GUEST: I ended up finding it in my father's garage. He had an office out there. And it was in a storage room after he passed away and I was going through things.
APPRAISER: And how long ago was that, would you say?
GUEST: I found it around 1985.
APPRAISER: Well, it is signed by Tiffany Studios. The man who owned Tiffany Studios was the son of the man who owned Tiffany & Co., and they were separate operations. Tiffany Studios made these lamps, not Tiffany & Co.
GUEST: And where was that located?
APPRAISER: It was located in Corona, Queens, and they closed in 1933. Now, just because it's signed doesn't always mean it's right. However, this is real. It wasn't the signature that I was paying attention to. What I was looking at was the glass that was used, the way it was constructed, the pattern, the finish-- and that's on top of the leading. The other thing that I did is I was lightly tapping it. What I want to hear is like a very slight rattle. The bond between the copper foiling underneath the leading starts to loosen up, because that was held onto the glass with beeswax, and the beeswax dries out and then the bond gets a little loose, so the shade will rattle. I could hear a very faint rattle, and so that made me feel even better about it, even though I was fairly convinced that this was real. This probably at one point rested on a base that had arms, because it probably was made for a fuel lamp.
GUEST: No kidding. And what was the date?
APPRAISER: I would say before 1906. As a shade by itself, in a retail venue, this could sell for between $25,000 and $30,000.
GUEST: You're kidding.
APPRAISER: Not at all, I'm not kidding.
GUEST: Oh, my God.
APPRAISER: Now, if you spent between $5,000 and $10,000 on the base, as a whole lamp, it could be worth between $50,000 and $75,000.
GUEST: Oh, my God! (laughing) That's just amazing, I can't believe it. That's a much bigger surprise than I ever expected.
