer to retail price at an auction even after expenses. Here is the
Army and changed his name to Johnson. After the Civil War he worked website for Kittinger. http://www.kittingerfurniture.com.
as a carpenter until he joined with two partners to form Herhold,
Johnson & Borgmeier in 1868. He split off from that and started A. Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215,
P. Johnson & Co. which was later renamed Johnson Chair. By 1879 Crystal River, FL 34423 or email them to me at info@furnituredetective.com
he employed 200 workers and turned out 3,500 rockers and chairs Visit Fred’s website at www.furnituredetective.com and check out the
a week. Johnson offered “press back” chairs as early as 1888. After downloadable “Common Sense Antiques” columns in .pdf format. His book
WW1 Johnson Chair was the largest chair manufacturer in the city of “HOW TO BE A FURNITURE DETECTIVE” is now available for $18.95 plus
Chicago. $3.00 shipping. Send check or money order for $21.95 to Fred Taylor, PO
I could not determine how long the company was in business after Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423
that. However, there is at least one clue in the label on your chair. The Fred and Gail Taylor’s DVD, “IDENTIFICATION OF OLDER & ANTIQUE
address says, “Chicago 39, Illinois.” This two-digit zone code was the FURNITURE”, ($17.00 + $3.00 S&H) are also available at the same address.
precursor to the zip code and was instituted in major metropolitan This commercial chair was For more information call (800) 387-6377 (9AM-4PM Eastern, M-F only),
areas in 1943. It was replaced by the five-digit zip in 1963. So it appears made by Johnson Chair Co. fax 352-563-2916, or e-mail info@furnituredetective.com. All items are also
your chair was made in that time period. I would say from the style that in the 1940s. available directly from the website, www.furnituredetective.com
your chair is a commercial or governmental waiting room, courtroom
or public library chair made in the 1940s. It probably is made of birch
with a walnut finish. In good condition the chair would probably sell at auction in the
range of $75. Thanks for the photos. PLANT
I own an antique oak washstand. When purchased, it had oil droplets oozing
Q. from the lower portion of the piece. I assumed that it was in someone’s cellar
and there was an oil leak which rose to the height of the lower portion of the item. CITY
(approximately 3in). I’ve used Zar refinisher; Zip strip and a bleach/alcohol mixture to
try to “dry it out”. Although it is somewhat better there are still residual droplets of oil
to the touch.
Any suggestions to rid the oil and lighten the darken areas? Many thanks. —Bob
Bob - I would use straight lacquer thinner on a daily basis to remove the oil. It Becki’s Neat Old Stuff
A. may take a long time or maybe never for it all to leach out but it’s worth a try. (Vendor 22)
You can then bleach the lower portion with oxalic acid or a commercial two-part bleach AT
from Home Depot (which I prefer). I have also found that grinding up OIL DRY to a fine
consistency and applying to the oil stain for several days, until the oil stain has been MISS RUBY’S ANTIQUES
soaked up, works very well. 119 N. Collins St.

We have a Berkey and Gay dining table. The table originally belonged to 3 Plant City
Q. Admiral George Dewey (Spanish American War fame). My father bought the
table in the 1930’s from the estate of Mrs. Dewey. The estate sale was conducted by
Sloan Auctioneers. Although still in business, I was not able to locate an auction catalog Offering furniture, primitives,
from the Dewey sale. I have photos of the table going back as far as the year 1942. My collectibles and estate items
mother and father always referred to the table as Admiral Dewey’s conference table,
probably because my father always used it as a conference table. My question is, how 50% off most items
can I document that the original owner was the Admiral? Underneath the table is this on Wednesdays
number 7221 1504 - H. Thank you. —Henry 3
Henry - The attribution of an
A. artifact to a previous owner is
most commonly called a “provenance.” BRANDON Somewhere In Time
To establish a solid provenance you need
hard copy paperwork like a bill of sale
from the original vendor to the Dewey Brandon Blvd “Antiques - Collectibles & More”
family, an auction catalog from the sale, a
consignment list from the Dewey family to 75 1 Kings Ave Parsons Rd
the auctioneer, a remittance slip from the The Shoppes of LaViva
auctioneer to the consignor, a household Lumsden Rd 720 W. Lumsden Rd.
inventory from the Dewey family listing
the table with an adequate description, 301 Brandon, FL
a picture of Dewey at or near the table, a
will from the Dewey family listing assets Providence Rd 813-684-0588
that include the table (Admiral Dewey Lithia Pinecrest Rd
died in 1917) or some other type of solid Open Mon.-Sat. 11-5, Sun 12-5
proof, preferably from a third party source. Bloomingdale Ave
Family history and hearsay won’t do it. Like us on Facebook: Somewhere in Time Brandon, FL
Good luck.

75