ANTIQUE VICTORIAN CORNELIUS V SMITH FULLY RESTORED BROWN LEATHER CAPTAINS CHAIR

Description

Royal House Antiques

Royal House Antiques is delighted to offer for sale this museum quality, fully restored, hand dyed Cigar Brown leather Cornelius V Smith, Walnut & Satinwood captain’s or directors armchair

Please note the delivery fee listed is just a guide, it covers within the M25 only for the UK and local Europe only for international, if you would like an accurate quote, please send me your postcode and I’ll provide you with the exact price.

This chair is a good looking and well made original Victorian example, circa 1885, the frame is Walnut with Satinwood and Boxwood inlay, the leather is period, the seat platform is webbed and coil sprung, the chair rotates, this is one of the first swivel armchair models ever made so its quite privative by todays standards but in the Victorian era this was quite a novelty 

Condition wise, as mentioned this chair has been restored from the ground up, the leather upholstery has been washed back, hand dyed six times, antiqued, sealed waxed down and polish, tall the wood work has been deep cleaned and lightly French polished

The base is stamped four times on each leg CVS for CORNELIUS V SMITH, below is a brief history of the great man and some of his work

Dimensions:

Height:- 92cm 

Width:- 55cm

Depth:- 60cm

Seat height:- 47cm

Please note all measurements are taken at the widest point, if you would like any additional or specific measurements please ask.

Smith, Cornelius V. 

London; wholesale cabinet maker, upholsterer and frame maker (fl.1885-1891) 

Cornelius Smith was born in 1847 in Mile End, his father, George, a wine merchant. 

By 1885 is was recorded with showrooms and an upholstery workshop in Marshall’s Yard, Henry Street (sometimes Seaton Street), Hampstead Road and a frame making workshop in Charles Place, Drummond Street. He had the telegraphic address of ‘Cornelius, London’ [The Furniture Gazette, 1 December 1885]. When the lease on the Marshall Yard workshop expired in 1886 he moved to larger and more convenient premises at 64 Osnaburgh Street, with the entrance in Wybert Street, Munster Square, close to Portland Road Metropolitan Railway Station [The Furniture Gazette, 1 October 1886]. From 1887-9 his address was recorded as Vincent Works, 64 Osnaburgh Street and Wybert Street, Munster Square, London. 

Smith advertised in The Furniture Gazette from1 March 1886-1 March 1889, with some advertisements illustrated. One such article, published on 15 April 1891, described Smith as ‘the well known upholsterering manufacturer and art furniture maker, [who] in person is of middle height. He is a thorough man of business, and has a very pleasant manner. He has built up a reputation of which any man might be proud, and his business is one of the largest in the trade. His manager, Mr. T. E. Green, is equally well-known for his business tact and geniality of manner’. 

Smith’s specialised in stuffed-over chairs & couches, made with the use of every contemporary devise and of comfort, convenience and elegance. For example the ‘Iddesleigh’ settee, named after the Earl of Iddesleigh (late Sir Stafford Northcote), which was spring-stuffed, in saddle bags and covered in Utrecht or Genoa velvet. Another novelty was the ‘Newlands’ suite, the frames of mahogany or rosewood inlaid with suitable ornament, covered in fashionable silk velvet. Among the range of fancy chairs was the ‘Minnie Palmer’ with an elegant light frame inlaid with marquetry; the ‘Irving’ chair made in inlaid mahogany; the ‘Mexican’ lounge (settee) and the ‘Randolph’ corner chair. Smith’s workmanship and finish was highly praised [The Furniture Gazette, 1 August 1885; editorial and advertisement]. 

The Furniture Gazette, 1 February 1887, described the Osnaburgh premises, which had a depth of 250 ft. The front showroom displayed every type of cabinet made of walnut, rosewood or other choice woods, and inlaid with marquetry. Behind the showroom were the general counting office and the offices of Mr Smith and the manager. Then the individual workshops for cabinet makers, fitters, upholsterers, women sewers and French polishers. 

There were storerooms on the ground floor and upstairs more workshops. The main showroom displayed drawing and dining room suites, fancy chairs, stuffed-over goods, lounging and patent spring easy chairs, and fancy card and five o’clock tea tables. 

In adjoining buildings were the packing premises and time-keeper’s office. The ‘Oscar’ suite of armchairs and settee was illustrated in The Furniture Gazette, 1 February 1889, as was Smith’s patent ottoman box couch & its frame described and illustrated in The Furniture Gazette, 15 November 1891. At this date the price of an upholstered chair from Smith’s ranged from 25s to £5. 

By 1891 Smith permanently employed over 150 at his works, which operated entirely on a wholesale basis. The census of that year described him as a widower and manufacturing upholsterer, aged 44, living at 18 Highbury Gove, Islington. He was still there in 1901 and died in Islington in 1917.

Any questions please feel free to ask before you bid.    

ABOUT US

Royal House Antiques is a privately owned family ran business founded in Wimbledon SW19 and now based in Pulborough RH20. We specialise in finding, restoring very fine luxury antique leather seating, along with every single other type of antique ranging from the 16th century to the 20th century. We also stock a number of designer brands such as Fritz Hansen, Ralph Lauren, Cavalli, Charles & Ray Eames, Vitra, David Linley, Rolex, Tiffany, Jager Le Coulter and so on     

PAYMENTS

We accept payment via Bitcoin, Bitcoin cash, Ethereum, Bacs, Chaps, PayPal or Card, we would kindly ask that all items are paid for within 48 hours and collected within 7 working days, we can hold all paid items for 14 days free of charge, there after a £20 a week storage fee will apply. We have long term storage which is very economically priced, we are happy to hold stock for as long as needed providing it is arranged prior to the purchase 

If sold items aren’t collected within three months and no arrangements have been made for long term storage you will forfeit the item and payment

CONDITION

Please view the very detailed pictures as they form part of the description pertaining to the condition. Please also ask any questions before you bid and not after, all of our items are sold as seen and as listed

Royal House Antiques cannot be held liable for any independent assumptions made regarding the items we sell, if you are unsure on any point, please feel free to ask for clarity  

Please note vintage period and original items such as leather seating will always have natural patina in the form of creasing and wear, we recommend annual waxing to ensure no moisture is lost, also hand dyed leather is not recommended to sit in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time as it will dry out and fade   

DELIVERY OR COLLECTION

This item is available for collection from our Pulborough warehouses RH20-1DF by appointment only, alternatively we can have it delivered nationwide to include Scotland, Wales and Ireland for a fee

Please contact me via email, alternatively my contact information is under the business seller section of the listing, with your postcode for a delivery quotation, as mentioned above the fee listed covers with the M25 for the UK, for international deliveries the amount listed covers local Europe only so parts of Belgium and France

Please be sure to include which item you would like to buy as the price is determined on size and distance, if you would like more than one piece of furniture the courier offers a substantial discount on the second and third item, for international shipping please view the below information   

COURIER, LARGE ITEMS ONLY THAT CAN’T BE POSTED

We can arrange delivery nationwide, mostly with our nominated couriers, for Europe we use one reasonably priced professional company that we trust, for the rest of the world we use international shippers that can send any size item crated via air freight within 7-14 days after crating or soft packed and container shipped via sea freight within 30-60 days. The time frames outlined are guides only, non-domestic shipping is almost entirely governed by the airlines, sea freight loading times and custom clearances

Whomever delivers will always require help on the larger items to unload, the price you will be quoted will always be based on this assumption, if this is not possible, please let us know as it will affect the price to send a two-person team

Delivery is to the ground floor only, again if you need help upstairs or in flats etc that’s absolutely not a problem, the couriers charge £10-£20 per flight per man per item, if you have a working elevator then naturally there’s no additional fee

All courier fees are paid by yourself directly to the courier company, the contract for delivery is between yourselves the client and whichever courier you chose from those available I’m happy to accommodate your own courier after a cleared payment has been received, they need to book in a collection time with at least 24 hours notice, all collections must be made within 14 working days of the close of the sale unless agreed by prior arrangement  

IMPORT DUTY

Most countries charge some kind of import duty however almost all of our items won’t incur any charges as the items are exempt from tax due to the age and materials used

For European deliveries the price you will be quoted will include all clearance documentation and any customs charges so there won’t be any additional fees

For international deliveries such as the United States there can be some import duty to pay and or a clearance fee, I would estimate that 99% of all deliveries clear customs without being stopped for either

All duties are the responsibility of the purchaser who is the importer, they can’t be covered by the seller or shipping agent or factored in with additional retrospective discounts

RETURNS

Royal House Antiques offers a no quibble return policy if the item is not as described, if there are any issues with the piece you will be refunded in full once the item has been returned and inspected within 14 days, alternatively if there is a small issue, we can discuss finding a mutual resolution that makes all parties happy

We don’t offer a sale on approval service which means you can purchase the item, have it delivered and if you simply don’t like it, return it, this comes under change of mind or doesn’t fit. There is a lot of time, money and work involved in transporting goods around the world, the costs incurred can be vast so my advice would be if you are unsure on a piece please ask as many questions as you like to make sure you understand everything before you buy, if you are still unsure then please either arrange a viewing in person or if that’s not possible then don’t buy from an online retailer, perhaps look for a local gallery instead