Trying to find information- J. A. Coxe fighting chair

[Orcapwm]

I'm hoping someone can help me out or send me in the right direction. I recently purchased a boat that had an antique fighting chair in the cockpit. It is. It original to the boat and I removed it. Someone was interested in purchasing it from me so I started looking for values online. There are limited numbers of them for sale and they ranged in price from $150 to $5000+. On the gimbal of my seat is stamped J.A.Coxe Los Angles. I have found some information about this company and it all revolves around his reels. I found one reference to him making fighting chairs, but can not locate any currently or formerly for sale. Can anyone help? Maybe I lucked out and this was his one and only made !!$$!!! I have attached some photos. I see that the chair has some philips head screws that someone used at some point. Originally I suspect all would have been older slotted screws.

[wrong99]

Here's the Coxe fighting chair offered in the 1937 catalog, which would have been after the company's sale and move to Michigan. Because yours is marked "Los Angeles", I would assume it's earlier? There isn't enough sales history on these to arrive at a value, as they rarely come to market. Coxe also offered the gimbal separately in his catalogs. Condition would play a large part in determining value, as always. There are others here who might be able to give you a better idea of value.

[Orcapwm]

I'm new to this. I'm trying to get the pictures uploaded

[Orcapwm]

[wrong99]

That chair has seen some action, for sure. Very, very cool.
Mark

[Nick in NY]

It's a very cool chair. I've the same one but is unmarked. It has seen better days but you may want to consider consigning to an auction house. Wish I had the space l would love to start a collection of them. That's only the 4th I've seen. Tight Lines Nick in NY

[john elder]

Wonderful bit of Coxe memorabilia! As Nick says, you should take it to auction at Langs.....don't take to Good Will! Would love to restore it, although many would cringe at the thought!

[Nick in NY]

BUT everyone has seen Johns work. If anyone can do, Johns your man. At this point I don't see it taking away from it. It's had a hard life and I feel it can only increase in value. Just my honest opinion. Tight Lines Nick in NY

[reeltackle]

If you want it restored John would do a great job.

The real question is ...... is it a Coxe fighting chair built completely by Coxe or just a Coxe fighting chair gimble on a fighting chair? To the best of my recollection I have not seen a reference to a "whole" J. A. Coxe fighting chair made in Los Angeles. I have a Coxe gimble marked L. A. so I know those were sold by Joe Coxe. Has anyone else seen a reference to a complete Coxe fighting chair??

[wrong99]

BUT everyone has seen Johns work. If anyone can do, Johns your man. At this point I don't see it taking away from it. It's had a hard life and I feel it can only increase in value. Just my honest opinion. Tight Lines Nick in NY

Looks like it would involve replacing the veneer, which is extremely difficult. A table top is one thing, but a chair could be a nightmare. Then again, I've never done it, so...
Mark

[reeltackle]

The chair is not veneered, it is just layers of spar varnish that have been worn away at the edges that gives it the appearance of losing layers of wood or veneer. When you varnish a chair like this you use many, many coats of varnish. For some reason the varnish always seems to wear off on the edges or where it receives the most sun. The wood pieces are just solid blocks of teak or mahogany.

Here is a picture of my Coxe gimble.

[wrong99]

Thanks, Ed. Then I'd vote for a restoration, if it were mine, but I totally understand people that feel otherwise.
Mark

[Orcapwm]

Thanks for all the posts. If I were going to keep it I would probably refinish it. I wouldn't touch the brass pieces. The patina is great. I would strip the finish and reapply many coats of varnish. Unfortunately I have removed it from the boat and have someone interested in buying it. I won't be using this boat (37 Egg Harbor) for much fishing so the chair was taking up too much valuable cockpit space. The big question is how much do I charge him for it?

[Nick in NY]

It maybe possible to add heat to the clear coat in order to soften OR it maybe brittle to the point of simply peeling back. Obviously it would be thinner on the edges and a good place to start. I've got my own chair mounted to an early 20" wooden pulley wheel that was originally painted drab olive green with a tiny brass tag making it look rite as rain. The belt slots filled with the earliest heavy hemp rope l could find to give that wanted nautical look. As for the brass hardware, I'd leave as is.....just me but I like the look. Close your eyes tight and imagine the ocean smell, sound of line being taken out or the birds over head and the sun on your face! It's all coming together! That's it! I'm going tuna fishing!

[john elder]

In 2007, a very nice example of a Coxe chair that came directly from the home of Zanr Grey sold for a whopping $24k plus vig. Of course, the provenance of having Zane's butt in that chair probably drove the price 5-10X, MHO. On the other hand, a Peck chair from Romer's estate went for appr. $500. Both had been restored/refinished BTW...not unusual for a chair that spent time at sea. As Ed indicated, when you are not fishing, you are varnishing.

[reeltackle]

Orcapwm - I was just looking through this thread again and noticed that your chair was missing the rod holder portion of the gimble. I have an unmarked chair gimble that I believe was made by Coxe and you might be able to take the rod holder portion out of this unit and use it to repair your chair. If you are interested the cost would be $40 plus $6.00 shipping.






If anyone else is interested in the gimble let me know and if Orcapwm is not interested I will sell it to whoever is interested.

I also have a nice Edward vom Hofe chair gimble if anyone is interested. The cost is $50 plus $6.00 shipping. It can be stripped to plain brass or stripped and rechromed.

[Mike N]

Very interesting thread, especially to a freshwater guy from a landlocked state.

Mike N

[KIWI]

What do you want for it? and will you ship it to a 21613 address? Thank's Doug

[Orcapwm]

I have an offer locally for $250. I'm not sure what shipping would be to MD, but I'm guessing it would be under $100. Make an offer that I can't refuse!

[Nick in NY]

Where are you located? Tight lines Nick in NY

[Tightlines666]

I love these old fighting chairs.

Not to threadjack, but I recently saved a 1950s vintage Rock-a-way fighting chair from the scrapper. It weighs about 150lbs, and still works ,as advertised'. It is a great fit to my 1950s designed Dyer29 boat (Hull #160).

[reeltackle]

Edward vom Hofe fighting chair gimble has been sold.

The, what I suspect to be an unmarked Coxe fighting chair gimble has not been claimed by Orcapwm and is now available to anyone is interested.

[reeltackle]

The unmarked Coxe gimble has been sold.
Thank you

[KIWI]

have pm'd you 2 times. would love a response if you can. thank's Doug