Featured Will I get lucky a 2nd time with these chairs!?

A few years ago I found some old chairs in my storage. It turned out they were antiques -- I checked here among other places -- together worth well over $1000. I've now found some other old dining room chairs also in my storage. (Yes, way too much stuff in storage....)

I have a friend who is no authority on antiques, but is a sophisticated home-owner. She thinks they are junk, not too mention she thinks they are tacky (she is not a shy friend). She thinks I might be able to get $50 each on Craigslist if I'm lucky.

Before I give away these "tacky" chairs away too casually, I thought I'd post pictures here. Can anyone tell me if they might be worth something, and I should investigate further? Or are they basically "give away/recycle" material? There are four chairs total. (The best of the photos is actually near the bottom.) Thanks in advance....

 

Attractive, made in famous for furniture Thomasville, NC, I think these were made in the 1950s based upon a mesh of earlier styles. I don't think they are junk, but not worth a grand. Please wait for other furniture experts to weigh in.

The price of brown wood furniture is down so low at present time, if you can keep them and use them, they are quite nice.

 

AntiDiem -- Thanks for the quick reply! I'm glad *you* think they are nice, you are obviously a person of good taste. (I can tease my friend about that! "Tacky...", she says. ;-) ).

I agree they are nice looking, but I live in a relatively small condo. A couple of years ago, while upgrading (a project still in progress), I went to some 2nd hand furniture place. I wound up buying, on the cheap, more than I really have room to use. I have some other chairs that are more comfortable and I'd prefer to use those. So these chairs have been pretty much stacked in storage. If I had a larger home, I would keep all of them and use all of them.

I guess, for anyone else who is good enough to join this thread, I could use a hint on what they might be worth. If prices are really low -- if the chairs are worth maybe just $20 or even $25 each -- I might be generous and just give them away. There are a lot of people in need right now, more in need than I am.

But I'm not exactly rich myself. So if there is some chance the chairs would be worth (say, collectively, all four of them) $200 or more, I have some uses of my own for that kind of money. And if someone suggests, "Hey, maybe $300+," or some figure like that, then so much the better. I can post and see what kinds of offers I get. I just want to be realistic here with my expectations and with an asking price.

And as I indicated, I just want to be double-sure I'm not handing off $1000+, or anything close to that, as a freebie. I wish I could be that generous, but I can't.

 

Your friend is right . They arent in great shape. You'd be lucky to get $5 each. Not trying to harsh on you,but you did ask for an honest opinion.

 

Honest opinions are what I want, and are sincerely appreciated. So no worries there. But I do find that there are sometimes ranges of honest opinions. So I'll wait to see if anyone weighs in with, you know, I could get $100 for the lot or something like that. But barring that, I'll probably give them away. I bet someone would find them useful in their home, or a theater company could use them for props.

 

Yep, I am going with johnny on this one.

 

For me the Flora upholstery is not complimenting the chairs. I think the chairs have some merit, in the right environment they would be solid, but with the right upholstery or even plain wood seat. Maybe try sell them, it is the same as giving them away these days

As mid to late 20th century chairs ( base on antidiems appraisal) and the modern construction, they have merit and if you could give them that mid century teak sleek look. I am not a furniture aficionado ( whish i was ) and maybe i will be, but right now I am about as useful to you for appraising as a spanner on a bent nail, but what can tell you is that there is a market for mid century, but as your friend said these chairs ( and i am thinking the upholstery) are tacky which is true.

While brown furniture is down, Mid century teak is very fashionable at the moment and is having a very sustained trend that i think is here to stay.Last teak side cabinet i saw sold for $600 dollars, while an edwardian side cabinet was lucky to get $50.

Those chairs while not teak are with some imagination in the same neighbourhood of the mid century trend. Somone could fix these up and put them in the right environment.

 

say thanx to the tinker that replaced the old seating and fixing the new ones with new screws. they don't qualify as antique anymore.

 

Are these origionally over 100 years old!

Rattan wood became popular again in late 19th century, and of course the Thonet chair revolutionised the late 19th century cafe's and Rattan again became popular in the 1970's. I was thinking maybe the design of this chair kind of had that in mind as a more formal cafe colonial indonesian dining experience. In fact i was even thinking this chair might even be from the 1970's

 

If the upholstery was replaced with something elegant and classy I think they would sell as they are lovely chairs.
I have no idea of value, one because I have no idea and two because I’m on the wrong side of the pond.
Refurbished I’m sure they would sell. If it was me I’d put them on eBay collection only for a sensible start price and see what happened.

 

Hey, thanks all for the feedback. I think it boils down to: (1) the chairs as they are are likely not worth that much; and (2) maybe a serious, on-site professional appraiser could determine if the chairs were originally over 100 years old, but even then the new screws suggest otherwise. I guess I'll have to go back to making money the old-fashioned way: Starting a culturally-crucial software business which establishes a billion-plus user, near planet-wide monopoly that persists for at least a decade until something supersedes it. I may still ask for a few $$ on Craigslist and see what I can get. (Come to think of it, I *should* have started Craigslist myself....) Thanks again to all. Sincerely, Not Craig

 

I think your in luck, Now might be a good time to talk to Mark Zucker about joining his Meta world and building the first virtual craigslist selling NFT's gamer skins and Virtual fashion clothes. The time is just right to be a virtual mega millionaire.

 

there are so many variations of this type of chairs that you'll get 10 opinions by 7 experts. without any idea where they were bought or imported - little chance.
it starts with the wicker which looks "in Vienna manner", the back is rather long and points towards the north etc..
it could be Biedermeier or Gründerzeit or even Jugendstil in Germany or Empire in France etc..

 

How can you possibly think they are over 100 years old???? You've already shown us the mid 20th century United States (if not even newer) regulatory labels and stenciled marking. You can't be serious. We are.

 

I'm with Johnny and James all the way.

 

And.....Bakers!

 

My grandparents had very similar chairs. My guess is that they are from the 1960's or 1970's. My grandparents replaced some pieces of furniture when they moved back from Fla in the early 1970's. But I am not an expert on furniture so I defer to those in the know.

 

Obviously 70s, giveaway level furniture. Agree with your friend, Johnny, Bakers, James. Better than no seating at all, so perhaps a disaster victim would want them, and that's who should get them. Free.

 

Yes, those labels and stenciled markings leave no question on the age. The extra tall backs have kind of a funky 1970s Hollywood Regency look, esp. if you are near an urban area possible someone may be interested as vintage pieces. If they are all completely stable (no wobbling) and the caning is perfect, you could try for $40 obo for the entire group of four on Craigslist or Facebook Market place without much effort since you already have the photos. If you find a buyer, take your friend out to lunch! If no buyer after a week, agree ... off to the thrift or giveaway. Good luck!

 

I guess you've heard enough, but my two cents worth. These chairs were made by Thomasville which is middle of the road quality, not too bad but not real good quality, definitely a lower price alternative for the budget minded. The chairs have been rode hard and put away wet. Would not be surprised if they were attacked by dogs and/or cats. Notice that the upholstery is just plain, no piping or other embellishments, likely whoever recovered them last didn't know how to do piping. In my book, these are very tacky and I would not waste time trying to sell them. You might get $5 from someone who is willing to recover the seats and paint them for some tres chic junk look until they can afford or find better ones. They are definitely not antique. I agree 1970s. Sorry to be so harsh. If the chairs had been treated better by their former owners, maybe they could have been salvaged.