GUEST: This is my grandmother's
table. She bought it in
1982. She was always very

interested in metalwork, so we
weren't surprised when she sent
my uncle down in his truck to

New York City to pick
up this table. We didn't
really know much about
it other than the fact

that it was, at one point,
buried in dirt. We did a little
research and found out that

it was made by the
LaVerne Studios?

APPRAISER: And how much did
she pay for it, do you recall?

GUEST: $6,000.

APPRAISER: $6,000.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: So, in 1982,
this table would have
probably retailed for
more than that. They

probably actually got
a good price at $6,000,
believe it or not.

GUEST: Yeah, she did mention
that because she didn't use
a designer, that they took

$4,000 off the price of
the table because she
purchased it directly.

APPRAISER: Right. In the '80s,
this company had already been
producing these tables for

about 15 or 20 years. So in
1982, it was probably brand-new.
My information says that these

were about $10,000 retail at
that time. By the mid-1980s,
the design team of Philip and

Kelvin LaVerne-- a
father-and-son team in
New York-- were very
well-known. They were

highly prized works that
were sold through decorators,
through high-end design shops,

and, of course, you can
buy them directly from the
LaVernes if you knew somebody.

GUEST: (chuckling): Right.

APPRAISE: It's made out of
bronze with a proprietary
process that Philip
and Kelvin LaVerne were

able to make by etching these
bronze plates and attaching
them to a substructure. In this

case, to a scroll shape, but
the same pattern here, called
the marriage whirl, would've

been used on consoles, end
tables, various other types of
furniture. The LaVernes took

their objects and would actually
bury them in a proprietary
mix of soil to give it a

patina. Your example
is in really beautiful
condition. There's no
heavy scratches, dents.

I think that if this came up in
a well-publicized auction, it
would probably sell for between

$15,000 and $20,000.

GUEST: Well, that's... that's
really good. (laughs) I'm just
a little stunned. (laughs)

Very good.

APPRAISER: Yeah.