Early 20th-Century Pairpoint Table Lamp

Appraised on: July 28, 2007

Appraised in: Louisville, Kentucky

Appraised by: David McCarron

Category: Glass

Episode Info: Louisville, Hour 2 (#1214)

Originally Aired: April 28, 2008

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (1:47)

GUEST: It originally belonged to my grandmother, and I inherited it from my father when he passed away.

APPRAISER: Okay. Where did... Where did your grandmother get it?

GUEST: I think that she purchased it in the 1920s in northern Ohio. They were building a home and were going to move into this home, and it was destroyed by a tornado, which wiped out the city, also.

APPRAISER: Oh, and the lamp survived.

GUEST: And the lamp survived and my grandfather rebuilt the home.

APPRAISER: Oh, good. Well, what do you know about the lamp specifically?

GUEST: I know it's a Pairpoint, and really that's about all I know.

APPRAISER: Well, this is a Pairpoint lamp, and, as you know, the base is stamped underneath "Pairpoint." And then also the shade, which is beautifully painted with this landscape with figures, is also stamped. Pairpoint started in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in the late 19th century, and they were making lamps like this into the '30s, so the dateline works very well for when your grandmother got it in the '20s. Right. Now, right here it says, "The Pairpoint Company." We have a beautifully painted shade and a very strong urn-form, neoclassical base. And we have a condition issue that I wanted to just address here. We had on this little rim a small chip.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Now, with glass shades, the money is all in the shade, for the most part.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And chips or imperfections do hurt it somewhat. Not majorly. If this were perfect, or if it didn't have that chip, I think a good auction estimate would be $6,000 to $8,000.

GUEST: Wow. But with the chip,

APPRAISER: I'd say $5,000 to $7,000.

GUEST: Wow, okay.