Identification of Chair and Lamp

I picked these up several years ago and have never seen anything like them since. I bought them from my friends mom, who evidently bought them in Florida in the 70's. Any body have any information? The lamp does have a woven reed shade in great condition still.

Thanks everyone

[ Edited by: slimman 2010-10-16 14:50 ]

There are a lot of pics of this type of furniture all over this site.

Since you are new...spend some time looking in the Collecting Tiki threads and you can discover your answer.

Also..there is a "New Member/Introductions post here" thread as well. Maybe you should introduce yourself as well.

:)

[ Edited by: leleliz 2010-10-16 14:59 ]

Aloha, slimman --

You are a lucky duck! The chair and lamp are both Witco furniture, which is pretty heavily collected and treasured. William Westenhaver, the man behind Witco, spent time in Florida (especially Daytona Beach) in the late '60s. He did some carving for a number of hotels during that period, and the sister to this chair can be seen at the Hawaiian Inn in Daytona Beach.

Thanks for the info. I have spent a bit of time looking around the forum and am very thrilled to learn so much. However, do ya all have any idea what these are worth? I paid $75 bucks for them about 7 years ago.

I'll give you a $100 for the pair :)

On 2010-10-16 21:11, slimman wrote:
Thanks for the info. I have spent a bit of time looking around the forum and am very thrilled to learn so much. However, do ya all have any idea what these are worth? I paid $75 bucks for them about 7 years ago.

So you came here (to TC) not celebrate your find , but to profit from it?

No congrats for you!

On 2010-10-17 00:23, Unga Bunga wrote:

On 2010-10-16 21:11, slimman wrote:
Thanks for the info. I have spent a bit of time looking around the forum and am very thrilled to learn so much. However, do ya all have any idea what these are worth? I paid $75 bucks for them about 7 years ago.

So you came here (to TC) not celebrate your find , but to profit from it?

No congrats for you!

Unga you could of seen the signs..as I did..brand new member..posting pics asking "whatver could this be..can anyone here help me out" blah,blah,blah...

Of COURSE they want to know the value so they can see if they "got a good deal"

Y-A-W-N

So over these type of posts I could beg for yet another Bilge post by Woofmutt

Slimman, if your welcome to TikiCentral seems less than warm, please don't take it personally. You have fallen into the classic newbie trap by asking the next logical question; "Wow, if this chair/mug/tiki item I have is so rare, what is it worth?"

Please understand that people often show up to ask these questions of the resident experts then run off to sell their collectibles at a premium price, never to be seen again. Mocking these people is a popular form of entertainment here. If, after owning these chairs for seven years, your intent is to suddenly cash in on them, then I guess you have earned your share of disdain. However, if your are interested in learning more about Witco and Tiki in general, you will find a wealth of information and plenty of warm, friendly people here.

And the answer to your question is that it is only worth what you can get someone to pay for it :) There are Witco pieces on eBay right now ranging from $10 to $4,000. The only way to find the true value of anything is to auction it.

Yep, yep, yep... and there's a place around here on TikiCentral to sell stuff and a place to swap stuff...

MikenRich?????

I have no intentions of selling these whatsoever. If I wanted to hawk them I would not have kept them this long. It is a question of pure curiosity. As for the members who are less than helpful because I am just a newb trying to make a quick buck, I think you ought to gather more information about a person and inquiry posted before you are so quick to judge. I came her to learn as much as I can about them in general. As for every interesting item I own, I type out a description of the item with as much info I can gather. I also include when I got it, where I got it, and how much I paid for it and what the current value may be. I do this because, god forbid something happens to me one day, someone doesn't just junk any hard to come by items thinking their are just odd crap I kept. So if anyone would like to steer me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it.

slimman,

Welcome to Tiki Central and the trepidations and cautionary warnings that most newbies are greeted with during their first few posts...at times they are warranted to steer new members in the right direction.

You indeed have two nice Witco pieces. Humu was correct, there is a companion chair that completes this set and can be seen in several threads found on Tiki Central. Here is one I started when I began to restore the pair I purchased (with the help of leleliz) last year:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=36201&forum=18&26

But there are several others Witco threads residing on this website. Use the search button and hundreds of Witco posts can be found here.

As for the value? Not many here are willing to provide an exact value on Witco as it varies from state to state and the tiki collectible market is down price-wise right now, but I would stick my neck out and guess the chair in the condition you have it in is probably worth between $200-$300 and the lamp is probably in the $150-$250 range (higher if you have an original lampshade). This is based on what I have seen them go for on eBay and other threads selling like Witco items.

But, like all things bought and sold, the only real value is what someone is willing to pay, so keep that in mind if you decide to sell them.

Hope that helps you...

PTD

Welcome to the TC family, which is a small protective family.

I've been here for a little more thna a year and have seen quite a few of the "what's this worth" threads.

It seems some of the oldtime westcoasters tend to think the worst but I now understand why... once you get to know them they are not to bad of folks, even when you meet them in person, like Bong!!!!

Nice Witco you got there and I really dig that stereo console in the background.