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GUEST: My father was a collector
of arms and armor here in the
Bay Area.

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He acquired the piece somewhere
in the mid-'90s from a
collection in the East

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Bay. All I know about it is that
it's a chanfron. I believe it
was European.

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APPRAISER: So what
is a chanfron?

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GUEST: My understanding is that
a chanfron is a horse's armor

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for its head. But I didn't know
if this would have been more of
a ceremonial or

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parade piece versus something
that it would have worn into
battle.

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APPRAISER: Well, it clearly
would have been something for
ceremonial purposes. And one of
the

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reasons we'd say that is because
of the etching. You have these
two panels of these winged
harpies,

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and you've got two naked
warriors at the base with their
spears and their shields,

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and you have these fluted panels
etched with these sort of bold
foliate scrolls.

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So you wouldn't have invested
money in your horse armor with
this type of decoration...

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GUEST: Sure.

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APPRAISER: ...to lead it into
battle. In many instances, a
knight, by his very definition,

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was a mounted soldier, and he
would go to parades and other
functions where he would

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embellish his armor to show his
status and his rank. This is a
Maximilian-style

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chanfron, uh, which would date
to the first quarter of the 16th
century.

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This would have been the style
that was popular in Germany at
the time.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: The trick with most
armor of this period is
determining whether or not it's
correct.

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GUEST: Sure.

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APPRAISER: And whether or not
it's a later reproduction.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: Many of the
reproductions are relatively
smaller, and this is obviously

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a very monumental piece, uh,
which would have been the proper
size. So the first clue to us is
that,

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yes, it's the large size of it
and the quality of the
decoration. There's even some
damage at

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the base that would indicate
age. But the real test in
determining the age of armor is
to turn

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it around and look at the
inside. This would have been
forged metal, and as such, it
would

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have been hammered on an anvil.
And the interior surface shows
no real evidence of
hand-forging.

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GUEST: Sure.

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APPRAISER: And in general, the
thickness of the metal is of

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a uniform. So I would say that
this is a late-19th-century
reproduction.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: But immensely
attractive. And have you given
much thought to value?

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GUEST: I know my father paid a
few thousand dollars, probably,

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for it. I, I don't have a clue
of what the market is like
currently on it. I mean,

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I could throw a number out there
and probably embarrass myself.
(chuckles) So I,

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I would say maybe $4,000?
Renaissance horse armor to begin
with is extraordinarily rare,

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and particularly decorated
examples, but oddly enough,
equally as scarce are
reproductions.

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APPRAISER: Okay. You certainly
see a number of them on the
market, but they don't come

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around every day. At auction, I
would estimate its value
probably around $5,000 to
$10,000.

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GUEST: Fantastic.

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APPRAISER: And I think it would
actually probably do much
better.

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GUEST: Sure.

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APPRAISER: 'Cause it's
really, it's a handsome piece.

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GUEST: Fantastic,
thank you so much.

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APPRAISER: If this were
not a reproduction,

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I would estimate its, uh,
auction value at around
somewhere between $200,000 to
$300,000.

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GUEST: Wow.

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APPRAISER: Better
luck next time.

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GUEST: (laughs)