Karl Gates talks about the value of an antique painting.
NORTHBROOK — Scores of people came to the Northbrook Public Library with their old family treasures.
Some learned they had truly valuable antiques.
Others found out there was little monetary value to what they possessed.
Yet more discovered family stories handed down through several generations were not fact based.
All of this information came from Karl Gates, a licensed antique appraiser, who went from piece to piece out of the 60 there talking about each ones history and story as well as its pecuniary value October 18 at the library in Northbrook.
Chairs like these were very common in 19th Century America.
Before getting into details about the antiques before him, Gates debunked the idea that 100 years of age makes an item an antique. He said there is no hard and fast rule but he explained ways to authenticate the age of an item based on its time and place in history.
Gates raved about an ivory sculpture carved in Japan and an English traveling sewing box while explaining why other items were worth less than $100. He gave a proviso before he started offering his opinion.
“When I give you a price you should deduct 40 percent if you expect to sell it,” said Gates. “I’m giving you the price you should insure it for.”
The ivory piece is an example of something of great value that is hard to sell because it is illegal to do so unless the owner can prove it was acquired before 1954, according to Gates. Without a 62-year-old receipt it can be problematic.
“Twenty-five thousand elephants were killed last year for their ivory,” said Gates.
Gates raved about this ivory figurine.
Nevertheless, Gates was ecstatic over the piece, which he said was carved around 1860 and is worth $2,800.
“This is a wonderful demon,” said Gates of the piece. “See how his eyes are crossed. He’s a figurine from the Kabucki Theater.”
As Gates walked up and down a long series of tables and into the crowd of more than 150, he stopped to talk about a chair made of wood with a fabric seat and backing. He said it was built in the 1870s or 1880s.
“It’s worth $60,” said Gates. It sold for $6 then, a week’s salary.”
The most valuable thing Gates described was the finely crafted wood English sewing kit. He said it was built between 1820 and 1840. The kit was intact with needles, pins and other items necessary for sewing, many of which were added over the years. The contents were antiques of varying ages.
The most valuable antique was this traveling sewing box worth $3,000 with its contents.
“This 1920s needle case is worth $100 on its own,” said Gates. “This needs to be fixed but its sale price would be $3,000. The sun never set on the (British) empire and when people traveled they wanted all the comforts of home.”
When Gates said a ceramic piece was made between 1918 and 1924, the owner said ancestors brought it from Europe in the 1800s. Gates looked at the markings on the bottom and offered proof.
“It says it was made in Czecho-Slovakia,” said Gates referring to the name for Czechoslovakia from 1918 to 1924 before it changed its name then to Czechoslovakia. The country peacefully dissolved into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
One woman learned the value of a Hermes portable typewriter with Hebrew letters with a carriage moving from right to left. There was also an operating manual brought to the United States from Eastern Europe by her grandfather as well as a book her grandfather wrote on the typewriter.
This Hermes typewriter with Hebrew letters is worth $600.
“I would have to research the book but the typewriter is worth $600,” said Gates.
Gates also talked about items like a parlor chair he called classic Victorian. He said it is one of a variety of antiques that are worth less than they were a generation ago.
“It was worth $250 25 years ago and now it’s worth $80,” said Gates. “Can you imagine anyone under 30 wanting anything like this?”
Other items like antique China are also worth a tenth of the value they held a quarter century ago simply because they cannot be cleaned in a dishwasher, according to Gates.
This 140-year-old Asian bowl is worth $800.
Antique appraiser Karl Gates called this chair “classic Victorian.”