GUEST: My husband, about 30 years ago, was working for Wendell Castle in his woodworking studio. And then my husband and his cousin broke off and started their own company.
APPRAISER: Yes.
GUEST: And it was called Fibertech. And what they did is fiberglass work. And then Wendell approached him to make the chairs for him. So he did all the manufacturing of Wendell's chairs.
APPRAISER: Terrific. We don't see that much modern furniture at the ROADSHOW. They're certainly wonderful examples of 20th-century design, and very interesting in Wendell Castle's work. As you know, Wendell Castle is one of the pre-eminent American wood furniture craftsmen. But we might say that that doesn't quite do him justice, in that he's really taken it to a new level of artistry. And as you mentioned, he's, he's best known for his wood furniture. These were something made for a very short period of time, isn't that correct?
GUEST: Yes, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: When was your husband and Wendell working together?
GUEST: About 1969, 1970.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm. Considering that they are a factory-produced item, I don't think a huge amount were made. So there is, uh... a pretty good market for these today. And there is increased interest in postwar design in the marketplace. I'm particularly fond of this chair. This chair is called the Molar chair. It's got this wonderful molar-like shape, and then this yellow example is called the Castle. And I think it would be interesting to point out this rubber gasket along the bottom, which is an original detail. There were some knockoffs made in the '80s, and there may even be some illegally made now.
GUEST: Oh, really.
APPRAISER: But since you acquired these directly from the maker, we know that these are original. I would say colorful examples are probably about $1,200 to $1,800. The black one, maybe a little bit less.
GUEST: Wow.
