Q: I have a two-tiered buffet that I am trying to find out about and determine its value. This was purchased at an estate auction. It was not going for very much, so I snagged it. I have no details, but it is stunning and in amazing condition. It is 78 inches long, 80 inches tall and 33 inches deep. Any information would be appreciated.
A: It certainly is a stunning piece of furniture, and we love the beautiful detail work from the elaborate foliate "C" scroll flanking oval medallions to the heavy paw feet, which seem a bit out of place on such an otherwise refined piece.
Our original thought on this piece was Jacobean Revival, and that may very well be what it was called when it was new back in the late first or early second quarter of the 20th century. On further reflection, we feel the piece is more a 20th century Renaissance Revival piece because it does bear only a passing resemblance to the heavy and ponderous pieces with melon spacers usually associated with pseudo-ÂJacobean furniture.
We asked you to send us photographs of the back of the piece and this tends to confirm our dating. In the photographs, the piece appears to be made from mahogany, but older examples would have been made from either oak or walnut. That tends to confirm our thinking that the buffet is circa 1925. But what exactly should it be called?
We checked hundreds of similar pieces that have been sold in the past few years and have seen nomenclature such as "court cupboard" or "livery cupboard." But the piece is neither of these two things. It is a "buffet a deux corps," which originated in provincial France during the reign of Louis XIV (1638-1715) and consists of a molded cornice over two cupboards with drawers or a shelf between.
Usually, the cupboards have only two doors — while the one in today's question has three — and typically the legs on a buffet a deux corps are cabriole (S-curved). This one, however, has heavy paw feet, which reminds us of the feet sometimes found on Scottish cupboards and chests. This leads us to speculate that your buffet was possibly made in Great Britain, perhaps for the Scottish market.
You say you "snagged it" for very little and we understand that. This type of furniture is too ponderous to go well in most modern home decor. It is striking, but it is also the proverbial elephant in the room and would overwhelm most current furnishings and design plans.
These factors tend to keep the value down on the current marketplace and we have seen similar pieces sell for as little as $10 (yes, we agree that is a travesty). Because if the buyers were private individuals, they had no place in their homes for it, and if they were dealers, they knew it might very well remain in inventory for a very, very long time.
Still, this is a lovely piece and we feel it should have brought somewhere in the $400 to $500 range at auction and retail in the $750 to $1,000 range — but only if the right customer can be found.
Leal painting
Q: My grandmother purchased this painting by Manuel Leal when she was in Mexico. She attached a note to the back of the picture telling a little about the artist. She also stated that, since written permission had to be given to remove the painting from Mexico, she had to conceal the painting in order to travel with it back to the United States. What is the value today?
A: The date on the note was 1952, and it is said the name of the work is "Kiss Street." We believe this is a simplification of the actual name, which is "Callejon del Beso," or "Alley of the Kiss." With it goes a romantic but tragic tale.
Leal (1893-1975) was a painter, teacher, storyteller and novelist in the town of Guanajuato, Mexico, which is located in the center of the country and is now a community of about 170,000. Guanajuato means "hilly place of frogs."
The Spanish came in the 1540s and began mining metals. It is said that at one time gold nuggets could be found on the ground. And during the 18th century, Guanajuato was the world's leading producer of silver. The town is said to have been the richest in Mexico during much of the colonial period.
Guanajuato is hilly, and streets are often just alleyways (the main street even runs underground for 3 kilometers). Many streets are impassible for automobiles, and the Callejon de Beso is just 66 inches wide. Many of the streets have small piazzas, and balconies on the upper floors on either side of the street often almost touch each other.
There are steep steps on the Callejon de Beso, and tradition says if couples kiss on the third step, they will have seven years of happiness together.
The other legend is of star-crossed lovers Dona Carmen and Don Luis, whose love was forbidden by Dona Carmen's father. The couple met on two of the balconies, one on either side of the alley. And as they held hands across the "Alley of the Kiss," Dona Carmen's father caught them and stabbed her to death. She died with Don Luis still holding her hand.
Leal was Guanajuato's most famous painter, and it should be noted he painted similar scenes of the Callejon de la Galarza. Leal does have a small international following, but that leaves the question of the painting's worth. That is actually an interesting question because we do not know the size, and there is also conflicting information on pricing.
One source lists a similar painting that is approximately 29½ by 23½ inches as having sold for $25,000, but we discovered in our research this was misreported, and the selling price was actually 25,000 pesos ($1,962 at the time in 2014). That painting had a figure in it, and other Leal paintings without figures have sold for less. We feel the insurance replacement value for your painting would be in the $2,000 to $3,000 range, with $2,500 being about right.
Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson have written a number of books on antiques. Do you have an item you'd like to know more about? Contact them at Joe Rosson, 2504 Seymour Av., Knoxville, TN 37917, or e-mail them at treasuresknology.net. If you'd like your question to be considered for their column, please include a high-resolution photo of the subject, which must be in focus, with your inquiry.
