Philadelphia Chippendale Walnut Chair, ca. 1775
Watch
GUEST:
This chair came from my stepfather's family from Redbank, New Jersey. His family is an old-time family from that area. I came into possession when my mother passed away. She always said to me, "Betty, don't ever let this go."
APPRAISER:
She just knew. Did she tell you why?
GUEST:
No. I, at one time, got offered $75 from an antique dealer for it. I knew what my mother said.
APPRAISER:
You said, "Don't sell it to this guy."
GUEST:
No, don't...
APPRAISER:
Your mother was looking... was telling you that, right?
GUEST:
"Keep it." Little bit of research I did indicated it might be a Philadelphia shell chair.
APPRAISER:
Absolutely right.
GUEST:
And from there I know there are so many reproductions of a lot of these chairs. So it's to find out, is it one or is it not one?
APPRAISER:
Is it real or not? Yeah. Okay, I'll tell you. When I saw this across the room, I thought that's what I really love and that's Philadelphia Chippendale. So, you're right, it's Philadelphia, absolutely. If a client went into a shop and wanted a chair, he might order a chair really plain or one with a shell. This has these carved ears with nice little tool marks here. They used little chisels. And you come down and this is a typical Philadelphia splat. We call this a tassel back chair. And then we come down and... who did the seat, by the way?
GUEST:
I think my mother did the seat.
APPRAISER:
Your mom?
GUEST:
I don't know what was on there before when she got it. She did a lot of needlepoint and it's her work.
APPRAISER:
It's nice to have that, right? Okay, come down to the skirt and this is a wonderful, classic Philadelphia shell, flanked by carving on the knees and classic claw and ball feet. They have webbing. It's just typical of 1770, 1780 Philadelphia.
GUEST:
I didn't realize that.
APPRAISER:
So it's really great. In addition, if we turn it around to the back, this through tenon right here, this exposed tenon, is a side rail which goes through the back leg, which is typical of Philadelphia. Now, here, on the edges, it's really dark and then it's lighter right here. Now, that's a combination of the fact that people, when they touch this chair, touch it here. And the oil from their hands from over 200 years of touching it has made it this wonderful black color. So if we come back around, we can see that finish on the front. And on this great Philadelphia scallop shell, here's this... see this light, dark, light, dark, light, dark...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
That has all the original rubbing. Plant resin, the original shellac from the 18th century.
GUEST:
So it's a good thing I didn't get it refinished.
APPRAISER:
Oh my, it's a great thing. I mean, it's never been cleaned. Never. And that's what gets me so excited. You come over to the ears, look at this contrast of dark and light. And people ask, "Why is original finish so important?" And one reason is if you took off that finish, that original finish, this shell would look very flat. Now, I'll show you one quick thing. If you tip the chair really far forward, I want to point out the original yellow pine two-part glue blocks which are rounded like this. This is typical Philadelphia 1770s. So we have yellow pine here on the corner blocks, yellow pine on the seat frame and the chair is made of American black walnut, which is really the wood of choice for the Queen Anne style in Philadelphia. Now, if this chair were refinished, let's take off the finish. Let's make believe you didn't listen to your mom and you said, "Oh, it's a... I'll clean it up," it would be probably a $2,000 chair. With the original finish, this chair is easily worth, at auction, $8,000 to $12,000. $8,000 to $12,000 easily.
GUST: All right.
APPRAISER:
So you can average $10,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So, not bad.
GUEST:
Not bad, no. It was better than the $75 offer.
APPRAISER:
Now, if it had its original fabric, you could probably double the price.
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.
