Japanese Silver Iris Candlesticks, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
Well, my mother inherited them from a most famous lady in Idaho, Mrs. Alice Pittenger, and they've been in our family for 75 years. And Mrs. Pittenger was a physician in Chicago and met Dr. Pittenger, and they moved to Idaho. And she said, "One doctor in the family is enough." And so she retired as a physician in the early 1900s. And then she became a philanthropist in Idaho. She donated all the land for the Girl Scout camp in McCall, 'cause she didn't like the idea that the Boy Scouts had a camp for them, and there were no camp for girls.
APPRAISER:
Mm.
GUEST:
She started the first children's home in Boise, Idaho. She was a grand, grand lady.
APPRAISER:
And where do you think Mrs. Pittenger got them?
GUEST:
I thought they were European.
APPRAISER:
They are Art Nouveau.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
Which was 1890s to 1910. Started, really, in Germany, but very strong in Paris. But they're not French. They're actually Japanese.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
Produced for the French market.
GUEST:
Oh, interesting.
APPRAISER:
Because everybody knew that the French loved this style. The maker for these is the Samurai Silversmith. And they would have been made in Japan and then exported, likely to France. They're candlesticks, but... ...in the top...
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
...if we take the wax out...
GUEST:
I didn't do that. (laughing)
APPRAISER:
(chuckles): But if we take the wax out, we can look and see that in fact...
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
...there is a hole, and the hole goes all the way through to the bottom.
GUEST:
So they can be a lamp.
APPRAISER:
So they could be electrified if the owner so wished.
GUEST:
Huh. Wow!
APPRAISER:
I have never seen Japanese Art Nouveau candlesticks that are as beautiful as these. What do you think they're worth?
GUEST:
$4,000.
APPRAISER:
That's a good guess.
GUEST:
Oh, yeah, good.
APPRAISER:
But they're actually worth $10,000 to $15,000 if they were to come to auction.
GUEST:
(chuckling): Wow! Wow. That's wonderful. They're priceless to us, but that's nice to know. Wow.
Appraisal Details
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