British Naval Chair, ca. 1810
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GUEST:
The chair itself comes from the wood of part of the Dutch fleet from the battle of Camperdown. Now, the battle of Camperdown was an important naval battle in British history because it actually prevented a Napoleonic invasion of England, although it's not as well known as some of the other battles that took place.
APPRAISER:
Exactly. It's a lesser-known battle but still significant. Well, let's take a look at what it says. I mean, it's basically telling us that "This wood was part of Admiral Winter's fleet captured by Admiral..."
GUEST:
Duncan.
APPRAISER:
"...Duncan, October 1797."
GUEST:
That's right.
APPRAISER:
It's nice and deeply carved. What's interesting about this chair aside from the historical significance, it's got this great form. This form is... without all the carving, it's basically a regency-style piece.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Regency style referring to when Prince George was regent of England versus the king. So you've got this very neoclassic kind of look: this reeded design here, this curved back, tapered legs, dates it to right around turn of the 18th century. It could've been made after the battle sometime in 1805, 1810, would certainly not be unlikely for this style. But the great thing about it is the embellishments: cannons, cannonballs on the side, this wonderful British fouled anchor which is pretty typical of insignia from the British fleet around the 18th century. And this is made of oak. So I also understand that you found a comparable chair at the Maritime Museum in England.
GUEST:
There is, yes, and I actually sent off to them and they sent me a photograph of it. It is identical, except for the fact that it actually has a wicker insert on the chair...
APPRAISER:
Interesting.
GUEST:
...rather than being a solid piece of wood as it is here.
APPRAISER:
Well, if we take a look underneath the chair, we can see that it's got a little Roman numeral "III." So this might indicate that this was at least maybe one of four-- maybe even more-- made, maybe for the admiral's home or country house. In terms of value, I would be conservative if this were to come to auction and probably put a value of around $3,000 to $5,000, with the expectation that you get the right people in there and it could go as high as $10,000. So I would say $3,000 to $5,000 conservatively with great upward potential.
GUEST:
Great.
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