Tiffany Studios Floor Lamp, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
This particular piece has been in our family for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl, this lamp lived in my grandmother's home. We used to love playing with it. When it was lit, we would call it the brain lamp.
APPRAISER:
The brain lamp?
GUEST:
The brain lamp, yes.
APPRAISER:
I understand why.
GUEST:
Yes. We also used to do a lot of dressing up as kids, and we would, like, turn it so that we could also use it as a spotlight for our performances.
APPRAISER:
How wonderful.
GUEST:
It's a very heartfelt piece for our family, so...
APPRAISER:
Well, there was a glass called brain glass.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Yes, but this isn't it.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
This is actually a turtleback tile iridescent glass, and the glass is thinner than you would see in other items of bigger form. Little bit thin. It's usually not signed. I will never say never, but it's usually not signed. And this is a bronze vase, patinated bronze all the way down to the feet with the lily pad. The good news is, it is Tiffany.
GUEST:
Oh, my God! Oh, Kathy, that's fantastic!
APPRAISER:
That's the good news.
GUEST:
Okay, okay.
APPRAISER:
And the bronze bottom does have on the foot the Tiffany Studios mark, and this lamp is circa 1910. Now, this chain has been put on here later. This is a process that can be reversed to make it the way it was originally, which should get done to the piece.
GUEST:
All right.
APPRAISER:
That does hurt the value a little bit. With regard to replacing the chain, it wouldn't be very expensive. My guess is it would be a few hundred dollars.
GUEST:
And it would be specifically a Tiffany chain, correct?
APPRAISER:
You would have to take it to a Tiffany specialist
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
to get the specific Tiffany piece. As far as increasing the value on this piece, it would probably increase it maybe by $500 or $600. It wouldn't be a huge amount.
GUEST:
Great.
APPRAISER:
Now, I found a couple auction records. This was very difficult to find. It's extremely rare. And I would say today, in a retail market, you might find this piece at $30,000 to $40,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh! Wow... wow! Oh, my gosh. Kathy, thank you so much. I can't believe it! Wow.
Appraisal Details
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