Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
Today’s questions are about Charles Twelvetrees’ postcards of black children and a steer horn chair.
Question:
I have 4 postcards depicting black children with various sayings by C. Twelvetrees. What is the worth of these?
Answer:
I’ve written twice about Charles Twelvetrees, about the man and his series of wedding-party postcards. His postcards of white children showed them as cute and cherubic; for the most part, he was not so kind to black children, like most illustrators who drew or wrote about African American children during the early part of the 20th century.
The reader didn’t mention what Twelvetrees’ postcards she had, so it’s hard for me to determine what they’re worth. Googling, though, I found several such postcards that had been sold on the web, a few of which featured somewhat complimentary images of African American children (with red lips, of course), and another and another that were not. Here’s a drawing on a 1940 calendar for a creamery in Washington state. Even some of the inscriptions are insulting.
Obviously, Twelvetrees’ Black Americana cards do sell, as much of the stuff does, on the web and at auction. The highest price I found on eBay was $26.
I would suggest that the reader do a Google search for his particular postcards to see what they sold for, especially on eBay, whose sales in many instances set the price for most items.
Question:
Who do I contact to find out how much my chair is worth? I live on Martha’s Vineyard and I’m not sure if we have an appraiser that is familiar with this furniture.
Answer:
The reader is referring to a steer horn chair, one of which I wrote about during the summer. It was a chair upholstered in fur with legs and arms made of steer horns (it sold for $700). Horn furniture is pretty common, and has been around since the 1870s. A horn chair was first displayed during the Chicago Inter-State Industrial Exposition in 1876. Chairs appear to be the most common type of horn furniture, and most pieces are not marked.
As for the reader, a quick check of auction houses on Martha’s Vineyard showed that the Martha Vineyard’s Museum will be holding free appraisal events on Dec. 5-6, 2014. A ticketed appraisal will be held at a private home on Dec. 5 for $50. The next day, a free appraisal will be held at the museum; reservations are required because the event sells out quickly, according to the museum website. In both cases, visitors are allowed to bring one item for appraisal.
I would suggest that the reader contact the museum to inquire about her chair – whether to bring it or a photo of it. The appraisals are being conducted by Skinner Auctioneers of Boston, which the reader may also contact for an auction evaluation (she’s not required to consign the item with them for auction, according to its website) and more information.
The reader can also check other reputable auction houses in the Boston area via auctionzip.com or a Google search. A quick internet search of “auction houses Boston” turned up several of them. I’m sure they all have a furniture expert who can appraise the chair for her. Even if the person is not an expert in horn chairs, he or she may be able to help determine the value. The reader should also check the auction houses’ websites to see if they offer free appraisal days or some other process for evaluating an item. If the chair is valuable, then she can have it officially appraised for a price.
The reader did not give me any background on the chair, including how she acquired it, from whom and when. So I’m not sure how old the chair is. Since steer horn chairs are not considered rare, I would also suggest that the reader do some internet research on her own to see if she can find a chair that resembles hers. She can also try consulting with collector/historian Alan Rogers at the internet-based National Texas Longhorn Museum, who may be able to assist her.
