Tiffany Studios "Curtain Border" Shade, ca. 1905
Watch
GUEST:
My mother bought this at a friend's garage sale in 1968. We were doing a little remodeling on the old farmhouse, she wanted a new dining room light, so we've had it since '68. I inherited it, and we had it at our house in Michigan before coming to Florida, and we've been trying to get one of our kids to take it to their house. They just all moved into homes. (laughs) So maybe after today, one of them will take it.
APPRAISER:
Have you had it appraised it all, or...?
GUEST:
Not really.
APPRAISER:
We had a good friend, colleague, that, when my mom died, took a look at it, and she said, she says, "I believe this is a Tiffany." She said, "Be careful with it." She said it could be worth a couple of thousand dollars. That was a few years ago-- we just don't know.
APPRAISER:
Well, it is stamped here with a factory stamp. Tiffany Studios, New York. However, there are a fairly good-sized number of very high-quality reproduction shades.
GUEST:
Okay, okay.
APPRAISER:
So my colleagues and I at the glass table went over this very carefully. Of course, Tiffany was known for the quality of the glass, the quality of the leading, and the quality of the whole package.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And we would be very comfortable saying it's a Tiffany shade.
GUEST:
Oh, okay it is.
APPRAISER:
This shade was made in the early part of the 20th century, and the pattern for this is "curtain border." It's known as one of the geometrics.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now, apparently, your wife had cleaned some of...
GUEST:
We had that, that mortal mistake that... Again, before you know what you have, and, you know, that's a good thing for everybody to learn from when they're watching "Roadshow," you know, that it's there.
APPRAISER:
That was one of the things that threw us for a little bit, because this bronze cap seemed a little new.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Because of the cleaning. Well, you, you stopped before getting too, too bad on it. That doesn't affect the value too much. There are some minor cracks and lines throughout the shade that, again, they don't affect the value too much. Could you tell me how much your mother paid for it?
GUEST:
It was 1968, it was $75.
APPRAISER:
$75, okay. I think a good auction estimate for this would be $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST:
(chuckles) Wow.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
