Antiques and Ventriloquist Central

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As you all know I have been an antique dealer collector my entire life and once you are bitten by the antique bug it is almost impossible to let it go. For the better part of 16 years I have concentrated solely on ventriloquist figures but my love of general antiques has never waned. And because of that I of course will still purchase an antique item if I love it.

It has happened to me because I got a call to go look at an antique desk and when I got to the house, which was only a little ways from my own house, I saw one of the finest examples of a Chippendale Block Front Shell Carved Knee Hole Desk.

This style of desk is one of the rarest in all the forms of American Furniture. The block and shell style is typical of Newport Rhode Island designs but is also found in Philadelphia style furniture.

If this desk had been made in the 18th century I would be able to retire and believe me when I saw it I started to shake. Could it be? I said this too myself. It was not that old but it is a bench made piece all done by hand around the turn of the 20th century. That makes this desk somewhere around 100 years old which makes it a true antique even though it is not what the trade calls a period piece.

The lid on the desk and all the draw fronts started out at a thickness of about 3″ to be able to get the block and shell designs. The lower casing is all gadrooned edge and all the feet are shell and ball and claw. The blind door shell carved door and cubby are super rare to find as well.

I did in fact purchase the desk and brought it home and have taken these pictures for you to see it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

By the way it is for sale so if you are interested just give me a shout.

Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com

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Ventriloquist Central is the brainchild of Dan Willinger and Steve Hurst. Dan is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Steve is a ventriloquist as well as builder of ventriloquist figures. He also has a background in sales, marketing, building websites and computers. Because they both love the art of ventriloquism, the website Ventriloquist Central was born. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com

Copyright 2013 by Dan Willinger and Steve Hurst

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5 Responses to Antiques and Ventriloquist Central

  1. Bill Matthews says:

    Beautiful, Dan. What a work of art. I’d be excited, too. Great find.

  2. Bob Isaacson says:

    Dan…..what a find !. what a perfect example of real hand carving ! you lucked out on this one !

  3. Doald Woodford says:

    Beautiful workmanship.

  4. Lee Dean says:

    I wonder who has furniture done by Mack.

  5. Dan says:

    Lee the Macks did archetectural carving. I don’t think they were a furniture store.

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