Windsor Armchair & Candlestand, ca. 1800
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GUEST:
I inherited them from my father's, uh, family about 20 years ago. My father was a, a Lincoln from Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, and when the family farm was sold, it, probably in the 1920s, he found this one in the barn. And...
APPRAISER:
In the barn on the estate?
GUEST:
On the estate.
APPRAISER:
Now, what would you like to know?
GUEST:
This wood is an odd... It's almost like it's a twig, or a branch.
APPRAISER:
Okay, like, like a branch.
GUEST:
And I'm, I'm interested in the paint.
APPRAISER:
Oh, okay, the paint. Well, it...
GUEST:
Because I know it was painted, and I, I would be very shocked if my father took the paint off, so…
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
When did they start taking paint off chairs?
APPRAISER:
Okay, I... I'm going to tell you, they've been taking paint off from chairs for a long time.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But your dad or grandfather probably did not do this, because it was done, like, 100 years ago, the paint was taken off from this. But let me tell you what it is exactly, right? It's called a sack-back Windsor armchair.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
The, that's the model that they call a sack-back. It has this wonderful seat, Martha, that's a, that's kind of... Well, it's, like, eye-shaped. Has this wonderful peak in the front, and these legs tell me-- these turned legs and these really simple stretchers-- that it's something made in either probably southern Vermont...
GUEST:
Oh, really! Ah.
APPRAISER:
...or southern New Hampshire. Or, or that part just north of Worcester. The date of this is 1785 to 1795. This arch piece is actually hickory, which they bent with steam on a board with pegs. And this is all hickory. The seat and the, and the legs are actually maple, and you don't see maple used, a hardwood used, much in New England. Just in Rhode Island and also this area in southern Vermont. And that's what helps us know it's from that area, okay?
GUEST:
Love to hear it.
APPRAISER:
This would be from the same area.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Now, what it has on it is this wonderful inlaid octagonal top. This is birch, flame birch, so it's, it really figured with inlaid dark wood and light wood. When you come down, you have this urn shape, which is typical of the Federal period, 1800-1810. And then this arched spider leg. This tripod base with these little tiny feet, which are cut.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And so it has a lot of those nice Federal details. And let me just show you, one thing I love about 18th, 18th- and early 19th-century furniture is the underside of this. All this is really untouched. Look at these cleats...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...and the original screws right here, and it's just beautifully made. And this little catch is there to...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...of course, to lock this top. So all the color here, everything's original. Look at the shadow between light and dark. It's all just what you want to see. It...
GUEST:
Is this a candlestand?
APPRAISER:
It is a candlestand-- so, value. On the Windsor chair, as it is, refinished, in a shop in New York, this would be priced at about $1,500.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Okay?
GUEST:
Wow. Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Just like this. If it had the paint, and it was white paint, probably, because you can see the white on the edge...
GUEST:
It was white? Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
Yeah, white paint.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
It would be $10,000, $12,000, with the paint.
GUEST:
Uh-huh, wow.
APPRAISER:
Most Windsor chairs were refinished.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So don't feel bad. This is a wonderful little table. Because of the inlay on the top and because of this nice shaft-- even though it has a little old repair here, that's not a big thing-- this table would be worth in the range of $5,000 to $6,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
I mean, that's...
GUEST:
That's, yeah, it's very nice, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Not bad.
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