J.B. Van Sciver Table

Q: I’m planning a house sale and I need help pricing this table. I bought it from a resale shop 60 years ago. The top is oval, made of very dark wood, and rests on two heavy turned tripods. It has a frieze drawer with a metal tag in it that reads, “J.B. Van Sciver Co., Camden, N.J.” Can you help?

A: Joseph Bishop Van Sciver (1861-1943) was 21 years old when he started a small furniture business on in Camden, New Jersey, in 1881. The company quickly expanded to larger facilities, and pieces made at Van Sciver’s plant were delivered by wagon throughout Southern New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By 1900, more shops, storage facilities and showrooms were added and the company was selling inexpensive, well-made living room, bedroom and dining sets, and more costly reproductions, lamps, clocks, rugs and draperies. Van Sciver was also involved in the Knickerbocker Lime Co. which supplied most of the concrete used to build the Ben Franklin Bridge, Philadelphia banks, the subway and more. J.B. Van Sciver Furniture Co. went out of business in the mid-1980s. Your table is worth about $250.