1893 Fred Ege Carved Oak Chair
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GUEST:
It belongs to my husband, but it was carved by his great-grandfather, who was from Germany, born in 1855, and came to the United States when he was 26.
APPRAISER:
And his name?
GUEST:
Was Fred Ege, E-G-E. When he came to the United States he was in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, and after that he moved to Colorado Springs. This traveled with him to Colorado Springs. There's also another one very similar to this that we have in our family room. We still use them.
APPRAISER:
Okay. He did very large pieces. They were done mainly for famous people in Colorado Springs. He did make some incredible furniture for some very famous and very wealthy people in the late 19th century. Now, the form is a Moravian form of a plank seat with a plank back, fairly simple design, with this scrolled, Baroque-inspired base. We have these scrolls that come right out of Dutch furniture, German furniture, acanthus leaves, they go all the way up. A beautiful shaped, sort of almost balloon-shaped seat, leafage that goes up and continues almost as if it's really alive. This is oak. Oak is like carving marble, it's extremely dense. So it would've taken incredible effort to make a chair like this in oak.
GUEST:
Oh, that's interesting.
APPRAISER:
And the crispness of the leafage. If we look at the top, you can almost cut your fingers against.
GUEST:
Oh, I see.
APPRAISER:
It's just unbelievable. Now, as you know well, this says, "Columbian." This chair was exhibited in the Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
In 1893. So he must've been well-known enough to have been able to be included in the Chicago Exposition. And that Chicago Exposition was famous because almost 30 million people attended from over 40 countries at the time. I just love the fact you've kept the finish original. Given the fact that this is a Columbian Exposition piece and the fact that it's so rare, and the quality of the carving, I would put a range on this at auction of $2,000 to $4,000. An auction estimate.
GUEST:
Really? (chuckles) That's wonderful!
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