Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

My father inherited them from his aunt, who acquired them through her marriage, and then they came to my dad and passed down to me. We always just referred to it as the "Senate desk." But there was also the rumor that we'd heard that it came from a Congressman White from Maine. So that didn't connect. And then I went on to the ROADSHOW, uh, website, and saw that one had been appraised about 2000 or 2001 in Tulsa. And it had been refinished. And there I found out that it was made in about 1857, in Boston, designed by, I believe, a Philadelphia architect or designer. And it was in the House of Representatives, not the Senate, from about 1857 until sometime after the Civil War.

APPRAISER

Both pieces were designed by Thomas Walter.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

Who was the architect of the Capitol.

GUEST

Oh, he was?

APPRAISER

They were made by two different people.

GUEST

Really?

APPRAISER

The desk was made by Doe and Hazelton of Boston, the chair by Bembe and Kimbel of New York.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

They were made and used from 1857 to 1873.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

At the House of Representatives.

GUEST

Okay, that long.

APPRAISER

Not much is known about Doe and Hazelton in Boston; a little bit more is known about Bembe and Kimbel. Kimbel was a European-trained cabinetmaker from a long line of furniture makers in Europe.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

He came to America, like many immigrants, and developed a very prosperous company. He was a very noteworthy 19th-century cabinetmaker. I think what's really spectacular about the pieces, though, is their historical significance and what they represent to America.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

Not only in their design, but what they were witness to. Some of the design elements that I think are particularly interesting is the United States shield, the oak leaves that flank it, the laurel leaves that come down the stile here. And then as we come down the chair, you'll notice the star on the skirt, which is also incorporated on the desk. Both motifs are incorporated on the desk, as well.

GUEST

Yes, as is, as is the shield.

APPRAISER

You'll see three chairs to probably one desk. So the desk, much scarcer than the chair, interestingly enough.

GUEST

Is that right? I thought it would be the reverse.

APPRAISER

Any idea of its value? Ever had it appraised?

GUEST

Well, the desk that was appraised previously on the "Roadshow"-- that had been refinished...

APPRAISER

Yeah.

GUEST

And it didn't have the original...

APPRAISER

Uh-huh.

GUEST

I think appraised at $8,000 or $9,000. And the man who appraised it said that he'd heard of one selling for about $15,000 several years earlier. So, I just, you know, conservative thought, well, maybe with the chair, maybe 20.

APPRAISER

Being together, a chair and a desk, increases its value. I think that a gallery would offer it at a fixed retail price of $40,000.

GUEST

Really?! Well, that's very nice.

APPRAISER

So, it also gives you an idea of how things have appreciated since that last appraisal.

GUEST

Yes, exactly.

APPRAISER

Because when Wendell Garrett did that-- when it was done, it was a very accurate appraisal. But these have since...

GUEST

Exactly, yeah.

APPRAISER

Over the last two or three years, have probably doubled in what used to be their value.

GUEST

Is this the original?

APPRAISER

I believe so. The upholstery is not.

GUEST

My mother had the upholstery redone.

APPRAISER

It originally had leather upholstery.

GUEST

We didn't know, but we thought so.

APPRAISER

One sold, with its original leather, sold for $30,000.

GUEST

Really?

APPRAISER

But its, upholstery makes a big difference.