'Antiques Roadshow' guest left stunned after expert revealed the value of table that cost her just $25

The popularity of "Antiques Roadshow" has raised awareness about the possibility that even furniture and crockery present in the house for generations could be worth a fortune. Encouraged to find out the value of her diminutive table, a guest arrived on the show, only to be surprised when it got a massive six-figure appraisal. The guest said that she had bought it from a garage sale for just $25, around 30 years before bringing it for valuation.

At first, it seemed like an ordinary table that could be found anywhere. What made this one special was the faded label at the bottom of the top that said, “John Seymour and Son, Creek Square, Boston.” Two experts looked at the table, and they were both excited to find a labeled piece, as those were rare. The name on the label was a bigger cause for excitement as it was made by one of the very best at the time.

“What you brought in today here is a Federal inlay mahogany demilune card table made by John and Thomas Seymoour, very distinguished cabinetmakers who made some of the most distinguished and fine furniture for the wealthiest families in Boston at the time,” expert Leslie Keno said. Even without the label, Keno claimed that the table had all the salient features of a Seymour product.

“It has this wonderful figured mahogany. The top has these inlaid…almost an egg and dart with a dot and almost a seed, which actually has sand-burning. It’s sand-burnt; they used hot sand to color the inlay to give it a three-dimensional effect. If you come down to the edge, this edge has wonderful satinwood inlay, this figured satinwood. It has a typical Seymour coved edge…a veneered front, and on this veneered front, tapering bell flowers,” the expert added.

The Seymours, who were originally British, took a lot of inspiration from English design books written by the likes of George Hepplewhite and Sheraton, according to the expert. But they didn't stop at that, and improved upon those designs and took them to a different level. The guest said that the table was mouldy when she purchased it, and she later cleaned it using linseed oil and turpentine.

However, she never got around to the refinishing part, and the furniture still had some dirt on the legs. But that’s a good thing in this case. “If you cleaned it a lot more, you would have taken a lot off the value,” the expert explained. As for the valuation, the guest speculated that the table would be worth around $20,000. This was a big sum of money, but she never expected what she heard.

“This is in the open marketplace on a good day would be in the range of about $200,00 to $225,000,” Keno said. The guest had an expression of shock on her face as she said, “Wow.” The expert also said that if she was really lucky, she might even be able to get $300,000 for it.

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