A participant of the “Antiques Roadshow” burst into tears upon learning the immense value of an ‘ugly’ lamp she found on the street.
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A guest of the “Antiques Roadshow” couldn’t hold back tears upon discovering the value of a lamp she found on the street during a walk in her neighborhood. The participant of the American version of the BBC program brought the piece to be evaluated by Arlie Sulka, an antique expert on the PBS television network.
The woman recounted that when she found the object, she wasn’t sure if she would take it home: “I was taking a walk in the morning, and about four houses away from where I live, there was a sign that said ‘Free.’ I passed by it the first day, and then, the second day, I thought about it again: ‘Well, I’ll take it.’ And it’s quite ugly, but I can give it to someone else, but it’s a lamp, so I’ll take it.”
“So when I brought it home, I ran to my neighbor and asked if he could cut the wire and fix it,” she continued. According to the woman, her neighbor then told her to first find out more about the lamp before touching its parts.
Upon seeing the item brought by the participant, the expert began to explain what was there: “You have a golden bronze base with an enamel design around the foot and then, what we call ‘fumed glass,’ with wonderful iridescence on the outside.” She also told that these lamps came in different colors, and each color had a value.
To the woman’s surprise, the expert explained that precisely that color was one of the most sought after and that the piece was valuable: “because it’s intact and the tone is one of the best colors.” Sulka revealed to the guest of the show that what she had was a lamp by Louis Comfort Tiffany made by Louis C. Tiffany Furnaces Inc., a piece valued between $10,000 and $15,000.
In shock, upon discovering the value of the lamp she found on the street, and which she thought was ugly, the participant began to cry: “Oh my God,” she said.
The program’s expert advised the woman to reconnect the lamp to maintain the value of the piece and never to transport it assembled: “please, never transport it with the dome, as you did, because most of the value is precisely in it. And if you break the dome, you only have the base, which is worth about $500 to $1,000. So the dome is very important.
