27 February 2024 , 13:05
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An Antiques Roadshow guest was left emotional over the whopping value of her "ugly" lamp.
Expert Arlie Sulka was tasked with evaluating the unusual item when the show visited Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona on the PBS daytime series. The owner of the lamp revealed she came across the item while on a walk.
On the American version of the BBC stalwart, the guest explained: "I was taking a walk in the morning and I got about four houses down from where I live and there was a sign that said ‘Free’. And so I walked by it the first day, and then the second day I thought about it again, and I thought ‘Well I’ll take this. And it’s pretty ugly but I can give it to somebody, but it’s a lamp, so I’ll just take it.'
"So when I brought it home, I ran over to my neighbour and asked him if he could cut the cord off and fix it. He said the plug alone is really old and that I should wait and find out about the lamp before I cut it off.”
The guest found the lamp on the street (PBS)The Antiques Roadshow expert revealed it was a Louis Comfort Tiffany lamp made by Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces Inc. She said: "You have a gilded bronze base with the enamel design around the foot and then what we call a damascene blown-glass shade with wonderful iridescence on the outside."
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Arlie explained the lamp came in several different colours with each colour differing in value. The expert noted that the caramel colour – which the guest owned – was "very desirable", adding: "because it’s intact and the shade is one of the better colours."
The expert pointed to a marking on the inside of the light fixture, which read: "LCT Favrile". This mark proved the item was "homemade". Exposing the true value of the piece, Arlie said: "In a retail venue, something like this could sell for between $10,000 and $15,000.”
The guest broke down in tears over the valuation as she exclaimed: "Oh my god." Arlie went on to warn the owner that she should seek to rewire the lamp if she hoped to maintain the item's value.
“And please don’t ever transport it in one piece with the shade on like you did, because the bulk of the value is in this shade. And if you broke the shade, the base would be worth about $500 to $1,000. So the shade is very important.”
Antiques Roadshow US is available to watch on PBS.