Regency Mahogany Metamorphic Library Steps, ca. 1800
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GUEST:
I brought my metamorphic library table. It was found in an antique shop in Huntsville, Alabama. My parents just thought that it was cool and it's something that I would like, and so they gave it to me as a graduation present.
APPRAISER:
Ooh, you must be a special child to end up with this as a graduation gift.
GUEST:
I tried to be good.
APPRAISER:
I think you succeeded, clearly. It's got great veneers, a wonderful leather inset top with this gilt-stenciled border. And if you can see this sort of arched grain? It's, it's what we call crotch mahogany.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And it's really the Y of a tree, the branch that gives this great flamed figuring. It appears to be an English Regency writing desk. We don't know exactly who the maker is. Oftentimes, with period furniture, you don't find a maker's mark or a stamp. But what we can tell, in the English furniture directory, this is a known design. There's a cabinetmaker in London named Thomas Gillow. He created Gillows and Company a little later on, and this is sort of emblematic of his type of work. But you mentioned it was metamorphic. Why don't we show what this table's really about?
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
I mean, what, what a, what a fascinating piece. So if we take this and, and open it...
GUEST:
Open it up,
APPRAISER:
...it's going to reveal a bit of a surprise, isn't it?
GUEST:
Yup, and you flip that back, and you push these little wooden pieces to lock in the arms.
APPRAISER:
And if we slide this down...
APPRAISER:
...you end up with a great set of library steps.
GUEST:
Yup.
APPRAISER:
You've got an oak interior, which provides great strength.
GUEST:
A way to reach all of your books on the high shelves.
APPRAISER:
Well, for me that's very important, as I'm vertically challenged.
GUEST:
Me, too.
APPRAISER:
And so this is, this is a great piece of furniture. And metamorphic furniture is something that carries a special interest in a lot of
collectors' hearts. It's a really fabulous surprise. Any idea what your parents had to pay for it?
GUEST:
They paid about $1,600 for it.
APPRAISER:
And do you think they were smart shoppers, good shoppers, or... What do you, what do you think about the value?
GUEST:
I think it's certainly worth at least that to me.
APPRAISER:
It's a really fine piece of furniture with a tremendous sense of detail that the cabinetmaker put this together. So for being about 220
years old, it's amazing that it's still in such great condition. If it were to come to auction today and be sold in a, you know, a New York auction house in the context of a library sale, I could easily see placing an estimate of $3.000 to $5,000 on it.
GUEST:
Awesome.
APPRAISER:
Not bad, right? It's...
GUEST:
Not bad at all.
APPRAISER:
That's quite a graduation gift.
GUEST:
It is.
APPRAISER:
Your parents, unfortunately, have set the bar pretty high. Now I'm thinking about my own children. What am, what am I going to have
to, to get them? I'm not sure I can top 'em on this.
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