EVALUATION CHALLENGE: Age, Style, Value of this item?

I just emailed the seller. Hopefully we'll see what he replies.

 

May I respectfully suggest that in the future,research large expenditures BEFORE you plunk down hard earned cash ? Even people whove been at it for decades can be fooled. The seller may not be trying to fool you,he may genuinely believe what he said. The real trick here will be to see if he actually takes them back.

 

Komokwa: Brad may occasionally wax enthusiastic, but he has never been known to "gush!"

LOL!

 

Well , I don't know him ' that ' well.....so maybe gush was a little over the top .

Sorry Brad !

Still....if these puppies were any good .....I'd expect to hear it from him.....
in no uncertain terms....!!

Am I wrong to think that Silver ?

 

The thought is correct. And I'm sure that Brad will forgive the verbiage.

LOL!

 

The seller responded (translated to english)

"We had these appraised and as a part of an auction at Bukowski's (a famous Swedish higher-end auction house), where our reserve price was not met. The appraiser evaluated them to be from the mid 1800's and possibly made in Helsinki. Our reserve price was 700€!!
Bukowski's auction house doesn't take anything in before evaluating the items with their appraiser who is specialized in different eras.
It's easy to pretend to be a specialist on a foreign forum, acting as if you know something about nordic antiques."

_____________________________________

Anyone have anything to say about those numerous '1950's or newer' guesses people threw around?

 

HA !!

I found the past auction that he mentioned:

https://www.bukowskis.com/sv/lots/6...empirestil-omkring-1850-sannolikt-helsingfors

 

Must say that they look better in the auction photos than those posted here. I still do not like the finish on these, nor the arms and candle cups, and that is probably why they did not meet reserve at auction. Most of the signs of age have been obliterated by overzealous restoration. As I said above, the writing on the back seems to be the primary sign of age.

There is no substitute for a hands-on evaluation. We are limited here by what we can see in the photos presented and the information provided. Your seller is probably correct in saying that there are not experts in Nordic antiques on this forum. There are some people that are pretty good at getting to the bottom of things if presented with enough information.

 

So someone who's been doing this for 20 years cant be mistaken ? First rule of antiques...research,research,research. Second rule... take what sellers say with a grain of salt. In my humble opinion these are a mess,and that wood just doesn't look "aged" to me. Its probably a good thing Im not identifying myself as an " expert " !

 

And / or because no one buys candle sconces in July (when the auction was held).

End of the story.

 

I don't know the age. The auction photos look better than yours though. I don't like the how the cut in center looks from the back. The cut-out looks like it was machine cut not hand tooled. However, hard to tell from a photo.

 

From the back, IMHO, I don't think the wood looks "old", and the front has WAY too much gold paint or whatever it is, on it. I personally would have been afraid to have touched them with a ten foot pole. But again, that's just MY opinion! FWIW! They just look poorly made....to me....from the photos...
Edit: The photos from the past auction that bluemoon found almost don't look like the same item!

 

Not sure if this helps any.....

 

Pictures of the "final" sconces, after the restorations are now 100% finished.

I also learned that the decoration at the very top is called a heraldic lily.

 

they say......Empir mirror/sconce Swedish 1840......

so.....maybe call.... Annika ChristensenInterior Designer
Midnight Sun, Ltd.
847.791.2295

in Illinois.......and see what they think of your purchase.....

They specialize in Swedish Antiques.....

I'd like to see the reverse of this photo.....just to see the wood .


and....



Swedish Empire Giltwood Mirror, Gothenburg circa 1820 Lundgrens Antikhandel

 

These are a similar style. The leaf details especially.





At Bukowskis, estimate 3700 - 4200€

 

I admit I know nothing about Nordic antiques; but many who deal with antiques, or older wood items of any sort, become quite familiar with how various types of wood look, how they age; how they differ in appearance when 20 years old vs 100 years old.
On the ones Bluemoon just posted, I note the nice aged patina, and the fine quality of the carving and detailing.
To me, the wood in the first post does not look nearly as old.

If I saw a totem pole with wood like in the recent post, I'd be thinking circa 1900; wood like in the original post, I'd be thinking 1950-1980.
But I admit this is not my specific area.

 

Not mine either, but like you say ...the carving & the wood on the back of the two mirrors ......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

nothin special. I'd say $50-75 would be my estimate. Even the old and wonderful examples are kind of hard to sell and out of fashion.

 

In the auction photographs, you can see the gilder's rouge showing through where the gold has worn off. Most likely these were oil gilded and not water gilded because of the details in the carvings. Water gilding can't be done on that type of detail. The way the gilding has worn does shows some age. I am not an expert on the wood so I can't give an opinion on that. I do think these are older than mid 20th century.