Work of Eliel Saarinen
HOST: The Saarinen House, located at the heart of the Cranbrook Academy of Art, is an Art Deco masterpiece inside and out conceived entirely by Finnish architect and designer Eliel Saarinen. Roadshow appraiser Eric Silver joined me for a tour of this amazing historic home. Eric, Eliel Saarinen was born in Finland but was part of the first generation of industrial designers in America. How did he end up at Cranbrook Academy?
APPRAISER: He was invited in 1925 by George Booth, who was a Detroit philanthropist-- he was a newspaper baron-- and he was invited to design the campus of the Cranbrook educational community, which included the Cranbrook Academy of Art. He joins the faculty and he becomes head of the Cranbrook Academy in 1932.
HOST: And this is where he raised his family.
APPRAISER: That's right, he lived in this house. He designed most of the furniture. He and his wife collaborated on the carpets and textiles, and his son Eero Saarinen also designed some of the furniture here. And his son was prominent in his own right: he designed the St. Louis Arch as well as the TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in New York City.
HOST: We have a coffee urn here, which is a beautiful design, and this is one of Eliel Saarinen's designs, correct?
APPRAISER: That's right. It's probably one of the greatest examples of American 20th century design. It's a coffee pot on a stand, and it has this wonderful matching tray. And what really makes it such a great example of either Art Deco or Machine Age design is the simplicity of the form. It has this wonderful elongated lobed handle, which I think adds a certain amount of elegance to the piece. The spigot here is a stylized bird, and the bird is a motif that we see throughout the house. It was made by the Wilcox Company around 1933 or 1934. It's very, very rare. It's silver plated. It was meant to be mass produced, but it wasn't. It's thought that the design was just too advanced for contemporary American taste. I only found about a half a dozen examples, and they're all in museums.
HOST: How do we get a ballpark of what this might be valued at?
APPRAISER: What we try for is what's called comparable values. I did find a candy dish from this set that sold a couple of years ago for $67,000 at auction. I think it would be easily a multiple of that amount.
HOST: Thanks so much, Eric.
APPRAISER: Thank you.
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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."
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.
