Featured Governor Winthrop Style Desk - Price Point

Thank you very much. There will be plenty of sales, where you can get 25% or even combine and get 50% off, so it will sell eventually. I appreciate this benchmark for the future.

 

BTW, the period walnut Chippendale desk sold for $950. this morning, dirt cheap considering what it is. 80-90% off it's worth from a few years ago.
Desks are just not selling well these days.

 

So sad.

 

Refinished, extra holes, replaced brasses, reworked lid. There is a lot to go wrong with these desks, so getting the middle of their estimate was pretty good. One in this condition has never been huge money.

 

Interesting insights. Thank you. I don’t have to be right thought process to evaluate furniture so I appreciate you spelling out the issues so I can learn

 

Well, not sad I don't think, more likely purchased by a collector who could never have afforded that desk 10-15 years ago, now, they can.

 

What made me sad is that the people who paid big bucks for desks only get to enjoy them rather than getting a bigger percentage of their original cost back when they have to part with them. Also the prospect of these things being painted over or dumped because it’s expensive for a dealer to have them around.

 

True collectors don't think that way, they collect because they want interesting things to live with.
Trying to make a profit while collecting at the same time is a fool's game. When you buy a new piece of furniture for your home, most don't expect to sell it years later at a profit, far from it.
Fashions change, times change, trying to guess that out years in the future is just not gonna happen.

 

I paid $5000. for this "tavern" table 15-20 years ago.
I'd bet it's worth 1/2 that now or less.
Why was it so much? It's ALL there for one thing which is rare, the feet, drawer, top. Plus the base is Cherry and the box stretcher is turned (again, kinda rare, on both counts).
Would I do it all again knowing what I know now (value-wise)? ABSOLUTELY!

 

Cool table no matter what it's worth in 2020.

Most all of my furniture has lost 50%-80% of its value. I love it anyway, but I worry that I'll be the last in line to do so.

 

I appreciate you sharing your perspective. As you know, I am not a collector. Nor do I consider the value of something I bought in the past in making a decision about what lovely things come into my home. I just supposed that the cost of things and their subsequent value are a concern for some. When I was in search of a curio cabinet, I went to see many that were overpriced - the owners expecting to fully recoup their original cost in the sale. Mostly newer stuff. Several years ago, I bought a beautiful oak, glass fronted side board that I was refinishing to display some items. During the process of handing the curved glass and fine details, I realized that it wouldn't serve the purpose I intended it for. I paid a lot of money for it because it was so beautiful Nowadays, I probably couldn't give it away.

 

So that's what the real thing is supposed to look like. I have an oak reproduction of a English draw leaf pub table with heavy barley twist legs. They are ubiquitous in these parts.

 

Not me! Most of the stuff I have is in the 250-350 year old range, it has seen it ALL before! many times I am betting. This depression in antique furniture prices is just another small bump in the road. I'd say it's important to keep things in perspective.
Remember, in 1920 there was not a SINGLE piece of American furniture in ANY museum in America, it was not considered worthy of collecting or viewing in that setting. That was not that long ago.

 

Well, Yes & No!
"Tavern" table is the name these small tables are known by today and, it's true 18th century taverns used them, they were small, portable and just the right size for holding 1or2 persons meals & drinks.
It is also true that virtually all colonial homes had these tables as well and why not?very functional around the house, even today.
These tables in taverns were almost exclusively built out of hard Maple with pine tops whereas in homes they were sometimes built with nicer cabinet woods like Cherry or Walnut, also with pine tops.
It is almost certain the 1750 cherry/pine table above never saw the inside of a tavern in its life.
We don't know what these tables were called in the 18th century but, they were absolutely not called tavern tables.
The term "Tavern" table is a late 19th- 20th-century invention, probably meant for marketing them, similar to "bible box" or "Huntboard".

 

I paid $50.00 for one very similar about 6 years ago...and its been sitting in the shop unsold ever since. Started it at $200, and now its at $100. Think I'm just going to keep it.

 

OTOH, this "tavern" table sold for $120,000. last year, in Cherry, Virginia C. 1730.
Once owned by Thomas Jefferson so the historical value exceeded the antique value by A LOT!

 

I am betting the Jefferson table never saw the inside of a tavern either!

 

YIKES! that's not sales inventory, more like a monument or something!
Assumes we are talking about the slant lid desk

 

SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW in here so I thought I'd post about draw leaf tables.
Very cool tables BTW.
I wanted one for my eat-in kitchen but practicality got the better of me and I opted instead for a period W&M gateleg.
Draw leaf tables were developed in the mid 16th century during the Elizabethan period, I don't think anyone knows for sure by who. Most likely originally by the Dutch, or possibly Flanders.
Period tables tend to be very heavy & cumbersome with many assembled with threaded bolts & nuts, it's the only way to get them into or out of, a room.
There was a revival of smallish draw leafs in England in the early 20th century and, I am betting that's when the "pub" table thingy was probably born. Probably like "tavern", a catchy way to market them.

Click to enlarge photos

Dutch Draw Leaf on loan to the MFA Boston, mid 17th century



Notice the bolts on end, unless you happen to have a crane handy, about the only way to move this monster, take it apart


English Draw Leaf sold from Marhamchurch, Elizabethan, C. 1575

 

So gorgeous. Actually, I may ask a friend who has something in this vein to allow me to take pictures to post here. I didn't know their history went back so far. I always imagined those who had such tables, simply had huge tables that were not adjustable.
I was talking about a simpler type of Tavern table. This is what mine is a reproduction of.