20th-Century Chippendale-Style Dining Chairs
Watch
GUEST:
We have my eight dining room chairs that have been in my family for a long time. They were originated in St. Louis. I don't know whether my step-grandfather inherited one or bought one. But he only had one. And he was a geologist and he went to Mexico every summer for digs for fossils. And the story was he took one chair with him and had three copies made three different summers in Mexico for about $45 a chair. So he married my grandmother in about 1955. And she said, "Oh, we have to have eight chairs. I have two granddaughters who need dining room chairs." So they found a visiting carver in the St. Louis Museum of Art in the '50s and had four more made for about $250 a chair. So we have eight chairs and I have no idea which ones are which.
APPRAISER:
The question is, is one of them you think maybe 18th century?
GUEST:
They always claimed one was maybe an original Chippendale.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
But my grandmother was good at telling stories, so I don't know.
APPRAISER:
Well, I'm glad you ended on that note that your grandmother was good at telling stories. Hopefully I can shed some light on the history of these.
GUEST:
Good, I'll have a new story.
APPRAISER:
You'll have a new story, that's right. First you'd like to know if one of them is 18th century.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
We took a really close look at them and I have an answer for you.
GUEST:
No?
APPRAISER:
None of them.
GUEST:
None of them, right, okay.
APPRAISER:
And so then we had to determine when were they made and by whom and where. And part of the story was certainly very interesting about the trip to Mexico once a year to make three. You'd have three after three summers. But it unfortunately doesn't line up with you've really got two sets of four. They have very minor variations, but they're two sets of four.
GUEST:
Two sets of four, okay.
APPRAISER:
So here is our feeling. And we had a number of appraisers going over these upside down, back, front, all over, carving, flashlights. We did the whole thing. So we feel that the set of four that are closest to you on this side are all the later reproductions.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So these were the ones most certainly made in St. Louis.
GUEST:
In the '50s.
APPRAISER:
In the '50s, correct.
GUEST:
They're lighter, they look like they're lighter.
APPRAISER:
That's correct. And then all of the ones closer to me are the ones that are earlier. Now, I am almost completely confident they were not made in Mexico.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
I think they're American made, but I think they're made in the '20s or '30s. And we're quite confident about that year.
GUEST:
Yes, okay.
APPRAISER:
On this chair the carving is really quite crisp and well done. There's a nice surface to it. You can actually see the varnish, as well that there's a real build-up of the varnish on the chair and on the inside where that's the age and the dirt has really built up. Nice carving through here. And we were looking with some colleagues too, an interesting sign of them being later, not 18th century, is that if you look closely here, and here, they could only use a single piece of mahogany that was this wide.
GUEST:
So this was an added board right here.
APPRAISER:
This and this, these two sections here and here are added.
GUEST:
Gotcha.
APPRAISER:
And they did that because of economy. You couldn't dedicate a whole single board to it.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So we have four chairs which are later reproductions. The carving on these just isn't quite as good. And actually, the light here is wonderful. It really catches that this surface isn't even perfectly smooth. You know, it's well done. Let's not... this was a good carver. But it just is not great. And then on these chairs, as I said, there's some minor variations, but the dirt, the build-up, all of those sorts of things. So what we're looking at is what we would refer to as an assembled set of eight. If I were to see this come up for auction, I would say that the entire set would sell for between $2,000 and $3,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Okay? If these were 18th century chairs through and through, you would be looking at $20,000, $30,000, maybe $40,000. And that's as much as $100,000 retail. They're very rare to find a full set. Okay?
GUEST:
Yes, thank you very much.
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.
