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Article | The History and Legacy Surrounding "The Well of Loneliness"

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Related | John Fery Oil Painting, ca. 1895

Related | John Fery Oil Painting, ca. 1895

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Hotel Del Coronado

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Hotel Del Coronado

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1761 Flame-stitched Needlework Tablecloth

Value (2019) | $75,000 Auction – $125,000 Auction
Watch  

APPRAISER:
When you unwrapped this from a, a layer of two quilts, I was astonished. Do you know why?

GUEST:
No, I don't.

APPRAISER:
(laughs) Okay. I'd like to hear from you what you know about this.

GUEST:
Well, this is a, a tablecloth, I believe, they call it. It was made in, in 1761 by a relative of mine, a Dutch young woman who lived in Millstone, New Jersey, which is north of New Brunswick. My mother inherited it. When she inherited it, it was rolled up into a brown piece of paper, it was rolled onto a cardboard roll, and it remained in our living room closet for, I would imagine, almost 20 years before I inherited it. This is a flame-stitch tablecloth, which must have taken many, many hours to accomplish. There is an inscription on the top of it that says, "This tablecloth was made by Elisabeth van Deursen in 1761." There's another inscription that says, "How vain are all these worldly pleasures, created beauty cannot last. Time diminishes at leisure what human hands have formed and cast." So, it's kind of a heavy inscription.

APPRAISER:
(chuckles)

GUEST:
But it is a beautiful piece of handwork. And it is, unfortunately, beginning to fade away, but we can still have the pleasure of seeing it.

APPRAISER:
I can tell you, I've never seen a, a needlework tablecloth myself, personally. In my experience, they're very rare, and one would expect that to be the case, because they received a lot of wear and tear-- they're on top of a table.

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
So, things could have been spilled on them just through use. I think a lot of them have vanished into obscurity. In this particular instance, Elisabeth learned her lessons well, because the expertise shown in this is very consistent. I mean, this is a typical of a center-panel, flame-stitch pattern, which is seen in both English and American needlework, and I think these were made in England and America. But, but the specific history surrounding this piece points to America, which is very exciting. So, this flame-stitch panel is composed of this repeated design. All the colors in this are derived from nature-- vegetable dyes-- so, as a result, they're very fugitive. So you said that it's fading. There's so much life left in this. And the thing that struck me very quickly was just how bright and beautiful it still is. It's not complicated, but very effective as a result. And I believe this border that we see around it are stylized... I believe they're supposed to be carnation blossoms. That often appears in early English and American needlework. There are a couple of areas in the piece which were darned by somebody. Does anybody darn anymore? I don't know. So, in my estimation, it's one of the great American rarities, as far as needlework is concerned, that has somehow survived in miraculously good condition. So, at auction I would estimate its value between $30,000 and $50,000. It's very special.

GUEST:
Gracious.

APPRAISER:
And we're, we're at Winterthur, so I can say in the premises that this is definitely of museum quality. There's no doubt about it.

GUEST:
Gracious! Well, my wife and I have sometimes been disappointed that our daughter hasn't learned to appreciate antiques as much as we do. But this appraisal will, I think, help her with her appreciation.

APPRAISER:
It, it should help.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Stephen L. Fletcher
Clocks, Decorative Arts, Folk Art, Furniture
Skinner, Inc.
Boston, MA
Update (2019)
$75,000 Auction – $125,000 Auction
Appraised value (2019)
$30,000 Auction – $50,000 Auction
Featured In
Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library, Hour 3 (#2403)
Event
Winterthur, DE (June 18, 2019)
Category
Folk Art
Period
18th Century
Form
Needlework

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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