GUEST: We bought this at a garage sale probably about four years ago. The people used to own an antique shop in Holly. They were starting to downsize stuff, and getting rid of a few things, and just kind of caught our eye.
APPRAISER: And how much did you pay for it?
GUEST: $150.
APPRAISER: And what do you know about it?
GUEST: That you fall asleep real quick when you lay in it.
APPRAISER: (laughs)
GUEST: And it was made in Detroit.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: You know, Detroit Furniture Country.
APPRAISER: I think we would call this a cantilevered chaise longue. It's this really unusual form. My colleagues and I have never actually seen this design before. And it's definitely made for industrial or commercial use, simply because the way it's constructed, it's a full steel frame. You can see this wonderful scroll at the bottom. But then the entire frame comes up, and you can even see the steel sticking out at the back here. And then it's wrapped in wicker. Our estimation of age is around 1890 to 1900, 1910.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: We believe that the seat is original. And it's got this kind of faded color right now, but if you peel it back, you can see this wonderful emerald green color.
GUEST: Yeah, yes, yeah.
APPRAISER: That was the original color in there, which is great. And the way it's constructed is just absolutely lovely. We believe that it probably came from a sanitarium or a retreat.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Somewhere in the area.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It does have a label of the Comfort Furniture Company, Detroit. I did some research and completely struck out.
GUEST: I did too.
APPRAISER: That's not to say that we wouldn't be able to find out, but most likely that was a small manufacturer here in Detroit that was providing this commercial furniture for retreats and sanitariums and spas. The largest and most well-known sanitarium was the Battle Creek Sanitarium right here in Michigan. Another reason we know that it's commercial or industrial design is this frame-- each foot has a hole in it. And that was for it to be bolted. It's certainly an unusual object, which is good and bad. But people really do love wicker. There's a little bit of fraying, but the condition otherwise, is very, very good. So value on this, we have... all of my colleagues and I got together, and if we saw this in a good antiques show I would expect the retail price to be around about $3,000.
GUEST: Okay, nice.
