Jean François Veyrat Silver Candlesticks, ca. 1840
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GUEST:
These candlesticks were given to me from my grandmother when she passed. And that was about seven years ago. And they've been in the closet since then. I don't really know anything about them, except, she always told me that they were her grandmother's and that they were very special.
APPRAISER:
Where was she from?
GUEST:
She's from England, originally.
APPRAISER:
Okay. They are French.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And that makes them a little bit more interesting than if they were English. French silver is, by its nature, is rarer than English silver, due to in some part, I mean, wars. And that sort of turbulence led to silver being monetized and melted down more readily than it was in England, for example. We can date them because of a mark that's on them called the Minerva mark. The Minerva mark is the French silver guarantee mark, the fineness mark. The Minerva mark on these dates from around 1838 to 1840. You also have a maker's mark on them, as well. Jean-François Veyrat was the maker. He was active in Paris between 1832 and 1840. You did mention to me, tell us about some of the history of them.
GUEST:
Well, this one is a little damaged at the bottom. My grandmother, when she was cleaning them one time, she dropped it.
APPRAISER:
It looks a little bit sort of twisted. You can definitely see there is some damage to this one here.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Which obviously does affect the value of them.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
There are various grades of, of silver fineness...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...that were used in French silver. These are 950, so, in parts per thousand.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So the sterling standard is 925 parts per thousand. These are actually higher than sterling.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
At auction, I would imagine the value of them to be somewhere in the region-- noting the damage...
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
Of $800 to $1,200.
GUEST:
Wow! Wow!
APPRAISER:
If they were in perfect condition, I think you would get somewhere in the region of $1,500 to $2,000 for them.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
But you've got to knock off a few points, I think, for the damage.
GUEST:
For the damage.
APPRAISER:
Sadly, yeah.
GUEST:
That's okay-- wow.
APPRAISER:
But I hope that you use them and enjoy them.
GUEST:
Yeah, I probably should take them out of the closet, then, and... use them.
APPRAISER:
Absolutely. Thank you very much for bringing them in.
GUEST:
Thank you so much.
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