Massachusetts William & Mary Gateleg Table, ca. 1690
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APPRAISER:
You've brought today a 300-year-old table. How long have you had this?
GUEST:
I don't... I'm shocked. It's been a family piece passed from my grandmother to my mother to me, but we always just knew it as Nana's gateleg table.
APPRAISER:
Right. What made you bring it to the show today?
GUEST:
Well, we always had a desire to find out more about it. I guess that's what made us decide to come in. And my husband was telling me I was crazy, so it makes it better that I've been chosen to be on the show.
APPRAISER:
Well, let me tell you about the over-300-year-old table.
GUEST:
I'm shocked.
APPRAISER:
Well, this is a William & Mary or late baroque-style table. Made in Massachusetts. There are not many style centers that long ago making furniture of this quality, because you think about this as a Colonial period in America.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
There's a little bit of action on the East Coast, in Boston and Philadelphia and New York. And we know this is probably not a Boston-made table because the wood is maple on this.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And that would probably have been made maybe inland a little bit or up the coast in one of the more provincial mercantile centers. The William & Mary period is known for its turnings.
GUEST:
There are a lot.
APPRAISER:
Yes. These were made by turners and joiners, and they made all of their legs on a lathe. This, you said gateleg, so let's look at the gateleg here. It flips out. And I think a remarkably modern convention, design. I mean, this is a table that can fold up.
GUEST:
We've had it folded, but we know it has the capability of expanding. And my mother, who is 89, remembers eating at it as a child.
APPRAISER:
Many, many people have eaten at this dining table. I won't put my foot on it, but I'll show you what's happened to this. Over the years, you can see this back section which has flattened, and that is from many, many people sitting at it and wearing their feet over and over again.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
When you see reproductions or fakes of these tables, sometimes you'll see...
GUEST:
They'll do that.
APPRAISER:
They'll kind of wear it down, but this is all authentic. There is work done on the table, certainly, which is okay. After all...
GUEST:
It's old.
APPRAISER:
Yes, it is old and these things happen. And there is a slight change to the shape. You see it's straighter. It should have been more of a graceful oval.
GUEST:
I see.
APPRAISER:
Now, on your side there is a drawer.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And the thing I love about this drawer, it's all original. These drawers are always replaced. And there's great color in this drawer, so that adds to the value of the table itself, to have all of these authentic parts. I would say that if we saw this in a shop, it would probably be selling at around $10,000.
GUEST:
Wow. Wow!
Appraisal Details
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