Soledad OBrien: Early 20th C. Lithographer Table
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GUEST:
We have a lithographer's table is what I was told it was. It's just this massive table. So I'm interested to find out, is it a lithographer's table? How is it used? And how old is it?
APPRAISER:
Tell me where you acquired the table.
GUEST:
The table I bought at a store in New York City. I was living in a loft and I needed a piece that was just bigger. Every little table I had just wasn't going to work in a big loft.
APPRAISER:
Right. Yeah.
GUEST:
And so my husband and I went in, and we saw that table, and we loved it and we bought it, I guess for like $500, $600 maybe? The guy who sold it to us said that it was a lithographer's table from the 1800s.
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
Then we tried to move it. (laughing): It weighs ten million pounds. It is so heavy. Each time you move it, it requires six massive dudes.
APPRAISER:
Gosh.
GUEST:
I think it's because there is a thing of marble, which must be this big. It is so heavy!
APPRAISER:
It is a lithographer's table and the stone is what gives it away. It's a limestone slab.
GUEST:
Oh, it's not marble.
APPRAISER:
Marble would be too soft for what its function is. It would be used to make prints on. The process of lithography is essentially engraving on stone. So there's probably been dozens and hundreds of artworks have been made on your table. The company, which I think made that table, was Hamilton. Hamilton was really, really famous. It was an American company from Wisconsin. I don't think it's as early as the 19th century. I think it's probably made in the early 20th century. You've got like this really, really thick apron. It's built to carry a lot of weight on the top. And also, if you look at the legs, they're united by this stretch of this box stretch that goes all the way around. because it has to be really strongly constructed just to support that weight on the top. I think it's a very, very good look. It has this sort of industrial chic, which I think is probably what drew you to in the first place for your loft. I think that it was probably worth somewhere at auction between $2,000 and $3,000. I think if you...
GUEST:
And then another $10,000 to get someone to move it (laughing): because it's so heavy.
APPRAISER:
Yeah. But, yeah, retail... I mean, I think you could ask $8,000 or $9,000 for it would be a fair asking price. So, you know, I think for $500, it seems like it was really well bought.
GUEST:
Yeah, we're never moving it again. (laughing): It stays right there for the rest of my life, but it's good to know that it has some value to it.
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