GUEST: It's a piece that's been in my family since it's been made. It was made by an ancestor of mine through my father's side of the family.
APPRAISER: And where were they from?
GUEST: Southern New Jersey.
APPRAISER: That's Monmouth County, that area?
GUEST: Most likely, yes.
APPRAISER: Now, have you ever had it appraised?
GUEST: When my grandparents took possession of it, there was some interest from an antique dealer. And she started some correspondence with them. And the correspondence we had was from 1941, which certainly is World War II. And her concerns and her sales pitch, or buying pitch, if you will, was the state of the world today, being 1941, that the table should be in a fireproof building, perhaps a museum.
APPRAISER: Okay, and did she quote a price?
GUEST: $300 in 1941.
APPRAISER: This table dates mid-1700s. It is spectacular in that it's all original. It's tiger maple, which is quite desirable, and it has its original surface. Now, this table is a tip-top table. There were chair tables also. These were very useful pieces of furniture that could serve many different functions. Now, this table, when you turned it around and placed it next to your chair, you would put a candle here so you could read. And do you know why the top was tilted when you were doing that?
GUEST: Well, I assumed that it was to block some breeze, to keep the candle lit.
APPRAISER: Exactly, the early American homes were very breezy. And you can tell that this was used as a candle table. This is where the candlestick would have been held, and maybe the breeze got a little bit more than they had hoped, and there's this wonderful burn mark here. Now, that is something that tells great history. You should never, ever have that taken out, and you should never refinish the table.
GUEST: I won't.
APPRAISER: Now, the most unusual thing about this table is, it can also be made into a flat top table, which has a unique mechanism which we've never seen on a table of this period. And one of the very nice features is the drawer, and these wonderful tiger maple legs that splay with the box stretchers. These original battens, as we call them, have never been disturbed, and the finish has not. And on a piece like this today, it is worth $20,000 to $30,000.
GUEST: Well, thank you.
APPRAISER: You're welcome.
