GUEST: I brought this carousel or merry-go-round, or actually it was fashioned after what they called a "flying jenny." I bought this about 25 years ago from an antique shop. It had been there about a year and every time I saw him at a show, or went to the shop, I admired it. It was more than a schoolteacher's salary could afford, but he called me around Christmastime and said the man who had consigned it really wanted to sell it, and I was the only one that really showed a lot of interest and so I made an offer and he accepted it.
APPRAISER: And how much was that offer?
GUEST: It was a good bid; it was $500.
APPRAISER: Really?
GUEST: That was about a half month's pay for my teaching at that time.
APPRAISER: It came with a history of the maker. It was made by this gentleman-- Malik, was his last name.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: And 90 years later, it ends up at an antique shop.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: And I say 90 years because it says on the paper that it was consigned by his great-grandson. In terms of a carousel, we call this a menagerie, because it has not just horses, it has two goats, it has two deer... On the other side we see lions, we see tigers, and those were the more sophisticated carousels that had two of each of these different characters.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: So it's beautifully done. A lot of times, when we go into the 20th century, and when we would see these model carousels, they're made from scrap parts from toys and they're typically made of tin. These are all carved and painted wood. Let me show this wonderful finial that went on top. It's a beautiful carved eagle, and that broke off on the way here.
GUEST: Yes, I'm sorry.
APPRAISER: It's just a very easy repair. It's just a little glue, will work fine. And... We will also show Uncle Sam over here, and on the side, we see a band of musicians. It's really just terrific. All carved and painted wood. This over here is what we call fret work, and it's cut out with a jigsaw. Inside is a clockwork mechanism that was probably salvaged from another item, and we're going to see the flying jenny do a little flying. (music playing)
GUEST: And Uncle Sam moves.
APPRAISER: Uncle Sam is moving.
GUEST: And the musicians move.
APPRAISER: And the musicians are moving. So, how do we value this? As a piece of folk art, carved and painted wood, it's a model of a carousel, it has two audiences. It has the folk art collector that would love to own this, but we also have carousel collectors that would love to own this early representation of a carousel. So we have two people possibly competing for this piece. So I'm going to say, retail, $8,000 to $12,000.
GUEST: Oh, my, thank you! Thank you.
