Art Deco dining set- info?

Paul & Diane Kolak

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Nov 23, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/23/97

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I recently bought an Art Deco dining set made by the Grand Rapids
Bookcase and Chair Company, which existed from 1897-1960 in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. The man who sold it said it came with a house he
bought in the fifties. I'm wondering if there's an Art Deco expert out
there who can give me a general idea of its age and value.

The rectangular table has gate legs which fold out to support two drop
leaves. The set has four side chairs and two arm chairs of simple
construction, with spring upholstered seats. The buffet is about 7 feet
long with four cabinets, two small drawers and a large silver drawer
with a drop-down front. All is solid wood with a black stain finish. The
buffet has beautiful brushed steel (?) drawer and cabinet pulls.

Condition is good. The stain is quite worn in a few spots. There are
some surface scratches, but only two small areas where the wood is
actually damaged (edge of one drop leaf and bottom edge of buffet). The
chairs were reupholstered once in 1955. I plan to refinish everything
and reupholster the seats eventually. Will this affect value?

Any general information on this type of furniture or specific
information on the GR Bookcase and Chair Co. would be greatly
appreciated. Thank you!

Apple10

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Nov 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/25/97

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Hello---
If you can possibly deal with your Art Deco in it's
present state---DO NOT REFINISH!! This has a very
large effect on the $$$ value of the furniture. As the
seats have already been reupholstered once, that
shouldn't have much of an effect, unless you do it in a
pattern no self-respecting person would use on a pc.
of Art Deco furniture.

Leota

Ronnie McKinley

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Nov 25, 1997, 3:00:00 AM11/25/97

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In rec.antiques Paul & Diane Kolak wrote:

>Any general information on this type of furniture or specific
>information on the GR Bookcase and Chair Co. would be greatly
>appreciated. Thank you!

Hi,

Charley K another poster to this group mentioned Grand Rapids
furniture in another thread, not knowing anything about this furniture
"style" I had a look on the net and found the following at ..........

===========================================================
"To learn more about the history of GRAFMA, contact the Local History
Department ( http://grpl.grapids.lib.mi.us/validate.html?null=1) of
the Grand Rapids Public Library at (616) 456-3640. The Library holds
the papers and records of the association dating from 1888-1988 in
manuscript collection #84"

"Guide to Furniture Trade Periodicals in the Local History Collection"
http://www.grapids.lib.mi.us/furnper.htm
============================================================

Also links at ................

http://www.iserv.net/grpl/localhis.htm
http://www.grapids.lib.mi.us/lhlochis.htm
http://www.iserv.net/~plucas/michyes.htm
http://www.iserv.net/~plucas/michigan.htm
http://www.grapids.lib.mi.us/text/furnper.htm
http://www.iserv.net/~plucas/grfda.htm

Ronnie
mcki...@netcomuk.co.uk
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~mckinley/index.htm
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