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Inlaid Baltimore Pembroke Table, ca. 1795

Value (2016) | $20,000 Auction – $30,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
Well, this table was in my great-great- grandfather's house, and this is a picture of the room where the table was found. And my grandfather lived in this house when he was growing up, and then I inherited it from my mom.

APPRAISER:
If we go back to your great-great-grandfather, what date might that be?

GUEST:
He lived until 1916, so he was born in the mid-1800s.

APPRAISER:
I knew where this was from... The minute you took the blanket off, I said, "I know who made it, I know when it was made, and I know where it was made." The table is from the 1790s.

GUEST:
Okay, wow.

APPRAISER:
And it was made in Baltimore. And it predates your great-great-grandfather's owning it. And the form is called a Pembroke table. They were made everywhere, but the Pembroke form in this case is a little bit more sophisticated than your typical table because it has bowed ends, and the bowed ends continue on into the demilune leaves. What's special about the top is that the edge is concave. If I tip this up, we can see that there's a beaded edge right here, and a concavity which makes it look a little bit lighter visually.

GUEST:
Uh-huh.

APPRAISER:
It also has compound inlays and cross-banding. It's a mahogany table with rosewood banding on the edge, which is another feature that makes it better than your average Pembroke table.

GUEST:
Uh-huh.

APPRAISER:
Now, rosewood is a protected species. It's endangered. It comes out of the tropics just the way mahogany did. There are movements these days to try and limit the sale and use of rosewood. This table can be sold because it's old enough-- the rosewood was harvested long ago.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
What really allows me to put this in a school of cabinet makers in Baltimore is the inlay that's on the leg. You've got the string inlay outlining the edges of the leg, but then at the top, we have an oval... almost like a ring that's been elongated. And from that ring are graduated bell flowers. The bell flowers have a three-dimensionality to them, and the way they accomplish that, they'll lay it in hot sand to burn it ever so slightly.

GUEST:
Oh, wow.

APPRAISER:
This is the school of Levin Tarr. Levin Tarr worked in Baltimore at the end of the 18th century. He finished an apprenticeship in 1793. He's first recorded as having been a cabinet maker in that city around 1794, and went on to a prolific career until about 1821. What's really special is the condition. This table is untouched. The cuffs are missing, some of the banding is missing, but when it comes to American furniture, to find a piece like this that's totally pristine from a benign neglect point of view is quite rare.

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
I think because of the condition and the fact that it has this grungy surface-- grungy is a good thing in this case...

GUEST:
Okay, good.

APPRAISER:
...I think it can safely stand an auction estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.

GUEST:
Wow, that is amazing. I have to be real careful with it.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
John Nye
Furniture
Nye and Company
Bloomfield, NJ
Appraised value (2016)
$20,000 Auction – $30,000 Auction
Featured In
Fort Worth, Hour 3 (#2103)
Event
Fort Worth, TX (July 23, 2016)
Category
Furniture
Period
18th Century
Form
Furniture , Table
Material
Mahogany , Rosewood

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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Article
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