Folk Art Root Table, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
My mom owned it most recently, and I inherited it from her when she died in 2019. It belonged-- and I don't know if she's the original owner-- but it belonged to my great-great-aunt, who lived in Sugar Notch, Pennsylvania. My mom and her siblings would go to their great-aunt's house, and the table has some interesting mysteries. They would come and push a secret button on the table that pops open a drawer, and there would be dollar bills hidden in the drawer. And so they were excited to get a, a dollar. I don't know who made it. One story is that it was made by an individual, perhaps a family member that was in jail for bootlegging, and they made it while they were in jail.
APPRAISER:
Let's take a look...
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
...and see if we can find any dollar bills. I'm going to do that by pushing on a little button that's hidden in a tree...
(button pops)
APPRAISER:
...and pop the drawer out. And as we look in here, this element here in the front is called a till, and the, the till is typical of blanket chests and those in the Germanic tradition, as well, the Pennsylvania Dutch. And it is hinged like that. Now, the other cool and unexpected feature is this secret bottom that can be pulled back to reveal two more hiding places. Another v, very fun feature is this spring, which was repurposed from a piece of upholstered furniture.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And there's another one on the inside.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
But clearly not made in a formal factory. This is something made at home. The parquetry top, you have a variety of woods: walnut, ash, oak, and maple here. Root furniture or twig furniture shows up in various disciplines. It's in the Midwest, it's in the Adirondacks, it's, comes from China, as well. This one, based on the secondary woods in the drawer and its homespun style, it does appear to be from that area of Pennsylvania. Sugar Notch is near Wilkes-Barre-Scranton, so it's not heavily into the Germanic culture of the 18th century, known as the Pennsylvania Dutch. It could be made by somebody who had Germanic influences, because the Germans also had Black Forest furniture.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
I would think it's probably around 1900. I'm not sure that helps to corroborate that story about being made in jail, 'cause I think that's probably just...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...family lore, and apocryphal.
GUEST:
I think it is.
APPRAISER:
It's a good story.
GUEST:
I think it is-- yes, yeah.
APPRAISER:
The other thing that I think is just incredibly coincidental are the images that are, surround the side of the table, because it went from Pennsylvania to Alaska.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And as we look at the images, we're going to see what could be a, a caribou, or a reindeer, or just a great big stag. Let's have a look at this side. Some birds. There may be a figure over here on the side.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But my favorite here is the one on the back, which shows a seated bear. She has brass tacks inset for eyes and a cub over here on the side. And then, finally, there are more birds. Over here we have something like a stork...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...or a heron...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...with a open flower in its beak. It's so good and so well-proportioned. Oftentimes, people who aren't trained as cabinet makers, they get some elements right, but not all of it, but it's really well-balanced. I would say, without hesitation, if this was gonna go to auction, I would put $10,000 to $20,000 on it.
GUEST:
Oh, my God. Wow, I did not expect that at all. Wow.
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