Rare Belter Double Chair is Won by the Trade in New Jersey

Joan Bogart paid $32,000 for the Victorian creation.

HUNTERDON COUNTY, N.J. - A chair by Belter, owned by the same family for three generations, sold at a rural country auction for $32,000.

Under the direction of the Michael Stasak, Jr. Auction & Appraisal Service, with auctioneer Laurel Fox presiding at the small sale, the rare Belter double knitting chair was purchased by dealer Joan Bogart of Rockwell Centre, N.Y. for $32,000 on October 7.

This chair was only one of four known to exist. It had been in Adirenne Lybarger's family since it was originally purchased by her grandmother prior to 1897 in New York City. Shortly after 1897 the chair relocated to Dorchester, Mass., then to Brookline, Mass., finally stopping in New Jersey in 1946.

The companion sofa was thrown out in the 1930s in the Boston area. In 1934 the knitting chair was appraised for $500 and went into storage prior to World War II. It was then taken out of storage and moved to New Jersey in 1946 and remained in the family home King's Manor in Pittstown until sale day.