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

It was probably just luck that I got such a timely response! I'll look into that movie. But one of the Vincent Price movies on my list is "The Masque of the Red Death"

 

I'll see if he's open to negotiation

 

I guess I'm one of those very, very few people into these kinds of things, except I don't own a castle! There are "reasonable" prices on prominent 17th-century and earlier furniture available. For instance, I saw an early 16th-century large oak coffer for "just" £3,000 and seemed to be of good quality for its age

 

I can only think what would happen if an AMERICAN 1630s chair like that came to light. Americans pay silly money for really early pieces, because they're so rare. A seller might be tacking another zero or two onto his asking price. Probably get it too. There are a lot more of the British ones.

 

Judging from the background I know exactly who this seller is(assuming dealers can't be named here) Their pieces tend to be very rare and quite overpriced but completely authentic. It's really up to you. I would offer 5250 GBP if your heart is set on it.

 

I love Vincent Price anyway, but that is one of my favourites.

Good luck!

 

You are clearly looking for furniture as early as you can find. I'm another US resident, so don't have first hand experience with UK prices. I will say that price of furniture this old is highly dependent on both provenance and an up close and personal appraisal of how much of the piece is original, and how much is replaced. You can sometimes spot replacements in pics, but I would never buy any antique without closely looking it over in person. That means picking it up, looking at each joint, understanding each imperfection, looking for unfinished surfaces (underneath, rear, etc.)

Most of the pieces you have shown do not include enough pictures to assess how much rework they have had. For this particular chair, I can't see any of your pics in the links you give, but of the ones posted here by MOS, there are no pics that include the things I would need to examine closely. First thing I do when looking at ANY antique chair is to pick it up and turn it over - doing it in person is best, but there isn't even a pic of it so who knows what it shows.

As to provenance, if it starts in the 1950's and not before, then there were already a lot of fakes, marriages, and reworked pieces available, so provenance from the 50's doesn't mean that much. Better than nothing, but not a lot.

I will say this - your chair in this listing is far better than any of the other chairs and tables you have posted. Most if not all of those have had obvious major rework (replaced tops and structural elements). And the dates on those other pieces are questionable in my opinion to being from the 17th century. So IF this is really a complete and authentic piece, and if the date on it is correct, then it would in my opinion easily be worth six times the other pieces you have shown.

If you do not have enough experience to assess the age and originality of pieces yourself, then you should buy a lot of books and spend time at auctions and high-end antique shops, asking a lot of questions and viewing a whole lot of antiques, before you start spending the kind of money you are talking about spending.

p.s. Most of the books on Antiques that I have are specific to the US, and I have several about detecting fake US furniture. At least one of my books is specific to English furniture: "Is It Genuine" by W Crawley, written in 1972. Worth reading if you haven't.

 

I have a genuine interest in early oak antiques, mainly from the 17th century. But earlier ones have caught my attention also.

I certainly do not have any experience to assess age etc. I just got into the early oak antiques. I recently ordered "Oak Furniture: The British Tradition" just arrived today and will be spending some time on that including some other books I'll be ordering, and thanks for your book recommendation.

I concur with you in the fact that one should analyse an antique in person, which I would like to undertake. A couple of months ago I visited a few old English manor houses (medieval, 16th century, 17th century) and found many early oak antiques there. In addition to your advice, perhaps in my exercise to learn more about these kinds of antiques I could go back and actually study them.

Are most of the early oak antiques we see online fakes? Even if the seller has good certifications like LAPADA? I'm talking about websites like "www.sellingantiques.co.uk".

Thank you for your invaluable input

 

WOW! Stunning.