Lenci Felted Wool Clutch & Beret, ca. 1927
GUEST: I brought a felted wool beret and clutch that was my great-aunt's. She traveled quite extensively, and so much so that her nephews all called her Aunt Way-Way, because she was away all the time. (laughs)
APPRAISER: I was really excited when you brought these to the table.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Um, probably very visibly so, because it's a brand that's pretty near and dear to my own heart.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It's an Italian company. They were called Lenci, or the full name was Ars Lenci, as in "ars," Latin for "art." Lenci opens as a business in 1919 in Turin. It is a family-owned business, and they actually specialize in felt painted dolls. And they're wildly popular. Everyone is collecting them, and they continue to collect them pretty much until the business closes in 2002. What people don't know, outside of the doll world, I would say, is that for a very brief window in the '20s and '30s, they were also producing ceramics, very high-end ceramics, and fashion. Fashion and accessories for mothers and daughters.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And that is what we have here-- as you said, it is felted wool. And these are pieced in a very particular way.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Um, very beautifully.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: In a sort of quilted manner, even...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...in terms of where the, the way that they are pieced. Um, you can see a little better on the interior just how they're made. They had shops in other areas of Europe...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...as well as also being, uh, retailed and distributed by department stores in America.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: And one of the big publications that talked about Ars Lenci a lot in the '20s and early '30s was "Women's Wear Daily."
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: So, American New York fashion magazine.
GUEST: Okay, sure.
APPRAISER: Lenci had just begun this production about 1927. So "Women's Wear Daily" had a write-up in one issue talking about how Lenci was one of the two most important fashion houses currently making great garments for women. I've seen some of the hats before. They do come up occasionally. What I've never seen before is a matching bag.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: I think by about the mid-1930s, they had completely stopped making anything of this sort. So I could see that even with the push of "Ro, Women's Wear Daily," it wasn't enough to keep this side of the business going. I would say, conservatively, in a retail setting, to have both the hat and the matching clutch, you're probably looking at about $3,000 to $3,500.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness. Aunt Way-Way, she, she saved my, um, grandparents...
APPRAISER: (chuckles)
GUEST: ...during the Depression. She and her sister helped them when they had a young family, and so...
APPRAISER: Oh.
GUEST: That's awesome.
APPRAISER: Oh, my gosh.
GUEST: That's awesome. I wish I had known her. I'm sure she had a lot of tales to tell.
$3,000 - $3,500 Retail
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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."
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