Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
Yes, quite a bit– flea markets are a great source too.
I don’t find my clients frustrating but I can see where people might get that idea. The process of restoring or remodeling a home can turn even the most reasonable person into a nut case. My own house I started in 1991. I gave up after a few years and settled into just living in a half-done place, and am only just now getting back to it. Money isn’t the only resource you need, it takes time and patience and good advice. My own house gave me a lot of sympathy for what my clients go through and how it makes them feel.Hi Jay! Yes I do restore other people’s homes although not as a contractor: I am often hired to explore original finishes, consult as to appropriate colors and their placement (like the Painted Ladies) or coordinate with homeowners to help them find appropriate hardware, windows, ornament, etc. The Victorians here have a very special set of features. This morning I spent an hour freaking out with my client about the solid brass egg-shaped doorknobs we found at a salvage yard. So far it’s been a good day!
Hi Daisy,
I am new to this forum but found it because of your brass hand sconces!
I am a designer and a restoration artist (since the mid-1980s) and I am currently restoring my own Victorian house. I have been looking for some sconces like this for a while!These look to me to be reproductions of Victorian hand sconces, as the style got popular again in the mid-20th century as part of that Hollywood Regency thing. Possibly the castings are original and were assembled later, there are tons of possible explanations. The ones you noted at First Dibs sold for about $1,200 to a designer, plus $250 for shipping, and they too had been rewired (the long torch on top was added.) I had that pair in my favorites for months but they were too expensive IMO.
In my search I have seen these same style with the open hands and lace sleeves with added tole lampshades, oil lamps, glass globe shades, 1940s neo-colonial shades (no!), and even 1970’s flicker bulbs.
There is a pair on eBay that is listed for $1200 and still has its original oil lamp works as well as an old electric switch.(they were not all like this, it’s just one variation) But these are true antiques: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Turn-of-the-Century-Antique-Hand-With-Torch-Metal-Wall-Sconces-a-Pair/153501998749?hash=item23bd6e9e9d:g:StQAAOSwA41c6YO4
Yours have been polished up a lot and I can see the rewiring job is recent and that may take away from their overall value, but they can be reworked to be more stylish for the decorating market. If you decide to sell them, I’d recommend trying eBay with a starting price of $450 for the pair. ((and please do let me know as I have been looking for some like this for some time!))
great find, congratulations!
