More about the Bench!

After talking to my friend, who is pretty knowledgeable about antiques and old furniture, I was encouraged to do some research about the bench from the previous post. I looked up Limbert Furniture and Van Raalte Craftsmen from the stamp inside the drawer and came up with this listing on ebay. This is the exact same vanity that is in Mom's basement that used to match the bench before Grandma had it painted ivory in the 1960's when she moved to Florida. According to Mom, mahogany furniture was just a no-no in Florida.

And the following information was found in a genealogy website looking for info on Van Raalte:

"Van Raalte was a salesman and later head of the Limbert Furniture company from 1916 to at least 1927. He was so influential within the company that in the mid-1920s the company's furniture mark was redesigned to read "Limbert Furniture by Van Raalte Craftsmen." The Limbert company, which started out in Grand Rapids, was moved to Holland in 1906 where it continued to make furniture under the Limbert name until 1944. This company's furniture was extremely popular in the early 20th century and is still sought after by collectors of fine furniture designs in the Arts andCrafts and Colonial Revival styles."

Isn't the Internet wonderful!


edited to add 4/12/2010:   The  ebay listing and the photo are no longer available.