Gottschalk Dollhouse, ca. 1885
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GUEST:
I was told it's from Germany. I kind of restore some dollhouses, and miniatures, and that type of thing. So I thought it was very interesting.
APPRAISER:
How long have you had it?
GUEST:
Well, I've only had this particular house since, uh, the beginning of the year. I acquired it from a friend. They had it in their family, from I, what I understand, for a while-- it was a gift. They knew that I would try to bring it back to life and they were just happy that it wasn't going to be thrown away.
APPRAISER:
Well, it is a, it's a fantastic piece. You identified it's from Germany. Do you have any idea who made this house?
GUEST:
I'm going to destroy the name-- I think it was... (hesitantly): Gottschalk?
APPRAISER:
It is, it's a Gottschalk house.
GUEST:
(laughing): There you go.
APPRAISER:
Well done! Moritz Gottschalk was the manufacturer of this house. Now, these houses were, in my opinion, the finest of dollhouses ever made. We know this is a Gottschalk house because it has all of the styling that Gottschalk is known for. So when you look at the front of it, this whole front façade that it has going, this just screams Gottschalk. This has all this ornate detail and finish work, glass windows-- just an architectural piece in itself. These are really, uh, as good as it gets. This is a larger size of a Gottschalk house. Now, these houses would have originally had a blue roof, and they're called the Blue Roofs. Given the level of detail that this house displays, it's probably 1885, 1886. So we're talking about a really old house here. Now, let's talk about the condition of the house.
GUEST:
Yeah. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Now, you received it to restore it.
GUEST:
Yes. Yes.
APPRAISER:
What do you think about the condition that it's in now?
GUEST:
Well, I did some coloring on the front. On the inside, I kind of kept it the way it was. But I know when you touch something that's old, you kind of mess things up, so here we are.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, yeah, it's a... It's a, it's a, it's a dangerous line to flirt with.
GUEST:
(laughing)
APPRAISER:
So this white you had done.
GUEST:
Yeah. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
You had done the painting on the white.
GUEST:
Yeah. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And how about on the roof? Was this your green?
GUEST:
No, no, I didn't touch at all.
APPRAISER:
Okay. It still retains some of the blue. You might be able to take this green off and bring back the blue roof.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
If you can grab that side, we'll open it up. And I want to demonstrate one thing for you. The exterior of the house would not have just been painted. It would have actually been wallpapered or covered in a paper lithograph. So the way you have shown me on the inside of the house here, this wallpaper, which looks original to me...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...the exterior of the house would have also had that. It would have been like a brick façade.
GUEST:
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
So what do you think this house could be worth?
GUEST:
Well... I got it for a little bit of nothing. So whatever it's worth is more than I got it for. (laughing) So I don't know, maybe a couple of hundred dollars?
APPRAISER:
A house like this, in all original condition, in today's present market, could fetch up to something like $20,000 to $25,000.
GUEST:
(laughing): Okay. But?
APPRAISER:
Now...
GUEST:
(laughing): But?
APPRAISER:
In this current condition, I think the auction estimate that I would expect to see would be something like $6,000 to $9,000. And I think we'd expect it to fetch something between $7,000 to $10,000.
GUEST:
Wow. Wow.
APPRAISER:
Uh, if you could get the paper lithograph to match the, uh, the façade, the way it should be, bring the colors back to what they should have been original?
GUEST:
Yeah. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Uh, I think you're, you're, you're definitely looking at the $10,000 price point.
GUEST:
That's so amazing.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. Nice house.
GUEST:
(laughing): That's so amazing. Thank you!
APPRAISER:
Nice piece.
GUEST:
Thank you so much.
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