Belter Sofa Goes to Museum

I am pleased to announce that the Tom Thumb Sofa with its original
Period upholstery has found a new home and will now reside at the Ringling Museum in Sarasota Fla. Tom Thumb was without question the most famous midget in history. Phineas T Barnum discovered him & made him the most famous of human curiosities in his circus. It is therefore befitting that this important example of American Furniture reside there. The sofa is rosewood in the rococo revival style popular when Tom Thumb married Lavina Warren Stratton. The sofa has three beautifully carved floral crests, with identically carved arms and stretcher with floral cartouche identical to those on documented pieces of Rococo Revival Furniture. The premier furniture maker of this period was John Henry Belter who worked in New York City in the mid 19thC. Also, of importance is the original upholstery & upholstery form on the settee & its use of nail heads. The colorful silk damask velvet is most unusual & original to the settee. The settee was passed down thru Lavina Warren Stratton’s family.