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By Vabchbryan, 27 March, 2014

Description

I have a Matthew Boulton Chamberstick with hallmarks that indicate that it was made in 1807. It is in excellent condition and the hallmarks on the chamberstick and extinguisher match. It also has a royal crest on the base. I am curious of the value of this item, the retail value and the replacement/insurance value.

Re: Matthew Boulton Chamberstick 1807

A similar Boulton chamberstick was offered through auction January of 2013. It was estimated at $300-$400 and realized a high bid of $150.

Re: Matthew Boulton Chamberstick 1807

I am curious about the specific piece that you are mentioning. Was it sterling or siverplate? I ask this because base upon the current value of silver (19.84) and the item weight of 16 ounces, the scrap value alone would be over $300.

Re: Matthew Boulton Chamberstick 1807

Oops, you were correct- the one previously mentioned was silverplate. If this one is indeed sterling (10/11 examples I've found were silverplate), it's value is going to be more. The one sterling found I found sold for $500.

Re: Matthew Boulton Chamberstick 1807

It is definitely sterling and made by Matthew Boulton himself and not his son. I am curious if anyone has any info on this piece and its replacement value.

Re: Matthew Boulton Chamberstick 1807

There is not much if anything anyone can add. You know the maker/ age already and can research the history based upon that. It is a chamberstick as you already know. Replacement value is kind of a useless term for overvaluing stuff for insurance purposes or a term used by larger retailers to justify outrageous markup prices that are rarely fetched. 99.999% of the time it will in no way correspond to the actual market value (what someone will buy it for) of the piece. With that said, the "replacement" value on this would be closer to $1000. I would expect your piece to command $300-$500 through open auction.

Not bad for three bucks.

A much nicer example featuring a whale oil configuartion recently sold through ebay for $600, link attached.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/English-Sterling-Whale-Oil-Chamberstick-Matthew…

Re: Matthew Boulton Chamberstick 1807

The piece described in the link you attached was produced in 1826 or later and consequently after Matthew Boulton's death 1809. Consequently, the piece was made by his son and while beautiful, it stands to reason that it would be of lesser value at auction than the piece that I have. I appreciate your help on this.