Bought for $50 Online, Wingback Chair Sells For $107,950

Earlier this year, Justin Miller of Los Angeles found an intriguing chair on Facebook Marketplace and decided to take a flyer, buying it for $50. The chair turned out to be a rare high-back wing chair by a famous Danish designer. It sold recently for $107,950 (including premiums) at Sotheby’s. “I’m not a furniture expert […]

Refinishing a Table

Q: I have this table and I’m currently re-staining the top. I’m curious about what era the table is from and its value. It is 34 inches in diameter and has tiny metal wheels. Thank you. A: We’re sorry to hear about the staining. Refinishing antique or vintage furniture often destroys its value. This table […]

Linen Cabinet

Q: I hope that someone can help identify this cabinet and what it was used for. I know it is about 1870-90 Edwardian, all hand-cut dovetails, I just don’t know what it was used for. The drawers make it look like a linen press, but I have never seen one like this before. A: When […]

Just Wright

During his seventy-year career as an architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959) created more than 1,100 designs, half of which were realized and a large portion of which came about later in his life. One of earliest and largest private residences ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Susan Lawrence Dana House is famously dubbed the […]

Secretary Desk-Bookcase

Q: My mother-in-law bought this oak secretary with curved glass from someone in Xenia, Ohio, and gave it to me in the 1970s. It was covered with varnish that had turned black, so I refinished it. It’s in very good condition although the bottom left handle doesn’t match the other handles. What is its value?  […]

July 2021 Prices

ADVERTISING Dispenser, Curtis Baby Ruth Chocolate Fudge, warmer, removable china insert, flip top lid, tin body, red paint, aluminum Baby Ruth tag, ladle, paper tag on bottom, No. 3, instructions, Fountain Maid, Chicago, 9 x 6 in., $230 Tin, Thurber’s Best Yeast Power, revolving cylinder for different spices, lithograph, woman in oval, red & black, […]

March 2021 Prices

ADVERTISING Menu board, Golden Ice Cream, “World’s Best Ice Cream Value!” chalkboard, tin lithograph, 24 x 16 in., $100 Thermometer, Cincinnati Sporting Good, red & black, lithographed, “For Your Riding Apparel/Driving Pants/Sports Cloths…” R.J. Becht & Son, 1981, 36 in. , $230 Poster, Apple II computer, Rainbow Apple logo, stylized black text “Apple ][, home/personal […]

Antique Santa Fe Furniture Reflects Culture 

The style of furniture made over the years by artisans in New Mexico reflects rich Latino, Native American and Anglo-American influences. A recent Santa Fe Art Auction in New Mexico offered a virtual visit to Santa Fe’s annual Traditional Spanish Market with pieces spanning 500 years, many made by regional artists. Furniture was from the […]

Sewing Table Sells For Nearly $100,000

A simple Shaker wooden sewing table from 1840 sold for an amazing $98,400 recently at Morphy Auctions of Pennsylvania. The seven-drawer, drop-leaf table is made with butternut, cherry, pine and basswood. It came from the Shaker community at Hancock, Massachusetts, and was attributed to Elder David Terry, who is known to have crafted similar tables. […]

How to Take Care of Wooden Antique Furniture

Enjoy Our First “Kovels Antiques Live” Video. Terry Kovel Disusses “How to Take Care of Your Wooden Antique Furniture.”