Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

This is a valet chair that we have had in our bedroom for probably the last 50 years. My husband likes Danish modern furniture and he bought this around 1970. It's been in our bedroom ever since.

APPRAISER

Well, it's a wonderful example of mid-century modern Danish design. It is the kind of chair that we love to see because it stands alone as a piece of sculpture. It is designed by Hans Wegner in 1953 in Denmark and produced by a Danish furniture maker called Johannes Hansen sometime in the late '50s. The chair is made of teak, as I think you know. They made these chairs for quite some time. What did he spend?

GUEST

I think it was under $200. I'm not sure the exact amount. He's an architect, and so architects got about a 50% discount on the furniture that they bought.

APPRAISER

Have you had it appraised since?

GUEST

No, so I have no idea what it's worth.

APPRAISER

Well, I love the design of it because it's obviously meant for a man.It's a classic man's item. You put your jacket on the back here, the seat actually tips up, and that's where you would hang your trousers. And then in this cavity down here, you'd put your cufflinks or your tie or what have you, and it would be ready to go the next time. So really, great ingenuity to the design. These are very popular chairs. Mid-century modern is particularly collected these days, and in an auction situation, we would put an estimate of $6,000 to $8,000 on it.

GUEST

You're kidding.

APPRAISER

I'm not kidding. No, $6,000 to $8,000. It's a paradigm of mid-century modern design.

GUEST

Oh, that's shocking.

APPRAISER

Really, really quite a wonderful chair.