[NOTE - This post is part 3 of a series chronicling a trip to the ARS.]
ITEM No. 3: The Danish Rocking Chair
The whole reason they wanted to attend Antiques Roadshow in the first place. This rocking chair is absolutely splendid. Purchased when first pregnant with Wee Zoe, the idea was that anyone with a baby needs a good rocking chair. Cara and Tommy are picky about their furniture, and very specific about what they like. Particle board is right out, and those momma gliders are hella comfortable, but have no place in their house. So to craigslist it was, with both searching high and low for months in the hopes of finding the perfect rocker.
Cara won. After lusting after several expensive chairs on eBay, and with a due date rapidly approaching, she found precisely what they had been looking for. The ad was simple: "Wood Rocking Chair, one piece broken, $100." There was a blurry cell phone picture, but the lines looked great. And it was located way out in the middle of nowhere. A long dark drive into farm country, a u-turn, two lovable dogs, and an interesting storie of church-sale flipping later, Cara and Tommy were headed home with a great new rocker.
Tommy knew, without a doubt that it was danish. The lines, the craftsmanship, and the wood made that absolutely certain. Cara knew that she loved the chair and that it had a great rock. One splat on the back was broken clean off, and another had heinously been repaired with Gorilla Glue. Other than that, it was in fine shape. Due to the damage, the chair went into the basement, until Tommy could come up with a fix.
Well over a year later, and fueled by the freedom that occasional neighborly daycare provided him, Tommy took the chair out of the basement. He put it on his head and walked it around the corner to a small chop called Chair Restorations by Aleph. He knew that he didn't have the know-how to repair the broken splat properly, and it seemed like a chair that deserved a proper fix. Immediately as Tommy walked in the door of the tiny shop, Aleph put his tools down, and said: "Let me see it." He pulled and twisted and so thoroughly inspected the chair that Tommy feared it might fall apart. And then, the verdict:
"This is a very special chair." said Aleph. "I know - we really like it." Tommy replied. "No." responded Aleph "I don't think you understand - this is a really special chair." And so the conversation went. Aleph didn't know anything about the chair, but after doing nothing but repairing chairs for the past 30 years, he knew that this one was special. He agreed that it was Danish, and said he'd be honored to fix it. Two weeks later, Tommy gave the fixed chair to Cara as a Mother's Day present.
It is striking, it is beautiful, and it rests perfectly when unladen. When you sit in it the splats conform to your back and the chair balances just right, and the rock is entirely effortless and even. And it's well made. There is no metal in the chair - every joint is pegged. So Cara and Tommy and Zoe and all of their house guests have been using it, and it owns a prominent corner of their home. And then came Antiques Roadshow tickets...
There's no doubt that the chair is well made, but by whom? There is a round void on the bottom where there was, presumably, once a maker's mark. Somehow it's gone, and has been since the purchase. Tommy has literally gone through hundreds of google image searches, and never seen anything even remotely like it. It's too perfect to be a one-off, so what's the story? There were even debated about the wood - is it a seasoned walnut or a light teak? Antiques Roadshow couldn't come soon enough!
What they don't tell you, is that for each item you bring, you'll wait in line for about an hour. So Cara and Tommy hauled this chair from line to line, all afternoon. And boy did it attract attention. Every volunteer and dozens of Roadshow-ers were lured by the lines and asked what the story was... And here's how it all went down:
The furniture line was quite short, so the wait was only minutes. XXX XXXXXX met us straighyaway and had only one question: "Is this a Maloof?" "No idea." Replied Tommy, and XXX motioned to a staffer "I think we're going to need Peter. Get me Peter." To put things into perspective, Sam Maloof was to the rocking chair world what Enzo Ferrari was to sports cars. Maloof marks the pinnacle of artisan rocking chairs, and some of his chairs are worth more than Cara and Tommy's house. That said, Tommy knew of Maloof, and this chair didn't look like a Maloof to him... Let's get Peter indeed.
Peter Loughrey is the founder and director of Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA) a high end modern furniture auction house in LA for the past 20 years. He's also a respected authority on American Modern art and furniture, and -- lucky for us - he moonlights as a featured Antiques Roadshow appraiser. In short, there are likely few people in the world who know more about modern furniture than he does, so it was a treat that he was summoned for the humble rocker. He came running over and...
The Appraisal - Act III
PETER LOUGHREY: Wow - what can you tell me about this?
TOMMY: Well, we bought it when Cara got pregnant since everyone said we'd need a rocker, but we know very little about it.
PL: Have you ever heard of Sam Maloof?
T: Yes
PL: Well, I don' think it's a Sam Maloof. [goes on to explain in detail why with specific aspects of the rocker, it probably wasn't made by Maloof.]
PL: Have you heard of Vladimir Kagan?
T: I think so. Yes.
PL: Well, I don' think it's him either. [explains how the joints would be slightly different] But it's clearly an artist who is familiar with both of them, yet is very much its own style. [long discussion of the specifics of the chair, the craftsmanship, and it's presence.] It's definitely American black walnut, and I'd say it was certainly made on the west coast in the late 1960s. [...] The maker's seal on the bottom might have fallen off, or a previous owner might've removed it, if the name wasn't recognizable.
T: Really - and all along I'd thought it was Danish?
PL: Definitely not. It's too well made. At that time the Danes were masters of high-design that could be broken down and packed. This chair is entirely pegged and solid, and it's made of American walnut - it would have had to be shipped in a massive crate, which just isn't what the danish were doing. [...] The maker's seal on the bottom might have fallen off, or a previous owner might've removed it, if the name wasn't recognizable.
T: I've been trying to research it, but have come up dry. I've looked through hundreds - probably thousands - of pictures online over the past years, but have never seen anything that even comes close.
PL: This is what I do - I've dealt in thousands of modern rocking chairs through my auction house, and I've never seen a similar one. It's remarkable.
T: You know - in my research, I've read a lot about people talking about how a rocking chair is to be judged by it's "rock" but I never really bought it. Until this chair. We've had a few rocking chairs over the years, but honestly, the way this one rocks is really beyond comparison.
PL: You mind if I try it out?
T: Of course not - that's why we're here!
PL (after sitting and rocking for a time) Wow - you're right. You know - that was the hallmark of Maloof chairs. Most of them were bespoke for their owners - he'd take measurements and craft the perfect chair, and for rocking chairs, that's really difficult. [goes on to detail the specific of how a rocker must sit right with and without a person, and how the rock works, etc. - all while rocking.] You know, you're right. This is a fantastic rocker - all those things are right. It works. It's a shame the mark isn't on the bottom - we'll likely never know who made it.
[They all chatted a while longer and then parted ways. The staff noted that it must've been special because the appraisal took so long. Tommy and Cara carried their chair back out to get in line for the next thing. It wasn't filmed, and you won't see it on the tv.]
THE VERDICT: It was a fantastic, legit, Antiques Roadshow experience. Peter went into great detail about the chair, and Cara and Tommy learned a whole lot. There's a lot that's still unknown - and will likely always be - but it was put into perspective in a healthy and honest way. As for value, Peter said the current market is very depressed for such goods, and at auction it might fetch a couple grand. A few years ago? An easy 5-6 grand. And if it were a Maloof (which it definitely isn't) it would have a value like a small house in a nice neighborhood.
Perhaps somewhere, someday, someone will see the chair and know who made it. Because at the end of the day, this chair didn't fall from a factory line. A hugely skilled artist crafted it, and for some reason, that artist never made a name for him or her self. But here in Pittsburgh, a couple of asses are appreciating this chair day in and day out. And it would be thrilling to know what other furniture this person made...
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