Is this 17th century chair really worth £6,500?

Hello
I live in England and so does my seller. The seller is a LAPADA, CINOA and BADA member.
I am looking at their "A BOLD CHARLES I CARVED AND DATED OAK WAINSCOT CHAIR. FROM THE CYRIL BRADSHAW COLLECTION, LITTLE WOLFORD MANOR"

The seller's description;

"THIS FINE OAK ARMCHAIR HAS A SCROLLL CARVED TOP RAIL ABOVE INITIALS AND DATE R.1634.R. THE TWIN PANELLED BACK WITH KNULL CARVING TO THE TOP PANEL,THE DOWN SCROLLED ARMS WITH HEAVY TURNED AND FLUTED SUPPORTS ABOVE A PLANKED SEAT AGAIN WITH KNULL CARVED FRIEZES, STANDING ON HEAVY TURNED AND FLUTED FRONT LEGS. DATED 1634. PROVENANCE: THE CYRIL BRADSHAW COLLECTION, LITTLE WOLFORD MANOR, WARWICKSHIRE. DESCRIBED AND ILLUSTRATED IN THE ANTIQUE COLLECTOR, APRIL 1957, PAGE 45. ORIGINALLY PURCHASED FROM H.W KEIL, BROADWAY, WORCS."

Dimensions:
Height: 44.5 inches (113.0 cms)
Width: 24 inches (61.0 cms)
Depth: 22 inches (55.9 cms)
My question is. Is this chair worth £6,500, is this a good price for a chair like this? The seller said chairs that have the date carved into them are more expensive.

 

It seems like the photos won't upload. I will post a link shortly

 

https://imgur.com/a/kFkFUkL

here's the link for the photos

 

Dhruv, your photos were probably too big. Can you resize them to 640 x 480k or less?

 

Some prices of 17th century Wainscot chairs:
https://www.antiques-atlas.com/anti...ccasional-chairs/Wainscot_Chairs?period=17400

Yours has provenance of course, which you pay for as well.
For a chair similar to the one you saw, I would stay under 3000, but that is my opinion.

 

Dhruv-You're rockin' out to 17 Century Furniture.I'd probably attempt to hire an accredited investigator to go over it w/ a fine tooth comb.It's very cool in a Witchfinder General sort of way.You want to find if anything's been repaired,altered or added (like a date !).

 

Thanks, I have seen this before. But this chair is a bit more special due to its provenance. But does this mean that a few extra thousand pounds are warranted? He also told me in auctions chairs like this can sell for the tens of thousands

 

Good idea. Witchfinder General in blue ray is sitting on my shelf right now! A great movie. Love the furniture, clothes etc in that movie

 

Also. I just contacted one of the UK's leading specialists in early oak about this chair

 

Yes, it is, and as I said, you pay for provenance as well. I don't know how much though.
When buying a 17th century Wainscot chair generally, I suppose it depends on how important the provenance is to the buyer, and how much a buyer is willing to pay for the provenance.

 

You could create a 'Witchfinder' study/library in your house-would be pretty cool.The tough part would be the authentic full room paneling...or,you could invest in a small wood shop,most of the correct techniques are on YouTube.

 

It's a handsome chair, but I don't know about values.
(I think this site doesn't like .png extensions.)

 

I just validated the price from one of the UK's leading early oak specialists and he said it's worth £4,000 instead of £6,500

 

I would absolutely love to do that

 

Great work Dhruv ! But how'd you get such a quick response from one of the UK's leading experts ? Those guys usually take weeks to get back to me (if at all).
It is a great atmospheric chair,and if 100% orig-created 18 years after Shakespeare's death,yow-the history.
PS-If you get a kick out of Vincent Price,he does a great,dry comedic turn in a fine 1950's romantic comedy-'Champagne for Caesar' with Ronald Colman.

 

Wonderful. It is a beautiful chair, but I thought the asking price steep.
What will you do now?

 

your seller is looking to make a profit.....not unheard of.....but it sounds to me thinks he has a fish on the line.....
I would not trust his prices...or his blah blah blah.....

 

I take it you're into 17th century furniture, the kind of thing that, in large numbers, wouldn't look out of place (and fit) only in a castle, so I'm assuming you've got one. Generally, you might be led to think that just because you've got money to burn, and sellers know it, they may take advantage . This is very likely, of course, and you'll have built your defense mechanism, but also, it is the case that the market for this kind of furniture, viz your competition, is the moneyed sort, so prices are (perhaps seemingly unreasonably) high. The same rules apply, though, age, alone, is not enough, look for quality above all. Thing is, though, there's not much around, and very, very few people are into it (so prices mostly come down to what YOU are willing to pay).

 

In the 17th century most NW Europeans had furniture. Ever seen Dutch "Golden Age" paintings?