A New Jersey schoolteacher who bought a mouldy, pitch-black table at a garage sale for just $25 ended up owning a rare piece of American furniture worth more than half a million dollars.
asserted
who → buy → furniture
Claire Wiegand-Beckmann purchased the table roughly three decades before it appeared on Antiques Roadshow, when she was moving into a new home and wanted a small table.
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she → purchase → table
She initially saw little reason to believe it was valuable.
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it → see → reason
But when furniture expert Leigh Keno examined it in Secaucus, New Jersey, in 1997, he discovered an original maker's label identifying it as the work of Boston cabinetmakers John and Thomas Seymour.
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he → examine → cabinetmakers
The table was later sold at Sotheby's for $490,000, with the buyer's premium bringing the total to $541,500.
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premium → sell → 541,500
From a $25 garage-sale table to a rare 18th-century discovery
Wiegand-Beckmann came across the table at a garage sale in New Jersey while she was moving into a new house.
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she → come → house
She told Antiques Roadshow that she needed a small table and thought the piece might work for the space.
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piece → tell → space
She recalled that it was “pitch black” and “a moldy mess” when she saw it outside at the sale.
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she → recall → sale
The seller had priced it at $30, but Wiegand-Beckmann said she had only $25 with her.
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she → price → her
The seller agreed to accept the lower amount, allowing her to take the table home.
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her → agree → table
The purchase was made roughly 30 years before her appearance on Antiques Roadshow.
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purchase → make → Roadshow
At the time she bought it, there was no indication that the seemingly battered table was a significant example of early American furniture.
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table → buy → furniture
The turning point came in 1997, when Antiques Roadshow held an event in Secaucus, New Jersey.
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Roadshow → come → Secaucus
Wiegand-Beckmann decided to bring the table along to see whether experts could tell her more about it.
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experts → decide → it
The table reportedly arrived in an unusual fashion.
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table → arrive → fashion
, Wiegand-Beckmann brought it into the event upside down on a cart.
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Beckmann → bring → cart
That made the object look even less like an important piece of antique furniture.
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object → make → furniture
It was examined by furniture specialist Leigh Keno, who immediately began looking at its construction, decorative inlay and other characteristics.
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who → examine → construction
But one detail proved especially important: the table still had its original maker's label.
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table → prove → label
The label read John Seymour and Son, Creek Square, Boston.
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label → read → Seymour
Keno explained that surviving furniture with an original label from the makers was exceptionally rare.
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surviving → explain → makers
Experts identify a rare Federal-period table
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Experts → identify → table
Keno identified the piece as a Federal inlaid mahogany demi-lune card table made by John and Thomas Seymour, Boston cabinetmakers working in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
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Keno → identify → centuries
The table is dated to about 1794.
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table → date → 1794
PBS classifies it as an 18th-century piece and identifies its material as mahogany.
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PBS → classify → mahogany
Keno highlighted its figured mahogany, satinwood inlay and distinctive decorative details as evidence of its quality.
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Keno → highlight → quality
John and Thomas Seymour were prominent Boston furniture makers whose work was produced for wealthy families of the period.
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work → produce → period
The surviving label gave specialists an unusually direct connection between the table and its makers.
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label → survive → table
Keno told Wiegand-Beckmann that the table was an exceptional example of Federal furniture.
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table → tell → furniture
Its craftsmanship, original features and maker's label all contributed to its importance.
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craftsmanship → contribute → importance
The $25 table was appraised at up to $300,000
The discovery transformed Wiegand-Beckmann's expectations.
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discovery → appraise → expectations
When Keno examined the table in 1997, the initial auction estimate was $200,000 to $300,000.
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estimate → examine → 1997
The appraiser suggested that on a particularly good day it could potentially bring $300,000.
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it → suggest → 300,000
PBS later updated the auction valuation for the piece to 400,000-600,000 in its records.
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PBS → update → records
The broadcaster also notes that valuations can change over time depending on market conditions and the circumstances of a sale.
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valuations → note → sale
The original $25 purchase price therefore represented only a tiny fraction of what specialists believed the table could command at auction.
uncertain
table → represent → auction
The table heads to Sotheby's
After the Antiques Roadshow appraisal, Wiegand-Beckmann contacted Keno about selling the table.
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Beckmann → contact → table
The process eventually took it to Sotheby's in New York, where it was offered as part of the auction house's Important Americana furniture and folk art sale in January 1998.
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it → take → January
The auction attracted collectors interested in American furniture.
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auction → attract → furniture
Bidding quickly moved far beyond the original estimate.
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Bidding → move → estimate
…and 15 more, not listed.
The Aporia
