1966 Wharton Esherick Stool
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GUEST:
It was given to my mother in the late '60s by my Uncle Henry.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
We had it in our lovely little kitchen in Philadelphia. We had two others, and we loved sitting on them having breakfast in the morning. It's something I've always loved. And so, when my mother died in 2013, we all got an opportunity to choose things, and this is one of the things I wanted. So...
APPRAISER:
Well, you are a good chooser, I'll tell you.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
This is a great piece of furniture made by my very favorite furniture maker, Wharton Esherick. And he lived in Paoli, Pennsylvania.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Not far from Philadelphia. And he actually, as far as I'm concerned and a lot of other people are concerned, started the Studio Furniture Movement.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
And all kinds of famous people came out of the Studio Furniture Movement: George Nakashima, Paul Evans, Wendell Castle. Those are just a few.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
But those are really big names...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...in the world of furniture. And Mr. Esherick started the whole thing.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And he started about 1920. He was a trained artist.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
He, he was a, a fine artist.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
And he never made much of a living as a fine artist. I think he was sort of a starving fine artist.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And he, he was a... He was certainly an adventurer, and he had an interesting life. And he wandered down to Alabama, and while he was there, he had to make furniture. Legend has it he was too poor to buy his own, so he had to make it.
GUEST:
(moans sadly)
APPRAISER:
And that notion of beauty and furniture, and kind of commingling the two, came out. He ends up moving to Paoli.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Paoli, Pennsylvania, out in the Main Line, and sets up a little shop. He's doing pretty good business. He's doing business with a lot of very wealthy folks all through Philadelphia. But there are slow times, and he needs a few bucks. So what he does is, he starts making these stools.
GUEST:
No kidding.
APPRAISER:
And he would sell them locally. I've seen dozens of them.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And no two that I've ever seen are remotely similar. All the tops are different, they're different heights. The legs are different shapes, the angles are different.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And it was both functional and it was beautiful. I mean, look at this piece.
GUEST:
I know.
APPRAISER:
Look, look at the curves and the angles.
GUEST:
Yup.
APPRAISER:
And the sloping.
GUEST:
Yup.
APPRAISER:
It's a stool, it was a simple stool. Should we take a look at the top?
GUEST:
Absolutely, it's one of my favorite parts. I like to look at it as, like, a cow face. Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Well, it's very biomorphic, that's for sure. As far as what kind of wood this is, the base is made out of oak. All the stools I've ever seen had oak bases.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The, this top, I'm not 100% sure what it is. It was probably some scrap from something else he was building.
GUEST:
It could have been.
APPRAISER:
Then, it doesn't look to me like anyone's put any love into this since it was probably produced.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
One of the great things about Esherick's work is, is that you could clean this up. Unlike a lot of period furniture, where people say, "Oh, don't touch it."
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
"Whatever you do, don't touch it, you'll kill the value."
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
That's not true with Esherick's furniture.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The other thing I love about Wharton Esherick's stuff is his signature.
GUEST:
I love it, too.
APPRAISER:
And this piece is definitely signed.
GUEST:
Totally.
APPRAISER:
There we go.
GUEST:
So, yes.
APPRAISER:
"W.E." for Wharton Esherick, 1966. Not all Wharton Esherick furniture is signed, either. Most of it is, a lot of it is. Do you have any idea of what this stool might be worth?
GUEST:
I'm thinking about $8,000 to $10,000.
APPRAISER:
$8,000 to $10,000?
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Well, that, that is, at auction today, that's just about right.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Exactly to, to the dollar.
GUEST:
Okay, all right.
APPRAISER:
It's right.
GUEST:
All right.
APPRAISER:
Uh, some sold last week for a little bit above that.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Um, and some sell for a little bit below. But $8,000 to $10,000 is right on.
GUEST:
Well, good.
APPRAISER:
So between you and your siblings, you have, uh, $30,000 in Wharton Esherick stools.
GUEST:
(laughing): Yes. Yes, and we love them all.
APPRAISER:
They usually sold between $40, $50, $60 apiece, so...
GUEST:
Okay, all right. Okay, wow.
APPRAISER:
Your uncle...
GUEST:
It's really appreciated, then.
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