GUEST: Going to storage unit auctions, and it happened to be in one of the units I bought.
APPRAISER: Did you buy this out of the unit, or did you have to buy the whole unit?
GUEST: I bought the whole unit. There was odds-and-ends stuff in there, and this was hidden in the back.
APPRAISER: What did you pay for the unit?
GUEST: $60.
APPRAISER: For the whole thing?
GUEST: For everything that was in the unit.
APPRAISER: And I understand you've sold everything except this?
GUEST: That's correct.
APPRAISER: Why did you hang onto this piece?
GUEST: Because it intrigues me. I want to find out who made it, how old it is, and what it is exactly.
APPRAISER: It is old. It was made in England, possibly in Scotland, based on the rope spiral carving here. It could be a Scottish influence, but it's definitely made in Great Britain. And it's constructed of highly figured, good quality mahogany. It was probably made around 1810 to 1820. So it's got considerable age, going on 200 years. And considering how old it is and the circumstances under which you got it, it's in remarkably good condition. Now the form is called a "cellarette," as in miniature cellar. The reason that they called it a cellarette is because it was a place to store or keep liquor or wine. This piece of furniture was always in a dining room. Sometimes it was made to accompany a sideboard. And because it was unprotected or on its own in the dining room, a lot of times people could help themselves to the liquor, they put a lock on it. Now, this piece is monumental. It's a large cellarette. So originally, it was fitted with casters. If you were to look under the paw feet, you'll find that there's actually a cup underneath, and the caster fit in there so you could roll it through the room easily. It also had a different set of hinges. But it has really wonderful construction techniques with these butterflies that are inset into the top to keep the radius from cracking or to hold it stable. You'll see there's a dado here in the side. There's also a dado on your side. And that would have been for a tray of some sort that might have only been a third to a half the depth of the case so that it could be slid back and forth as you're pulling out the bottles. And then there was a multiply divided interior that held a shelf above smaller compartments. So the piece, despite missing a handle, missing its casters, missing part of the interior, is in really good condition.
GUEST: That's unbelievable.
APPRAISER: It's unbelievable. It's got an old surface that hasn't been overly restored. And I would think in today's marketplace, a cellarette like this, of English manufacture, is probably $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: So you made a pretty nice return on your $60 investment, didn’t you?
GUEST: Thank you. That works. That's the first time I've ever been on TV.
