Expert: Eileen Cronk - 2/13/2009

Question
HELP,HELP.  I can find very  little about this furnature manf. co. I rrecentely picked up a wonderfull windsor(comback chair)w/ v brace in back.   It was made on 4/19/ 1901(lable on bottom) and is signed by the person that made it B. Z EGRG ??  #1828450  please help me find out more.  mca

Answer
Hi Marcia
Nice to hear from you.
Apparently there is not a lot of information out there about this company. First I want you to read a quote from Fred Taylor the American furniture Expert on this site. It was in response to another question about this furniture and tells us all that is known about the Company.

"I have been able to find surprisingly little about the history of Conant-Ball. I know the company was formed in the mid 1800s in Gardner, Mass and produced mostly high quality Colonial type furniture until the mid 1930s when Russell Wright began to design Art Deco and Modern furniture for them. During the 1930s they competed head to head with cross town rival Heywood-Wakefield. At some time after the 1940s they returned to the traditional designs. I do not know when they ceased business but their original building, termed an eyesore and a fire hazard, was torn down in the late 1990s"

Marcia you may be surprised when I tell you that what you know about your chair is more than most folks will ever find out about a particular piece of old furniture they own.
You know the manufacturer
You know the exact day, month and year it was made.
You know where it was made.
You know the style.
You know the model number.
And you even know the person who made it.
It just doesn't get any better than that.
Well it could if you picked it up at a yard sale for a couple of dollars LOL.
Hope this helps.
Great question
Eileen