English Aesthetic Movement Sideboard
Watch
APPRAISER:
Tell me how you got this sideboard.
GUEST:
Well, it took years of working on an artist friend of mine. I used to tell her I wanted to buy it, and she'd laugh, and this went on for several years, and finally she did let me buy it. I bought it in 1999. She had bought it many years before that, from an importer. I believe it came from England. And I believe it was from around the 1870s. At the time, she did give me a book that identified a piece that was very similar. She had it in a living room, and being an artist, it was really great to show a lot of her sculptures and it was just the perfect backdrop.
APPRAISER:
I guess my job's done here.
GUEST:
(laughing) No, I want to know more!
APPRAISER:
We know that it's English, but they did make things like this in the United States also. This is an Aesthetic Movement cabinet, sideboard, and you're absolutely right on with the thing being from the 1870s. Furniture, of course, was always made to serve a function, but in this time period, there was a huge interest in all things "Oriental." This finish, most people in the trade would refer to it as an ebonized finish, because it's black, but it was really sort of an emulation of japanning, which is layers of lacquer like they did in China and Japan on furniture. And the other thing that they did was they used a lot of naturalistic elements. You see flowers, you see geometric lines, and the whole thing has sort of an Orientalist feel. The design of the door panels, the contrasting use of veneers. Like this is a bird's-eye maple. This created a wonderful backdrop for little objects of art. Just a fabulous time period in decorative arts. This would have been made in a factory, and chances are if you saw a reference to this in a book, that was the piece that was originally designed and made. This one would be a step back, but still a very fine piece. What did you pay for it?
GUEST:
$1,500.
APPRAISER:
Well, I got good news for you. Even though things like this have suffered somewhat in the past few years, just the way the market has been, I think today, an insurance value on this would be at least $3,000.
GUEST:
That's great.
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.
