Carla Hall: Wooden Convertible High Chair & Table, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
This table was in my grandmother's house for as long as we can remember. And I just remember this table having little trinkets and a nightlight. And then when she passed away, my sister got it.
APPRAISER:
What about the highchair?
GUEST:
The highchair usually sat in the den.
APPRAISER:
When was your mama born?
GUEST:
1908.
APPRAISER:
1908, okay.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
You think that might have been her chair?
GUEST:
That's a possibility.
APPRAISER:
Yeah? What you've got is two examples of late 19th-early 20th century manufactured furniture. They both date from the similar time period, from the 1880s...
GUEST:
1880s...
APPRAISER:
...up until about the 1920s.
GUEST:
Oh, my.
APPRAISER:
Each of them is about that, could fall into that category.
GUEST:
What?!
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
There's a label inside the table drawer. It says "Wolverine Manufacturing Company, Detroit, Michigan."
GUEST:
Look at us!
APPRAISER:
Look at you!
GUEST:
My!
APPRAISER:
And, your table has a leg on it, which we call the barley twist leg. There was a type of candy...
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
...in the 19th century called barley sugar. This twisted piece of candy resembles the leg, and so that's where the "barley twist" name comes from.
GUEST:
Okay.
GUEST:
Look at that! (laughs) Oh, my-- that's exactly why we kept this table.
APPRAISER:
Because it's food-related.
GUEST:
Because it's food-related.
APPRAISER:
Your chair has a pressed back.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And by a pressed back, you might look at that and think that that's all hand-carved, but it's not.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
It's actually, a template is made on a roller die, which is, with great pressure, rolled onto the piece of wood to impress it with that decoration to make it look like it's carved by hand, but it's actually not.
GUEST:
Right!
APPRAISER:
Looking at it, it looks like yours is a convertible highchair. Have you ever tried to play around with it to see if it does anything else?
GUEST:
No! Uh-uh!
APPRAISER:
If you were to see either one of these come up for auction, I think you could see either piece bring perhaps as little as $100, but they could bring upwards of $300, maybe even $400 apiece.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Depending on who is, the makeup in the audience that day.
GUEST:
Yeah, mm-hmm. I can't wait to see what this does. I think that's the...
GUEST:
Oh, yeah.
GUEST:
That's the biggest question mark.
GUEST:
Right!
GUEST:
Like, how many things... This is like a Transformer. What does it transform into?
APPRAISER:
Like a Transformer, yeah.
GUEST:
It has wheels on it, so it must do something.
GUEST:
(cries out)
APPRAISER:
(laughing)
GUEST:
(shrieks) (GUEST shrieking, APPRAISER laughing) Oh, my gosh!
GUEST:
I see!
APPRAISER:
I can't believe y'all didn't know that. I taught you something today.
GUEST:
Oh, you taught...
GUEST:
Yeah!
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh!
GUEST:
Well, that, you know, that makes sense.
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