Furniture
Two girls studying
A Pasadena estate sale last weekend produced a find that stopped traffic on the sidewalk. Sitting under a paint-spattered drop cloth in a detached garage on Las Lunas Street was a Gustav Stickley server in quartersawn white oak, bearing a red decal mark dating it to approximately 1905.
The piece was consigned by the family of the late Raymond Ota, a retired aerospace engineer who had purchased it at a thrift store in Monrovia in the early 1980s for what family members recalled as less than $200.
Condition and Authentication
Margaret Huang, an independent appraiser specializing in Arts and Crafts furniture, examined the piece on site. She confirmed the decal, the through-tenon construction, and the original hammered copper hardware, noting that the finish appeared to be largely original with expected wear consistent with domestic use.
“This is not a reproduction and it’s not a later L. & J.G. piece,” Huang said. “The proportions, the joinery, and the mark are all consistent with the Harvey Ellis-influenced period.”
The family has retained Clearwater Auctions in Santa Monica to handle the sale. A date has not been set, but a presale estimate in the range of $15,000 to $25,000 was discussed.
“They had no idea what it was,” said Tom Berenger, the estate sale operator who organized the event. “It was under a tarp next to a lawnmower.”