Rare Rattan Chair Sold For Only $35 At Auction

Rare finds go unnoticed everyday at Estate Sales, Flea Markets, Consignment and Thrift Shops…and even at our very own auction house! The chair you see below sold here at Pot Of Gold Auctions back on December 14, 2013 for a bargain price of $35. We were recently contacted via email from a seemingly knowledgeable person that this may have been an important piece of Victorian Reed Furniture, that while originally priced at $3.00, would in today’s market be a museum-worthy piece. Read on…

Rare Find At Pot of Gold Estate Auction

We have all heard amazing stories of people finding a rare item at a garage sale or a thrift store. They pay a minimal price and the item turns out to be very rare. A rattan rocking chair which was offered in our Dec 14, 2013 auction turns out to be one of those rare items. Click on this link to view the auction listing of the chair:

Rattan Rocking Chair

We were notified by an email from Tasmania, Australia that the chair is extremely rare, possibly the only surviving example of a superior manufactured product made in 1888 – by a company that was one of the members of the Central Rattan Company, a trade monopoly established by Cyrus Wakefield.

While we endeavor to not only fully describe every item, but also add any important provenance that we can discover, some items will slip past our in-house team of “detectives” and, that is part of the thrill of buying at auction!  The chair that we sold had no manufacturer markings, and the consignor was unaware of any special significance of the piece, so despite the research conducted when the listing was placed into our auction catalog it was not identified as a rare item.

The moral of the story…there are hidden treasures sold every single day.  Spend the time to view every item in every auction catalog so you can be one of the lucky ones who grabs up a sleeper like this!

~Marilyn L. (Antiques & Collectibles Research and Evaluation Specialist, Pot Of Gold Auctions)