English Cane Back Chair, ca. 1700
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GUEST:
We found it at an antique store in Winnipeg, Canada.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for it?
GUEST:
I think we paid about $200.
APPRAISER:
Okay, this type of chair, these cane-backed chairs, were brought into the colonies from England from, like, 1680 to 1710. They were really used a lot in Boston and Newport. And then they started making American versions of them here.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
Okay? So my first thing was, is this American or is it English? If you look down at this wood right here, these little flecks show that this is beechwood. I don't see any maple on this, so it is an English chair. This type of chair, with the carved crest rail, and if you come down here, this ram's horn arms-- handholds. Then this lower stretcher, which is carved, it's a high-style version. What it's missing, the reason it's low, are the feet. This had probably ball feet that were down here. They've been cut off, and that's why it's so low.
GUEST:
Oh, right. Okay.
APPRAISER:
But it's a William and Mary chair. You'd also call it, a little bit of Jacobean influence. You paid you said $200.
GUEST:
$200.
APPRAISER:
This is probably worth about $1,200 to $1,400, so you did okay.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Do you want to know how much it would be worth if it were American?
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
You would? Okay. About $250,000 if it were a Boston 1710 version. They're rare as hen's teeth.
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