L. & J.G. Stickley Oak Rocking Chair, ca. 1915
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GUEST:
I bought this about a year ago from a local dealer.
APPRAISER:
Let's check it out on the back.
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
So it's relatively rare to find furniture with signatures on it, and your chair has two. One of them is a decal label from the L. & J.G. Stickley Furniture Company. The label that's on it is this rectangular shape.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Which means that it was made between 1912 and 1920. And it also is stamped "Breakers Cottages."
GUEST:
Yes, yes.
APPRAISER:
Which probably was not done by the Stickley Company themselves, but probably from either the preservation society once they took over the Breakers, or the Vanderbilt family themselves. Of course, Cornelius Vanderbilt built it, but he furnished his home with really fanciful European furniture. And this was an oak, pretty pedestrian piece.
GUEST:
That's what confused me a little bit.
APPRAISER:
Yes, I am guessing that this probably came out of either the servants' quarters or... It was a utilitarian piece, because by the time this was made in 1912 to '20, it wasn't made by Gustav Stickley, the grandfather of the Arts and Crafts movement-- he made very expensive furniture. His brothers then went on to make a little more pedestrian furniture...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
More affordable. Any idea of its value, or...?
GUEST:
I paid $750 for it.
APPRAISER:
Well, I would probably insure this in the range of $800 to $1,200.
GUEST:
Oh, great, great.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. It's a connection between the Arts and Crafts movement and one of the grand homes here in Newport.
GUEST:
Oh, thank you.
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