New England Highboy, ca. 1780

Appraised on: August 13, 2011

Appraised in: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Appraised by: Wendell Garrett

Category: Furniture

Episode Info: Pittsburgh, Hour 1 (#1607)

Originally Aired: February 13, 2012

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Appraisal Video: (1:00)

GUEST: This belonged to my mom's parents. All she knows is it's really old.

APPRAISER: I can tell you it is old. That is, it's the Revolutionary generation, 1760 to around 1790.

GUEST: That's old.

APPRAISER: That is old. We think it's from northern New England. The primary wood is Maple, stained to look like Mahogany, a more precious wood, and the interior is New England white pine. But it also has some real problems. We think that it probably is a married piece-- that is, that the top and the bottom were made at a different time. In this case, not a very different time, because it looks like it has the same construction techniques of the same shop, and we do know that the top cresting rail is a Victorian replacement. Because of this marriage problem of the piece, today on the auction market, the piece would be worth about $1,000 to $1,500.

GUEST: Wow.