Eliphalet Chapin Tea Table, ca. 1770
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GUEST:
I was at a moving sale and I just thought the legs were really interesting, and I just couldn't keep my eyes off it so I went ahead and bought it.
APPRAISER:
How much did you pay for it?
GUEST:
I paid $200.
APPRAISER:
We know, probably, who made this table.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Eliphalet Chapin was a cabinetmaker in the 18th century in East Hartford, Connecticut. He's become very well known to all of us because he actually had an apprenticeship in Enfield, Connecticut. He then went to Philadelphia for four years and he acquired some of the regional characteristics of Philadelphia cabinet making. And so his furniture is very distinctive. It has a Philadelphia character, but it also has a Connecticut character. It's made in cherrywood, and as you can see on the base here, it has a trumpet-turned pillar and this compressed ball with a mid-band right here. That is very typical of Philadelphia cabinet making. Now, you told me that you knew it had some problems with the top. We'll take the top off now, and indeed, you're right: it does have some problems. These cleats have modern screws that are put in, and there are machine marks that run down the edge of it indicating that the cleats are replaced.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
However, we also see that there are some screw holes here, and they match the lock plate right here. You see that?
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And so in fact, even though the cleats are replaced, we know that the top is original to the base.
GUEST:
Oh, okay, great.
APPRAISER:
And that's very exciting because it means that, for the most part, it's original. Now, Eliphalet Chapin's work is highly collected in the field, so the value of this table at auction, even with the replaced cleats, would be $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST:
You're kidding me!
APPRAISER:
Not at all.
GUEST:
That's amazing.
APPRAISER:
If it had its original surface, it would probably bring $50,000.
GUEST:
That is unreal. I can't believe that. That's shocking.
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