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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.

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