Salesman's Sample Operating Chair, ca. 1890
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GUEST:
Well, it belonged to my great-grandfather. He was a doctor. I know it was a salesman sample that he kept in his office. When my parents passed away, I inherited it. My mother sent pictures of it to an appraiser in San Francisco in, I believe, '79 or '80, and they sent her back a note saying it was worth around $1,500.
APPRAISER:
Well, it is a salesman sample. The keynote of a really good salesman sample is that it has functionality. Because the whole object of the piece was to demonstrate the item. The salesman could carry this around from town to town and show the doctor exactly what he had. And of all the salesman samples I've dealt with over the years, this is probably the most amazingly functional item I've ever seen. It's a doctor's examination table. The patient could lie down here and be examined with a pillow. If he had to have his height adjusted, this could be adjusted here. The legs would come up like this. They could even... ...do one leg at a time.
GUEST:
Hold them together.
APPRAISER:
This is a little accessory that would go on the side if he had to examine an arm, or maybe...
GUEST:
That's what I thought, for the arm.
APPRAISER:
...draw blood. And it could, of course, go on either side. The table would rock to one side. I'm not exactly sure what that was for, but it could go either way. This whole leg assembly comes off.
GUEST:
Oh, I didn't know that.
APPRAISER:
So that another feature of the table could be in place, where it becomes a gynecological examination table with the installation of these stirrups. Another thing that elevates this salesman sample to the next level is if we can identify the maker. Now, right here, on this upholstered foot rest, we see "Allison." There was a company called W.D. Allison in 1905, 1900, in Indianapolis that made all manner of medical equipment.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
Nothing they made in that period that I've seen online was as amazing as this table. But I think this table was made pre-1900. Amazing detail. Amazing condition. Complete in all respects.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
I would estimate it in an auction at $15,000 to $18,000.
GUEST:
You're kidding.
APPRAISER:
I am not kidding.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
This is absolutely one of the finest salesman samples I have ever seen.
Appraisal Details
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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."
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