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Antiques & Collectibles

Please help identify this unique copper antique chair

2 years ago

My husband wants to buy this for $100. I was unable to find anything like it in my searches to know if this would be a good deal. If anyone knows anything about it, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Featured Answer

Helen

2 years ago

last modified: 2 years ago

As @Jilly wrote the chair is worth $100 regardless of exact provenance. ETA - Of course it may not be "worth" $100 but since the cost is relatively small it doesn't really matter since an equivalent form of seating will cost about that amount or more - or maybe less if one stumbles upon a bigger bargain. At this price level for functional objects that you like and can use it really doesn't matter.

An equivalent new garden chair would be much more expensive and that is generally how I determined whether "used furniture" was worth a certain amount. If you like it and can use it then why not buy it

If at some point you want to sell it you can research to find out if it is a "rare" valuable item.

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Comments (8)

Jilly
2 years ago
Have you searched ’antique cast iron chair’ or ’vintage cast iron chair’? Lots of similar ones come up.

In my opinion, it’s well worth $100, but that’s subjective.
Tammy Peco
Original Author
2 years ago
oh, yes. you are right. similar. I'll ask him to do a magnet test...can't find it in copper
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BUT....it's also a chair..... And while it might not have the salability as an antique one may wish....it's still a usable piece of furniture. You could sell that chair for just what you paid....but then you will have to go buy something to take it's place. Antiques that serve a purpose are different to me than those things you buy and stick in a cupboard in hopes that they will appreciate in value....or worse yet....collecters items. I have a round oak table....bought a long long time ago, before the golden oak boom....so I got a huge bargain. They the bottom dropped out of the golden oak market, and not many years later that table is now worth about 10 times what I paid. If I had invested the money I paid some 45 years ago....likely I would have had more than I could sell that table for....BUT....all these years I have had a table for eating, for homework for projects.......and it's still worth about 10 times what I paid. Linda C
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Yes, it's a seller's label thus I am thinking the chairs are older. He dealt in antiques as well as new furniture. It doesn't say made by so I agree with Linda. I was only going by what the OP said about them being "made by" a person who was in business in the 20th century. A similar chair here sold for $50 and it took a year to do it for the original price was $300 and they kept going down! Unless you're in an area with a lot of Victorian houses that are being restored, the furniture is not selling for much. And even in those areas, the homeowners are fixing up their houses and wanting bargain furniture!
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I agree that the grain of the wood especially on the seat bottom is not oak but a much less grained wood. And when you look at the both rocker bottoms, it is evident that there are at least two different wood type sections, again with differing grains. Maple, birch and poplar are abundant in this area. Also looking at the middle and topmost slats on the back, I now understand what maifleur is talking about being too pristine. After really ginger inspection, I can bend back a little of what I took to be veneer to reveal lighter, faintly grained wood similar to the seat bottom. What I now believe has happened is that this truly is an older Canadiana rocker that had been well used. Before the last owner received it, someone has "restored' it, likely after 1910. I do live in Mennonite country after all :) That would explain some of the anomolies, like the stain, the veneer on those two slats, the odd Robertson screws (which are definitely vintage) and the fibreboard seat bottom. I also believe that there was no intent to deceive, just reusing what has served its function well. I like that...
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lindac92
2 years ago
For a hundred bucks, go for it!
Sigrid
2 years ago
For $100, the question is do you love it? Yes, researching is a good idea, because it's possible it's easily available for half the price, but once you've ruled that out, just assume it's worth no more than you are paying for it.
colleenoz
2 years ago
With all that verdigris it‘s more likely to be brass than iron.
Kevin Lehmann
2 years ago
It's scrap value if worth not much

Take risk. Wife got many items below Marke value
jemdandy
2 years ago
I do not think it is copper. It has the wrong color for pure copper, does not have copper based tarnish color, and pure copper is to soft, weak, and pliable for use as a chair. It is either brass, bronze, or brass/bronze covered iron casting. My best guess is bronze.

The figure on the chair back is holding a scythe, an agricultural tool for harvesting and cutting weeds. Scythes quickly went out of vogue with the invention of the mowing machine. However, scythes could be found on farms as late as 1940 for uses other than harvesting.

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