Mid-Century Modern Furniture

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

Preface: Fast approaching retirement, my wife desires to relocate nearer our young grandchildren in south-central MN. We're getting the house ready to market and our realtor has indicated we need to declutter. We're going thru rooms picking things to sell on FB Marketplace, and come across a 1950's desk which my wife wants to price at $50 to facilitate a quick sale.

I've had this desk forever, so I know it's a high quality piece of furniture with a solid walnut top slab. It's small but heavy. The manufacturer's name is in a drawer, American of Martinsville.

I do a quick web search and much to my surprise, find American of Martinsville is known for their quality MCM furniture which is "highly desired by millennials". I see their desks on-line priced between $1500 and $4000, with the name of a specific designer (Merton Gershun). I'd like to determine the model of my desk and whether or not it was designed by Mertun Gershun, but I can't find any American of Martinsville catalogs on-line. Mine appears to have some design elements in common with the Gershun desks, but I don't know what I'm looking at!

Is anyone here knowledgeable about MCM furniture, how to research it for the purpose of establishing a fair price, and where best to market it? Suggested prices would be well received!

Thanks in advance for any assistance. I'm not looking to make a mint off this, but don't want to sell a $1500 collectible for $50 either!

 

[clonechemist]

How bout tree fiddy

 

[KennyPratt42]

Do not under any circumstance sell that for $50.

There are some antique shops that specialize in mid-century furniture. In central Iowa I know about Little Lion Eclectics in Polk City. I’d reach out to someone like that to try and learn a little more and/or sell it to a shop like that at a wholesale price.

 

[yez]

I've owned a lot of nice MCM pieces over the years - look on first dibs and chairish for comps.

 

[FarmerCy1]

 

[BoxsterCy]

Do not under any circumstance sell that for $50.

There are some antique shops that specialize in mid-century furniture. In central Iowa I know about Little Lion Eclectics in Polk City. I’d reach out to someone like that to try and learn a little more and/or sell it to a shop like that at a wholesale price.

^This.

My neighbors (Twin Cities) opened a temporary "popup" store selling mid-century goods and it turned into a full time store and job for both of them. There's a wide range of teak and walnut goods with the style to be mid-modern and some of the stuff, like the TV stands and entertainment centers, are essentially junk but pieces like the OPS with a solid top (even if not "thee" brand name) are not. Desks are a bit of a wildcard INHO. We don't use desks like we did 50 ears ago so finding a place/use.

Some deals to be had from folks my age downsizing. I am still a buyer and not s seller so swimming against the current! Been looking for a teak hutch/China closet for some time. Saw this one on Craigslist for only $400 and by the time I called them they had marked it down to $200 just to get it out of the house. Not a high end super piece but nice teak and was perfect for some wine glasses and memorabilia stuffs. They had lost the electrical adaptor/conversion plugs so I did have to rewire it. On the flip side some peeps are asking crazy $$$ for anything remotely being able to list as MCM.

On my want list is queen platform teak bed.

 

[CHim]

There is an MCM Facebook group that is mostly based out of Des Moines if you are looking at private sale. Epic Finds in Waterloo might be worth a message to see if they are interested in buying.

 

[BoxsterCy]

Preface: Fast approaching retirement, my wife desires to relocate nearer our young grandchildren in south-central MN. We're getting the house ready to market and our realtor has indicated we need to declutter. We're going thru rooms picking things to sell on FB Marketplace, and come across a 1950's desk which my wife wants to price at $50 to facilitate a quick sale.

I've had this desk forever, so I know it's a high quality piece of furniture with a solid walnut top slab. It's small but heavy. The manufacturer's name is in a drawer, American of Martinsville.

I do a quick web search and much to my surprise, find American of Martinsville is known for their quality MCM furniture which is "highly desired by millennials". I see their desks on-line priced between $1500 and $4000, with the name of a specific designer (Merton Gershun). I'd like to determine the model of my desk and whether or not it was designed by Mertun Gershun, but I can't find any American of Martinsville catalogs on-line. Mine appears to have some design elements in common with the Gershun desks, but I don't know what I'm looking at!

Is anyone here knowledgeable about MCM furniture, how to research it for the purpose of establishing a fair price, and where best to market it? Suggested prices would be well received! View attachment 148985

Thanks in advance for any assistance. I'm not looking to make a mint off this, but don't want to sell a $1500 collectible for $50 either!

Found an image using search that looks exactly like yours. Was from a listing in LA for $400 and looks like it sold for $200. They identified it as an American by Martinsville, assuming they ID'd it right it at least has a brand. Looked a little more and found this:

"To identify American of Martinsville furniture, first look for the brand stamp, often found inside of a drawer, on the bottom of the piece or under a seat. The mark typically features the full brand name; some pieces also display an eagle logo."

Rare MCM Vintage Desk By American By Martinsville for Sale in Los Angeles, CA - OfferUp

Used (normal wear), Great MCM vintage deck. 3 drawer in good vintage condition. American by Martinesville. 43.5 length. 29.5 tall, 22.5 depth. Make an offer!;

offerup.com

Rare MCM Vintage Desk By American By Martinsville for Sale in Los Angeles, CA - OfferUp

Used (normal wear), Great MCM vintage deck. 3 drawer in good vintage condition. American by Martinesville. 43.5 length. 29.5 tall, 22.5 depth. Make an offer!;

offerup.com

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

I've owned a lot of nice MCM pieces over the years - look on first dibs and chairish for comps.

First Dibs is where I saw the Gershun designed American by Martinsville desks going for $1500 plus.

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

Found an image using search that looks exactly like yours. Was from a listing in LA for $400 and looks like it sold for $200. They identified it as an American by Martinsville, assuming they ID'd it right it at least has a brand. Looked a little more and found this:

"To identify American of Martinsville furniture, first look for the brand stamp, often found inside of a drawer, on the bottom of the piece or under a seat. The mark typically features the full brand name; some pieces also display an eagle logo."

Rare MCM Vintage Desk By American By Martinsville for Sale in Los Angeles, CA - OfferUp

Used (normal wear), Great MCM vintage deck. 3 drawer in good vintage condition. American by Martinesville. 43.5 length. 29.5 tall, 22.5 depth. Make an offer!;

offerup.com

Rare MCM Vintage Desk By American By Martinsville for Sale in Los Angeles, CA - OfferUp

Used (normal wear), Great MCM vintage deck. 3 drawer in good vintage condition. American by Martinesville. 43.5 length. 29.5 tall, 22.5 depth. Make an offer!;

offerup.com

That's the desk I have - thanks for the research and information!

 

[BoxsterCy]

That's the desk I have - thanks for the research and information!

Hey, you are going to be one of us, a Minnesotan, soon.

And I am a casual fan of the furniture, especially the teak stuff. I browse the Craigs list here but hard to find deals with the shops specializing in reselling the stuff here in the metro and Rochester. They snatch up the high end stuff as soon as it is listed if the price is right.

 

[OWLCITYCYFAN]

Hey, you are going to be one of us, a Minnesotan, soon.

And I am a casual fan of the furniture, especially the teak stuff. I browse the Craigs list here but hard to find deals with the shops specializing in reselling the stuff here in the metro and Rochester. They snatch up the high end stuff as soon as it is listed if the price is right.

I've already experienced the Minnesota adventure, working in Edina from 1994-1998. Two of our three children were born while we were there, so it was a good 4.5 years. I was hoping to have a new adventure in retirement, but those grandchildren are a lure my wife can't resist. If her plans come to fruition, we'll be there before the end of summer. If the market for MCM is better in MN, I'll just hold onto it - who know, maybe we'll end up in a Mid-Mod home...

 

[CyPhallus]

I see we've arrived at the point of the off season where mid century modern furniture collecting becomes a hot topic.

 

[CyJam]

MCM is super hot right now. I've seen console stereos bring in nice money too.

 

[Angie]

Do not under any circumstance sell that for $50.

There are some antique shops that specialize in mid-century furniture. In central Iowa I know about Little Lion Eclectics in Polk City. I’d reach out to someone like that to try and learn a little more and/or sell it to a shop like that at a wholesale price.

Agree! And while I know a lot of other people have already touched on this above, what KennyPratt said here about private consignment/sale is smart. Little Lion Eclectics is great, as are the following:

- Funky Finds Vintage & Retro (one of my favorites)
- A-Okay Antiques
- Brass Armadillo

There are some in Cedar Rapids, etc., too, but those are good DSM-area ones. LOVE MCM furniture.

MCM is super hot right now. I've seen console stereos bring in nice money too.

Have you ever looked at Skylabs Audio in Valley Junction? I covet their work. They take those old console tables and fit them with awesome new sound systems, and I want one so badly.

 

[thadtx]

I ended up finding a walnut sideboard that matched the look I wanted on sicotas.com. The shipping took a bit but the prices were way better than local shops, and the quality was solid for the price. If you're okay with assembling some of it yourself, it’s worth checking out.

 

[CloneFanInKC]

I helped my parents move out of the house they had been in for 30 years a few weeks ago and found this.

I remember "restoring it" in high school. Would this piece be termed MCM?

 

[CHim]

I helped my parents move out of the house they had been in for 30 years a few weeks ago and found this.

I remember "restoring it" in high school. Would this piece be termed MCM?

View attachment 152363

Yes. It looks like a Heywood Wakefield piece.

 

[somecyguy]

HW usually has hand written serial numbers underneath them that you can look up. (Source: My grandfather was a GM for their Michigan plant and I inherited a bunch of it.)

 

[CHim]

HW usually has hand written serial numbers underneath them that you can look up. (Source: My grandfather was a GM for their Michigan plant and I inherited a bunch of it.)

That's pretty cool, we just bought some of their stuff so the radius on the top looked familiar.

Maybe not the most official source, but this has a picture of one of the standard finishes they would have used and an example of the stamp underneath.