Regency Mahogany Cellarette, ca. 1820
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GUEST:
We inherited this from my mother-in-law. She called it a wine cooler. I tell people that I keep a six-pack of beer in here at all times.
APPRAISER:
Six-pack of beer.
GUEST:
We think that it came from England. She paid around $1,500 about 1952. I don't know its history, but it looks like somebody had this in a special place where they were dipping wine...
APPRAISER:
It was a special place.
GUEST:
...or whatever they're, so...
APPRAISER:
You're right there. Do you have any idea of, of the age?
GUEST:
I'll guess 1800s, but I don't know.
APPRAISER:
What you brought, and it's really, it's got-- I'm pretty excited about it-- is a wonderful Regency cellarette, which is also a wine cooler. So when you said you like to keep, you keep a six-pack in it once in a while, that's, that would be a good thing to put in here, because it was made to hold libations, right? It typifies, as a cellarette, the Regency period. The term "Regency" comes from the Prince of Wales who ruled as the prince regent during the illness of his father. And he ruled between 1811 and 1820. This is made probably right around somewhere in the 1820s. And it was made in London. And when you open up this top, right on top here, and it actually says, "T. Wilson, Queen Street, London." And we found out that he was a retailer of furniture in London and he lived from right around 1799 to the 1850s, so we know... We know who retailed this-- it wasn't who made it. This could have been made by one of the great London cabinetmakers-- the quality's amazing. You have these ebonized caps on top. Wonderful reeding on this freestanding, almost, column. You see how you can put your finger around the back here? And then these tapered feet with wonderful brass casters. And so the panels here, which, they really feature, are these mahogany panels with ebony banding. The ebony was often imported into London. And it's that contrast that makes the piece great-- the contrast between the solid mahogany, the veneers, these wonderful crotch-figured mahogany, and then the, the inlay. So all together, it's a beautiful thing. This has a lot of pizzazz. In a shop in, let's say, in New York, you'd price a piece like this-- stamped, we even know who retailed it-- in the range of about $15,000 to $16,000. So ten times what you thought, 15...
GUEST:
Do you know CPR?
APPRAISER:
(laughing) Do I know CPR...
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