Samuel Prince Desk & Bookcase, ca. 1775
APPRAISER:
Leigh and I rarely appraise pieces together. You know, usually, we do it separately.
GUEST:
I'm honored. You were like my hound dog going hunting. Like, if all of a sudden, you...
(appraisers exclaiming)
GUEST:
Leapt on it.
APPRAISER:
We're not good poker players, I guess, then, right?
APPRAISER:
Can't help ourselves.
APPRAISER:
We need to stay more calm. Well, stay calm, Les, go ahead.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now, where did you find this desk and bookcase, please?
GUEST:
Came down through the family line, my mother's side of the family. They lived in Hartford, Connecticut. Her grandfather probably was the man that had these. Very important guy in Connecticut history, governor of the state. His name was Richard D. Hubbard.
APPRAISER:
Was there a New York connection, I wonder?
GUEST:
I imagine there had to be.
APPRAISER:
At that time, a lot of very famous and wealthy people were buying their furniture, in fact, in New York City, right in the island of Manhattan. And this desk and bookcase you brought in is a classic example of New York 18th-century design and cabinet making. These are squared claw-and-ball feet, classic New York, like a signature. They have a square format to them. Look at this inverted little cutout here, the gadrooned edge.
APPRAISER:
Typical New York.
APPRAISER:
Very typical. And then these drawers, which beautifully graduate up towards the top, with the original pine tree brasses. And then, if we open up the lid... Would you mind pulling up that loper? Thank you.
APPRAISER:
I love this interior, Les.
APPRAISER:
This is the writing desk. This is where all the paperwork was done. You could picture the feather quill here, with the ink.
APPRAISER:
This is a classic New York interior, because it has a simple interior with these little curved valances.
APPRAISER:
We see that beautiful prospect door carries up across the lid.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And then you've got the same book matched panels on these two beautiful doors. And it gives it verticality. It looks like, it's like a flame of a fire. If you look at that finial, it's just a tour de force of carving. It's a basket filled with flowers and nuts. But I'll tell you something that almost never turns up, and that's in here. This wonderful label. How rare is it, Leslie, that we see a labeled piece of 18th-century furniture?
APPRAISER:
Hardly ever.
APPRAISER:
This says, "Samuel Prince, Joyner, "At the Chest of Drawers "In Cart and Horse Street, New York, "Makes and Sells All Sorts of Joyners' Work on the Lowest Terms." With this wonderful little inscription here, uh, and an illustration of a chest on chest and a Chinese Chippendale chair. So to have that label, to know who made it... Now, Samuel Prince worked in New York from the early 1770s. He started advertising in 1772, and he died in 1778. (bell rings in distance) So basically you know, we know that this...
APPRAISER:
That's right.
APPRAISER:
Wasn't made later than 1778, right, Les?
APPRAISER:
It's an incredible document.
APPRAISER:
A lot of times, we see high, high chests, secretaries that are married. Because they start out as a desk, somebody makes a top section. Now, we do not think that it's a marriage.
APPRAISER:
You have these two panels, crotch-figured panels, which are basically from the same chunk of wood as the lid. It's like a fingerprint.
APPRAISER:
The inside, that's a poplar backboard right there. And we saw poplar on those little drawers down on the bottom-- a typical New York wood. If this were a marriage, this is, on a really good day, even with this fabulous label, this is worth, as a marriage, $20,000, okay?
APPRAISER:
Probably at best, right.
APPRAISER:
On a good day, okay? Now...
APPRAISER:
But we think, because it has the original brasses, the condition's great, the cartouche, the proportions...
APPRAISER:
Great finish.
APPRAISER:
That the estimate on this piece would be $150,000 to $200,000.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and I'd like to say also, in retail, for instance, in New York, it could easily put $250,000 on this piece, okay? And I... now...
GUEST:
Well, thank you very much, that's good.
APPRAISER; Well, you're welcome.
APPRAISER:
Thanks for sharing your Sunday with us.
GUEST:
Okay, thank you. We finished, I guess?
APPRAISER:
(laughing)
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