Daniel Gluck Metal Coffee Table Base, ca. 1970
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GUEST:
I was perusing online and was looking for a glass table, and I stumbled upon this for $100. I figured, heck, that glass is probably worth that. So I went and picked it up.
APPRAISER:
And about what year was it?
GUEST:
2009 or 2010. Right when I bought it, I'd seen a matching one online, but it was in a gallery in L.A. And then, but it got sold, like, almost immediately and was taken down. And then I forgot to write down the artist's name. And so I don't know anything about it.
APPRAISER:
Did the person selling it give any indication of whether or not they knew this was by a known sculptor?
GUEST:
Um, the only thing he said to me was that his late wife, her parents were millionaires, and it was theirs.
APPRAISER:
Do you use this in your home? Where do you store it? Tell me more about how you use it.
GUEST:
Um, I used it for about a year or two, and then I moved, and it's just been sitting in my basement for about the last ten years, I'd say.
APPRAISER:
This is by a California sculptor and furniture maker named Daniel Gluck. Some retailers who've handled similar examples of this title it "Maze" or "The Maze."
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And I have not been able to drill down, is that a title the artist gave it, or perhaps later a dealer or gallery thought up that name. But this is in keeping with other examples of this form by the sculptor, Daniel Gluck, working in Los Angeles as Daniel Gluck Studios.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And this was created 1970 to 1975.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Certain examples have had an applied metal tag that the artist signed "Gluck." I looked this over really thoroughly and did not see one. It's a piece of Brutalist furniture. And Brutalism speaks to this certain kind of austerity, or a crudeness, or almost a hostility...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...in how kind of raw and some would say unpleasant-looking.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But obviously, to others, it is very pleasant-looking.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
It's very much in keeping with Brutalist furniture that started in the 1950s and '60s, but was still being produced throughout the '70s.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
What I think is really interesting about Gluck is that he also worked as a set decorator in Hollywood and designed sets for two of the Star Trek movies.
GUEST:
Oh, wow! That's so cool. I'm a big Star Trek fan, so that's awesome.
APPRAISER:
This table has had a life.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
There are some broken-off elements that you actually have with you here that could be easily restored back onto the piece. And I'm not really speaking to the condition of the glass top.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Because pretty much any seller of this type of furniture...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...would get rid of any glass top that came with it.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Because they're going to put a pristine, new...
GUEST:
Yeah, it's...
APPRAISER:
...piece of glass on it. This table base, in the current condition...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...I think has a retail value of around $8,500.
GUEST:
Wow! That's awesome. Heck, yeah.
APPRAISER:
So you did pretty good for...
GUEST:
Yeah! $100! Can't, that's a good turnaround on that.
APPRAISER:
In better condition, examples of this can sell for as much as $12,000 to $13,000.
GUEST:
Okay. Wow.
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