Attribution and Value

Hey all!!

My wife and I have purchased a Renaissance Revival coat tree ca. 1875 in virtually perfect condition (1 burl panel is missing).

I recently bought Brian Witherell's enjoyable 'Late 19th Century Furniture by Berkey & Gay,' and was thrilled to find out that our coat tree was, in fact, made by Berkey & Gay; it appears in the lower left corner of page 13 ("#11").

The shop that sold us the coat tree did not know of the piece's provenance. My question is: What does a 100% positive attribution (sans tag or stamp...) do for the value of the piece? Is there a formula of some sort?  I'm sure if I found out that it was made by Belter or Meeks that it's value would increase quite a bit. How about Berkey & Gay?

I'm not a dealer, just curious for the fun of it......and for insured replacement value....:)

The aforementioned Berkey and Gay C. 1880 reprint by Brian Witherell does have suggested values for the various B & G pieces. I have to assume the values are based on a positive determination of Berkey and Gay provenance. (not merely similar-to pieces) Given that prices for famous maker antiques appreciate from year to year, I would think you could add a percentage to the suggested values but antiques sell for less in some areas of the country and more in others, so a local appraisal by an objective and knowledgable third party would be the most accurate.

Brian actually signed my copy with a "happy antique hunting" notation. My spouse and I also had the good fortune to meet Brian personally in April when we bought a Victorian bookcase (not a B & G) offered at auction by his firm. We traveled all the way from Texas to Witherell's in Sacramento, CA to pick up the piece as part of our vacation itinerary. Brian's a super-nice guy in person and really knows his antiques; we also met two other members of his family during our short visit and they were equally nice as well. Congratulations on your Berkey and Gay find.
John S.

John, thanks for your well-reasoned reply. I think the values in the book are about 12 years out of date, at least I hope so! I have the feeling that we probably paid about what B & G hall trees are worth these days, which is quite a bit more than the book value. However, it seems that the bedroom suites illustrated in the catalog have prices from the late 90s that are probably still spot on, or even more than today's values!  Odd how things appreciate and depreciate.

Great that you got to meet the author! Your trip sounds like fun, and that bookcase must be a beauty for such a long trip. Please post a picture if you are so inclined.