Two Sisters Brought Their Late Mother’s Lamp To An Appraiser And Got The Surprise Of Their Lives

We hope you’ve got some tissues on standby, folks, because you’ll probably need them! This classic segment first aired in 1999, just two years into Antiques Roadshow’s epic run. In truth, few other appraisals on the show have managed to match the sheer surprise and emotion packed into those minutes.

So, let’s take a trip down memory lane and dive into the segment. It took place in Tampa, Florida, with Arlie Sulka running the rule over the vintage lamp. She’s a glass expert, which was perfect for this particular appraisal. Anyway, it was quickly established that the piece was a product of Tiffany Studios.

Now, if you’re big on jewelry, that name will no doubt be very familiar to you. Tiffany & Co. has been delighting customers since it first opened its doors in 1837. Charles Lewis Tiffany was the initial mastermind behind it. But Tiffany Studios cropped up thanks to his son’s fascination with art and glass.

Louis Comfort Tiffany was welcomed into the world in 1848 and spent a lot of time around artistic pieces when he was growing up. He fell in love with the whole creative process, which prompted him to pursue a life in design and art. Tiffany didn’t box himself in when it came to his interests, though.

You see, Tiffany wanted to work on a bit of everything, as the following quote from the My Modern Met website highlights. He explained, “I have always strived to fix beauty in wood, stone, glass or pottery, in oil or watercolor by using whatever seemed fittest for the expression of beauty. That has been my creed.”

As a young man, Tiffany tried his hand at painting to start with, before a visit to London, England, changed everything. He went to the city’s famous Victoria & Albert Museum, where he caught sight of a glass display from the Roman era. And to say that it made a huge impression would be underselling it.

Following that trip, Tiffany really zoned in on the art of glassmaking. He was absolutely fascinated by it. And the guy couldn’t keep his eyes off older pieces — there was just something about the unsophisticated manufacturing process that grabbed him. Not many of his fellow glass-lovers shared those feelings at the time, though.

So what was the draw, then? Why was Tiffany so enraptured by these older works? Simple: he believed the “rustic” approach was vital to producing the gorgeous shades in the glass. Tiffany provided some further insight on that front in an interview that was shared via My Modern Met.

“[The] rich tones are due in part to the use of pot metal full of impurities, and in part to the uneven thickness of the glass,” Tiffany said. “But [it’s] still more because the glass maker of that day abstained from the use of paint.” In the end, that approach motivated him to make a big decision.

Yep, just like his father did years before, Tiffany opened up a business in 1885. It was called the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company. You can probably guess what it specialized in! He aimed to mirror the “no paint” approach from Roman times to produce gorgeous works for a modern audience.

So, that brings us on to the Tiffany lamp — the piece that popped up in this classic Antiques Roadshow segment. These beautiful objects came about when Tiffany was looking at how stained-glass windows were assembled. According to My Modern Met, they were kept in place thanks to “thick lead rods soldered at their joints.”

It was undeniably effective, but Tiffany picked up on a significant issue. He realized that the process stopped artists from producing complex detail in the glass, meaning they had to turn to their paintbrushes. On that note, the business owner came up with an alternative to the lead rods.

My Modern Met noted that Tiffany produced a “thin, flexible foil” to stick to the glass joints. It did the same job as the lead rods without any of the hassle. And he went on to use that approach with the Tiffany lamp, while the glasswork itself was produced through “mixing different-colored glass together while hot.”

Anyway, those lamps became one of the company’s signature products in the following years. They were big art nouveau favorites thanks to the intricate designs on both the base and the glass tops. They’re absolute stunners! And the Chrysler Museum of Art made an interesting point about their appeal, too.

In a post on its website, the museum commented, “Whether with understated, minimal accents of color or showy, elaborate design statements, Tiffany lamps complemented just about every decorative scheme.” In other words, they never looked out of place. But guess what, folks? As time went on, the products’ popularity started to dwindle in a major way.

Yep, not long after the Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company rebranded itself as Tiffany Studios, the lamps were deemed a trend of the past. Such was the drop in interest that the manufacturing line was halted altogether in 1913. Wow! We didn’t see that coming. Mind you, something changed around four decades later.

Seemingly out of nowhere, Tiffany lamps enjoyed a surprising comeback during the 1950s. Just like that, they were popular again. Following this upturn, the older models became highly prized among antique fans, popping up in galleries and auctions. That’s quite the second wind, right? And a familiar face has taken a real interest in uncovering more of them.

Talking to the Collectors Weekly website in May 2010, Arlie Sulka said, “There are [Tiffany objects] that were documented that haven’t surfaced for a hundred years. I believe they will. We’re always on the hunt. In fact, I’m having a lot of fun right now because some great things are coming out of the woodwork.”

Speaking of Sulka, let’s switch our focus back to the classic Antiques Roadshow segment from 1999. As the cameras continue to roll in Tampa, the sisters explain how the light came into their late mother’s possession. Apparently, she enjoyed a real stroke of fortune in getting her hands on it.

“My mother found this in the late 1960s,” one of the women tells Sulka. “There was a little neighborhood newspaper flier, and she read that there was a glass lamp for sale. My mother saw it, [and] knew what it was [straight away]!” Then, her sibling jumps in to continue the story.

The sister says, “The woman also knew what [the lamp] was. It had belonged to her grandfather. She’d moved into a very small studio apartment, and it was just too large. [Then] my mother asked her, ‘Well, what would you like for it?’” We’re on tenterhooks here — was the seller looking for a high price?

As it turns out, that wasn’t the case. According to the siblings, the lady said their mom could have the lamp for just $125. She was absolutely stunned, rushing off to get the money as soon as they shook on it. So just like that, the piece was now hers. Why was the price so low, though?

Okay, the seller didn’t have the space for the lamp in her new home — but surely she could’ve asked for more? Well, an interesting detail was shared with Sulka later in the segment that might’ve had some bearing that. Apparently, the lady had tried to get the piece appraised before letting it go.

One of the sisters recalls, “The woman who was selling it, because she knew it was a Tiffany [lamp], she had taken it into two dealers in her area. One dealer looked at it and she said, ‘It’s not a Tiffany. It’s [got] the wrong finish on the base.’ So, she was turned around by two different dealers.”

You can hardly blame the woman for being a little tentative, then! Imagine asking for top dollar on a replica. Yet as we now know, that appraisal wasn’t accurate. Yes, this thing was indeed the real deal. So what did Sulka have to say about the Tiffany lamp after hearing its story?

Well, after confirming its authenticity, Sulka says, “This [lamp] probably dates from 1905. The shade is called the ‘rose helmet shade’ — the helmet, of course, refers to the shape looking like a helmet. It rests on this absolutely magnificent example of a Tiffany base. It has a wonderful art nouveau quality to it.”

Sulka then tells the sisters, “[The design] is called the ‘arc and leaf.’ If you look down closely to the base, you’ll see these wonderful stylized leaf forms that follow all around the edge. Then, [they] are repeated in a slightly different style leading up towards the top of the base.”

From here, Sulka makes a really intriguing point. She notes that in her experience quite a few Tiffany lamps had been split, with the glass shade eventually coming off the stand. In this case, though, the appraiser’s convinced that the piece has remained intact since 1905. Pretty cool, right?

But wait — there’s more! Sulka turns her attention back to the stand. “I have to say that the base is really unusual,” she continues. “I can count on one hand how many times I’ve seen this base. This is a situation where the base is almost as great as the shade.” Perhaps that explains why the dealer from earlier didn’t think it was a Tiffany?

Once Sulka concludes her analysis, she then touches upon the lamp’s probable price in the past. In her opinion, it was in the region of $200 — at the lowest. Now, assuming that was the figure in 1905, it’d be the equivalent of over $6,500 in today’s money. Holy smokes!

And now, the time has come. Sulka’s ready to tell the sisters just how much this Tiffany lamp will fetch after examining it. She doesn’t leave them, or the audience, in suspense for long. The appraiser values it at $80,000 to $125,000. Nope, that isn’t a typo! What a mind-blowing total.

The sisters immediately burst into tears of joy in front of the cameras, prompting Sulka to give them both a big hug. And that brings the memorable segment to a close. If you were wondering why this was considered classic Antiques Roadshow before, you know now! It was a great TV moment.

Just over 20 years later, Sulka revisited the clip for Antiques Roadshow in March 2020. The appraiser looked back on her own reaction after delivering the good news to the sisters. And she also offered some insight into what the valuation of the Tiffany lamp would be today, compared to 1999.

Touching on her memories of that day, Sulka says, “It was 2:45 p.m. in the afternoon, and I hadn’t eaten any lunch. I was feeling pretty laggy, and I actually looked down in my lap and then I looked up. On the table was the Tiffany Studios rose helmet lamp. I didn’t need to eat anything after I saw that!”

Talk about a boost. Anyway, Sulka reveals that her announcement to the siblings left her with a similar feeling, too. “I was living on adrenaline on this one,” she continues. “I was really excited, and doing somersaults and cartwheels inside. So I wasn’t too nervous about delivering the news, because it was good news.”

As for the Tiffany lamp’s valuation right now, Sulka says that the “retail” figure would be even higher. So we hope you’re sitting down, folks! Ready to hear it? Okay then. Apparently, the piece could now fetch around $250,000 to $350,000. That’s unbelievable, right? And to think that this beauty could’ve disappeared in the 1910s!

The Antiques Roadshow YouTube channel shared both of these clips, racking up plenty of views along the way. The response from online users was also positive, with many hailing the segment as heart-warming. And of all the comments to be posted, one in particular stood out.

A viewer wrote, “I can tell you as an antique dealer, having moments like this are so special. More often than not, you end up the crusher of dreams when people come to you with a family heirloom that turns out to be fake or not what [they] believed it to be. Personally, I find it so rewarding to be a part of a moment when someone does hit the antique jackpot.”

We get the feeling that Sulka would agree. Sticking with the appraiser, it seems only fitting that we leave her with the final word. She reflected on the aftermath of the classic segment, revealing, “I had to wait 20 years for my next big hit [after the Tiffany lamp]. I hope that won’t happen again, but I’m willing to wait if I have to.”