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Late Victorian Bird Cage

Value (2016) | $5,000 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
My husband's mother was an Irish immigrant, and she worked as a governess in the homes of many wealthy families in New York City. Our best bet is that she was given this as a gift from one of those families. And it's lived in basements for decades. We don't know a lot about its history at all. We think perhaps it was a hand-crafted birdcage-- that was pretty much all my husband remembers her ever saying about it.

APPRAISER:
Well, clearly hand-crafted. Someone had a lot of time on their hands and put a lot of effort into this. I would date this to the 19th century.

GUEST:
Oh, w ow.

APPRAISER:
High Victorian style. This almost weird combination of architectural styles. You have Greek classical, you have this mansard roof, you have a widow's walk. It's also a penthouse, so it has a lot going on architecturally. The other thing that's interesting to me is the number of metals that are used. There's tin, there's copper, there's aluminum, this is brass at the corners. It probably had a little bit more paint on it originally, and you can see some remnants of it in the grating on top and in some of the window and wire work. We don't know who made it.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
We do know the time period, and we have an idea of what it's made out of. Bird keeping is not all the rage that it was, but these are highly decorative and highly sought after. I think we'd be looking at about a $5,000 value retail.

GUEST:
Really?

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Kelly Wright
Decorative Arts, Silver
Appraised value (2016)
$5,000 Retail
Featured In
Charleston, Hour 1 (#2007)
Mansion Masterpieces (#2027)
Event
Charleston, SC (August 08, 2015)
Category
Decorative Arts
Period
19th Century , Victorian
Material
Aluminum , Brass , Copper , Paint , Tin

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.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

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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