James Taylor Ellyson Cane Collection
Watch
GUEST:
That's James Taylor Ellyson, and he was the mayor of Richmond for three terms and the lieutenant governor for three terms in the 1800s. He was in the Civil War here in Richmond, and his family owned the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He did a lot for Richmond, and he also was involved with the Jamestown celebration in 1907, the 300-year anniversary.
APPRAISER:
Clearly, he was a special character. I assume these were his canes?
GUEST:
They were. A lot of people gave him canes and they knew that he collected canes, and some of these are inscribed to him, and dated. And I bought them through an estate sale about 20 years ago.
APPRAISER:
And give me an idea what you paid for all of this group?
GUEST:
About $250.
APPRAISER:
Walking canes were much more common in this gentleman's time than they are today, certainly. You've got a nice little collection of canes, and this, by the way, which is not a cane. This is what they call a swagger stick. It was common to present canes to notable men. What I like about the cane collection mostly is this. This painting is unique. Clearly, he was known as a cane collector and had enough notoriety in that way that someone made this watercolor caricature of him. This original drawing is signed here, "Rostrup." That's a Scandinavian name. I don't know the artist. I did do a little bit of research to try and find him, but we couldn't. It's an original work for an illustration for a caricature, political caricature done in pen and watercolor on paper. Cane collecting is a big field these days, and some great canes can be worth well into the thousands of dollars. But I'm going to start by telling you, you don't have any great canes here. This is kind of a nice one made from a Japanese netsuke, but the others are fairly plain and of very modest value. This one's a bit of an exception. It is engraved, as you can see on the top. I'm not going to pull it out, but it's engraved to the gentleman as a presentation, and almost certainly it's made of gold, and that's where the value is today. If that's a gold cap-- and I would bet dollars to donuts that it is-- this cane alone could be worth over $1,500 and maybe over $2,500 if it's gold.
GUEST:
Great.
APPRAISER:
And by the way, all of the other canes together are perhaps worth $100 or $200 as a group. But this I think is the find that you made when you bought this group. It's very hard to put a value on this, but cane collectors love things related to canes that are not canes, and to me, that's the perfect thing. To have this caricature drawing with the gentleman's canes amplifies the whole collection in value. The drawing by itself could be worth $1,500 to $2,500.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
If they were offered at auction, I think the entire group could bring $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST:
That's exciting. Very nice.
APPRAISER:
Great find.
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.
