Q. I have located a dinette set and hutch made by the Phoenix Chair Company. The people who are selling it think it is from around 1940. I can't find anything about the company or the furniture.

The set is in excellent condition. Can you give me any more information on it? Here is a description of the furniture. There is a table and four chairs with the hutch which has a top with a glass door and shelves. The hutch base has a deep drawer for storage. The stenciling on the chairs, a flower basket on the backs, is in great shape. There is a removable glass top for the table which was hand cut to match the curves on the top of the table. Thank you for your time.

A. Phoenix Chair Company was an old line, very famous furniture manufacturer located in Sheboygan , WI. It was founded in the third quarter of the 19th century when a fire forced the closing of nearby factory. Phoenix Chair was in business until not too many years ago, relatively speaking. It closed in the 1930's, a victim of the Depression so the set is older than the sellers think.

The company's specialty in the 20th century was exactly what you have found, small breakfast sets of chairs and a table and so-called "apartment" dining sets consisting of four chairs, a table and a china cabinet or hutch. Phoenix Chair Company was very much in the "niche" marketing business, serving newlyweds and the folks whom today we would refer to as "downsizers".

The glass on the table probably is not original to the set. Not many factories of the time made the effort to cut glass for tops. It was most likely custom cut at a later date.

One of my favorite reference books, "American Manufactured Furniture" by Don Fredgant, Schiffer (again) has eleven pages of photos from the Phoenix Chair catalog of 1928 as well as "decorator" pages, some hand colored, showing Phoenix furniture and that from other manufacturers in place in decorated rooms. It is an excellent insight into the decor and tastes of the period. 

Q. I attended an auction recently where an item described as a "3/4"  bed was offered for sale. It looked a little small, hence the name I guess. I was tempted to bid on it but was unsure if it was a standard size. What size is a 3/4 bed and do stores commonly sell bedding and linen for them?

A. The term "3/4" bed is loosely used to describe almost any bed, usually 19th century, that appears to be smaller than normal. While standard bed sizes have tended to vary the last few years, some ball park measurements are twin 36in X 75in, full or double 54in X 75in, queen 60in X 75 in and king 72in X 75in or 80in. Then there is the "California King" which can be whatever you want it to be. In other words "3/4" is not a true standard size and most retail furniture stores do not carry bedding for them.      However, in most metropolitan areas it is surprisingly easy and affordable to have custom bedding made for an odd size frame. The difficulty will be in the linen department. You would just have to use all twin flat sheets and blankets or modify them to suit your bed. 

Q. I am looking for guide to Eastlake furniture. I acquired a platform rocker in that style with excellent stylized lions' heads on the head and arms of the chair. I'd really like to know the origin of the chair. I had it re-upholstered but there was no label or mark on the frame. Most of the reference material I have seen has a passing mention of and perhaps a few illustrations of Eastlake furniture. Any help will be appreciated.

A. If you are at all interested in Eastlake furniture you should read Charles Lock Eastlake's famous book, "Hints on Household Taste". It is an easy read and gives an insight into the man and the style which is not apparent from looking at the furniture. "Hints.." was published in England in 1868 and in America in 1872. Eastlake, an architect and author, was frustrated by the overly ornate design and generally poor quality construction of the Victorian furniture of his time. He advocated a return to simplicity, quality and reasonable cost. He was an admirer of William Morris and was influential in the Arts & Crafts movement.

His simplicity of design was a welcome breath of fresh air at the Philadelphia Exposition of 1876 which mostly featured rapidly becoming stale Renaissance Revival "battleship" furniture.

Unfortunately his linear simplicity was immediately snapped up by the rapidly emerging American furniture factory system because it was so easily adapted to machine work. The excesses that followed have become the hallmark of most American "Eastlake" furniture.

Your platform rocker is a pleasantly conservative interpretation of the style, allowing itself only the excesses of the lions' heads. Your chair is made of walnut with applied walnut burl veneer on the front rail. Platform rockers were among the early "patent" chairs introduced around mid century and were very popular in Victorian parlors since they were easier on expensive wool carpets that were regular rockers. Your chair is factory made, probably in the mid West, in the last quarter of the 19th century. You may be able to find a patent date on the black iron springs which would give you the earliest possible date of manufacture.

An excellent reference source for Eastlake furniture is "The Antique Hunter's Guide: American Furniture - Tables, Chairs, Sofas and Beds" by Marvin D. Schwartz, originally published by Knopf and recently revised and reissued by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York

Send your comments, questions and pictures to me at PO Box 215, Crystal River, FL 34423 or fmtaylor@aol.com