Early Southern Table with messed up feet

[mart]

Glad you got it Jacon4 !!  Waiting for your assessment after it arrives !!

[jacon4]

Yeah! me too! I didn't pay much for it, $375 with BP, shipping about $200 so around $600 total to get it here. Cheap, but, it really needed to be considering the feet. Garth's had their annual TG auction over the weekend and they had a period boston chippendale block front chest of drawers in very nice condition save one thing, it had replaced feet. Period block fronts are rare and valuable, chests of drawers with original feet go in the 20k to 25k  and up range but with replaced feet? It went for 5k so there we have it, feet are a big deal in the american antique furniture world.
I think ghopper is correct, the feet on this table got replaced sometime in the 19th century, they are clearly not new but, they are clearly not original either.

[jacon4]

Lets talk about feet! and how it really does effect value on early pieces of american furniture. In the example below, i had to shell out 5k for this first half 18th century TT mostly because the feet are original, yes, they are an inch or two shorter than when new but, the fact that they are there makes this a $5000. table as opposed to a $1000 table if the feet were not there.

[jacon4]

Here is another example, first quarter 18th century TT, the dealer is asking 28k for this table and again, the feet are a couple inches shorter than when new but, if the feet were not there, dealer would be lucky to get 5k for this same table. Bottom line, feet are very important, ditto the tops of tables when it comes to value on early stuff.

[mart]

Lets talk about feet! and how it really does effect value on early pieces of american furniture. In the example below, i had to shell out 5k for this first half 18th century TT mostly because the feet are original, yes, they are an inch or two shorter than when new but, the fact that they are there makes this a $5000. table as opposed to a $1000 table if the feet were not there.

Is that pull original ??  Would not expect that type !!

[jacon4]

No, pulls are not original on dealers table but that's OK value wise, ditto if drawer has had repairs to runners. Those are considered non structural items and do not harm value much, when you lose the feet or top though, that's a structural repair and value goes WAY DOWN.

The pull on my table is original, the dealers table, no, pulls are not original

[jacon4]

Why not expect wooden pull? Metal was expensive back in the day, it was also mostly imported from england at that time which didn't help the price. Indeed, nails were so valuable that in the 1600s, the Virginia House of Burgesses passed a law granting the owner of a house or barn,  "the same quantity of nails as it took to build" it. Why did the govt. give out these nails to homeowners who decided to move to another location? To prevent them from burning down the building & sifting through the ashes to recover the nails!

I only have one piece of early furniture that has the original ( and likely imported) brass pulls, this blanket chest from Hadley Mass. area C 1690-1720

[mart]

Oh !! Its a wooden pull ??  It didn`t look like it,, that's why I asked !! On my monitor it looked like a modern metal pull similar to what you see on kitchen drawers !! And the same color as those in my kitchen !!  That fake pewter color !! 

[KC]

Made me giggle Mart!  I do agree that the dealer's handles do look like "Pewter repros" that I have seen lately - But don't think they are. 

Beautiful piece that you have there Jacon4.

[jacon4]

On my monitor it looked like a modern metal pull similar to what you see on kitchen drawers !!

LOL, no, it's shiny from the flash and well worn but most pulls that are original from this period were wooden pulls. The dealers table with brass pulls, in description does not mention "original pulls" which means, they are not original. I'll try and take a close up pic later today of one of the original brass pulls on my blanket chest, front and back so you can see how hardware was installed back in the day. The front of the pull is brass but the back of the pull that attaches to back of drawer or case is iron wire and hammered into the wood. No screws, no nuts so it's very easy to determine on a piece this old if pulls are original or not as it scars the wood. Once that iron wire is hammered into the wood, it's like a fingerprint and that's THAT, it can never be replicated again and easy to see up close. Even though it does not effect value much, i am VERY happy my blanket chest has the original brass pulls, a good break for me.

On the dealers not original pulls, it doesnt say but i would think those pulls are made in the same way as original ones were, cast brass fronts with iron wire hammered into back of drawer. You can still purchase pulls today that were made in the same way they were 300 years ago, not cheap though, a lot of hand work involved as would be expected.

[jacon4]

one more time I'll try, then i am taking a hammer to this puter!
FINALLY!!! god almighty, that took awhile! Pics taken this morning on my galaxy 6 phone so quality isn't great. As you can see from back of drawer pic, the iron wire, which is pointed on each end, is bent at 90 degrees and hammered into the back of drawer. The whole length of wire plus the point makes an impression in the wood which can never be replicated again. Easy as pie to see if you have original pulls with 300 year old stuff, there were no nuts or bolts used to attach brass pulls back in the day.

[jacon4]

LOL, YOU CAN'T MAKE THIS UP!!!

So today, the shipper shows up with "my" table only there's a teeny tiny problem, it's not my table! The trucker sez what? You are kiddin, right? NOPE, they gave you the wrong table!!! He gets out his paper work, there is a small pic of mine in the shipping bill of lading and he says, "yeah, it looks different but hey, i don't look at this stuff, i just wrap & ship what they give me". Oh Yeah, call the auction house, not open on the weekend, lovely. This is the table they gave shipper, lot # 26, my table is lot # 29.
https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/42524991_antique-iberian-table

Lot description says....."Antique Iberian Table. Possibly late 15th early 16th C. Size: 30" x 42.5" x 28" (76 x 108 x 71 cm). Provenance: Kristina Barbara Johnson Estate, Princeton, New Jersey."

[mart]

Oh !!  That will not go with your decorating scheme !!

[jacon4]

yeah, big boo boo here, no doubt. I wonder if the guy who bought this table has mine sitting in his house? Weird deal all around, never had this happen before, i've never even heard of this happening before.

[ghopper1924]

Never heard of that happening, either. Still, your "replacement" table is pretty cool in its own right.