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1794 Pennsylvania-German "John Seltzer" Dowry Chest

Value (2006) | $10,000 Auction – $15,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
It came into our family in the late '20s with my grandfather, and it was passed on through the family. It was actually a wedding gift to my husband and I 30-some years ago. So it's been with us for a while. It's part of our family. I just love it.

APPRAISER:
It's been in the family about three generations.

GUEST:
Basically, yes.

APPRAISER:
Okay. And you know something about the maker and the date.

GUEST:
I did find the maker. I believe it's over there.

APPRAISER:
That's right. It's John Seltzer.

GUEST:
John Seltzer, and dated 1794.

APPRAISER:
1794. That is correct. John Seltzer was born in the 1760s and died in the 1820s, so this is a piece made by him in Lancaster County probably midstream in his life. That is, he was a mature cabinetmaker at this time. One of the things that's interesting about these blanket chests is that they were given to a young bride essentially for the storage of textiles. And in that era before the Industrial Revolution, textiles could be the most expensive and important part of a estate inventory. Hence, they were a treasured object. This example is interesting. It has the stylized urns and flowers on it and this painting decoration is very distinctive to the parts of Germany from which these people were coming. Let's open up the chest and look inside. Certainly. This is what we call a "till." And can you lift that till panel?

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
There is a secret little compartment under there, probably for jewelry, possibly for coins, but the till was where a woman would store her valuables often.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And you notice that the boards are solid. It says something about the abundance of white pine here in Pennsylvania. White pine, and often we find these made out of tulip poplar. It has its original hardware, its original paint. It's not been touched. I've talked with my colleagues about it. We think auction estimate on this piece would be about $10,000 to $15,000.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Now, if these were stiles and rails with fielded panels, it would make it more valuable. If it had unicorns in the panels, drawers underneath, if the condition was a little better, it would be about ten times as much.

GUEST:
Oh, okay.

APPRAISER:
These have gone for $100,000 to $200,000.

GUEST:
Right.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Wendell Garrett
Decorative Arts, Furniture
Appraised value (2006)
$10,000 Auction – $15,000 Auction
Featured In
Philadelphia, Hour 2 (#1105)
Event
Philadelphia, PA (August 05, 2006)
Category
Furniture
Period
18th Century
Form
Chest
Material
Pine

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

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Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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