GUEST: About four year ago, we got it at an auction for $450. Another lady had bought it and it wouldn't fit in her house, so she said, "Just get whatever you can out of it." There was a foam coating over the pretty finish. Whoever did it didn't know what they were doing. And the brasses were awful. It just got the foam off, got it down to the original finish. But the inside's been totally rebuilt.
APPRAISER: Do you have any idea how old it is, or...?
GUEST: Not... I don't know a thing about it, no.
APPRAISER: So you bought it because it was...
GUEST: Me and my wife had always said we were gonna buy a highboy some time or another, so we did.
APPRAISER: So you know it's a highboy, that's a good start, okay. It's really an impressive piece of furniture, from the carved bust and pediment right down to the carved apron and the feet. The original of this piece of furniture is in the Met in New York, on 5th Avenue.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: So that's why it got my...
GUEST: There's a vacation comin' up.
APPRAISER: You definitely should go see it. The American Chippendale style reached its pinnacle, arguably, in Philadelphia, and within that constraint of the Philadelphia furniture-making school, this is the best of the best when it comes to highboys.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: And that's why it's at the Met. When you go to the Met, if you ask for the Madame Pompadour Highboy...
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: They'll take you to this piece of furniture. And it was... it's a bit of a misnomer.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: But it acquired that appellation based on the fact that the carved bust in the center has a striking resemblance to Louis XV's mistress.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: Whose name was Pompadour. The original piece is made in three parts. This is not in three parts. It happens to be two parts. The pediment is attached to the case. The finials are not removable on this piece, but they are on the original.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRASIER: And the Aesop's fable panel in this one, it is just a panel, but in the original, it's actually a drawer that pulls out, it's the carving of a drawer front. And probably the most compelling thing of all is that the drawer bottoms, the top, and the backboards on the case are actually plywood.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: So that indicates to me right there that it's not 1760, but it's probably somewhere in the mid 20th century, could be around 1960 or later. With all that said, if I were to put this at auction, I would say it would be $1,500 to $2,500 in today's marketplace.
GUEST: I paid $450 for it, so I'm glad to hear that. I told my wife if we clear $1,000, we'll be good.
APPRASIER: The original one, from the Met, you're probably looking at something like $10 million to $15 million.
