Garage sale score!!

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Anyone know anything about John Edward Hughes, Inc.? I found a 9' long x 3' wide x 34" high kitchen work table made from old timbers (either DF or SYP). It's got a tag on it that says the name and Chateau Kitchen Table and a price tag of $14k! I got it for much less but am having trouble finding anything other than a bankruptcy auction site that lists his name.

I originally thought it might make a good outfeed table/workbench for the shop, but now I'm wondering if it might have some value.

[Doug Jones]

Kelly,
All I can find is an address and phone number

John Edward Hughes Inc 1025 N Stemmons Fwy #200 (214) 741-2338

I think its a Dallas, TX area

Good luck, Doug

[Todd Burch]

$14,000 and you are going to use it as an outfeed table? ;)

[John Miliunas]

$14,000 and you are going to use it as an outfeed table? ;)

Hah! You think that's something?! You oughta' see his router table! I believe the tag is something about "Duncan".... Duncan donuts or something like that, I think. :confused: Naw...That ain't it. I think the second name was Life or Wife or somewhere along those lines. :D :cool:

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I never believed the tag until I got home and cleaned up the table. I checked the tag and it's got the company's initials on the back as well as the price and shipping cost. It also has a stock number.

I mean what would a young couple with very little money be doing with a $14k table...especially trying to sell it for $100 at a garage sale even after seeing the tag?

[Kelly C. Hanna]

You mean Duncan Fyfe? :D:D:D:D:D

[Michael Cody]

Anyone know anything about John Edward Hughes, Inc.? I found a 9' long x 3' wide x 34" high kitchen work table made from old timbers (either DF or SYP). It's got a tag on it that says the name and Chateau Kitchen Table and a price tag of $14k! I got it for much less but am having trouble finding anything other than a bankruptcy auction site that lists his name.

I originally thought it might make a good outfeed table/workbench for the shop, but now I'm wondering if it might have some value.


Don't know about 14K but if you do google search for the phone number (TIP -- great way to locate some one on the web since phone numbers are very unique) it gives the following link:

Elijan Slocum Fine Cabinentry & Collections (http://www.elijahslocum.com/pdf/Winter%2000%20News.pdf)

It seems John Edwards Hughes is a gallery/showroom so they might be able to feed you some info... if it orginally sold for 14K, I got to believe there is chance it might be more valuable than what you paid for it and worth the price of a phone call!

[Kelly C. Hanna]

They went into chapter 7 in 2003. I called that number and there was a recording (disconnected). The first link I found was the bankruptcy auction info in 2003.

I sent an email to the auctioneers and asked a few Q's....we'll see what they say. Meantime I might have a buyer in a client of mine. Have to call her tomorrow and tell her what I found.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

OK, here's the pics....can anyone tell me what kind of pine this is?

Table (http://www.hannawoodworks.com/table.html)

[Todd Burch]

Looks like construction grade yellow pine from here.... but what do I know!

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Might be, the top is so unlevel it makes me think it's very old pine. It has peaks and valleys that range over 1/2" difference from side to side and end to end. It also has many scars and scratches, none of which are sharp edged, they all show wear like an old Italian chopping block would. All the scratches are smooth as silk and have rounded edges.

[Steve Jenkins]

Well, you've already got the scoop on John Edward Hughes. The design district in Dallas is just down the road a bit from me. and Ivisited their showroom a couple times. As is typical they represented a number of different lines of furniture.
Don't we all wish we could get 14k for something like that. I expect that the wholesale price was something less than 7k but even that seems like quite a bit.
Looks pretty much like pine to me too and I doubt very much that it has any age to it. Steve

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I would agree with that except for one little thing. The grain has peaks and valleys between the dark and light parts (sapwood and heartwood I think) that are indicative of old aged wood. I know the piece of furniture isn't old, but the wood is definitely not new by any stretch.

Also the woodgrain on the top and the legset (and even the drawers) matches uncannily, as if the whole thing were from one tree. All of this would be very hard to do today, especially the grain pattern matching. I'm thinking the table was built less than 10 years ago, but the wood os OLD!

[Mac McAtee]

Boy, I sure would like to meet the guy who has the nerve to sell that table for $14,000+. Even better, be kin to the person who would pay that for it.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Well, it never sold because the guy who sold it to me worked for the people who handled the auction and at the end they gave things away to the staff since no one bought them. I don't believe the sale price would have been that high by any stretch. The more I look at this table, the more I think it is an antique. The surface wear is just too pronounced to be new. I know the wood itself is old, just don't know when the table was built or by who.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

OK, I just got confirmation that JEH was an importer and not a builder of reproductions or a representative of repro builders. Looks like I got a winner here. Not sure what it'll bring, but it's gonna be more than $75.

[Lee Schierer]

I think whoever appraised it for $14k wore a mask, carried a gun and is now serving 8-10 in the Texas State prison.

I think what you paid is a far more reasonable amount.

Lee

[Dave Anderson NH]

First off my cynical rephrasing of Abraham Lincoln regarding the importer/original seller, "You can fool all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time........ and that's usually sufficient!!"

I agee with Todd, it looks like SYP to me. It's not hard to char with a propane torch and then wire brush off the char on the softer wood to make the grain stand out as much 1/8". Faked antiques are fairly common at even the best dealers. I was at an antique show at the Peabody-Essex Museum last Fall and one of the dealers had a "Queen Anne tripod table " which was alleged to have been made around 1750 from Cherry. Roger Myers and I inspected it and both concluded it wasn't more than 1-4 years old. It was so obviously new that the dealer must have known it was a fake. Uncharacteristically, I didn't say anything.

If your table was actually that old (I've been know to be wrong before) maybe some of the now defunct company's records are still around somewhere. You'll not likely get much for the table without provenance.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

This very well could be a faker...it could be SYP, I have no proof it's not. I sure wish I could get someone who really knows this kind of thing to come and look at it (without costing me a fortune). The company was liquidated and so far no one knows how to reach any of the principals.

I will say that the grain matching is darn good and they must have gone to some expense to mill the lumber, then distress it.

I'm not expecting too much of it just in case, but it would be nice if it were worth a few bucks.

[Chris Padilla]

14600?? Maybe that is in lira, Kelly?? :D Still, for $100, it is a meaty nice looking table. You could chop out dovetails for many years on it, I believe. :)

[Keith Christopher]

If I were to fathom a guess on the top it looks like heart pine to me. The long darker growth looks just like some recovered heart pine I worked with about 2 months ago. Seems in baltimore they were big on heart pine timber frames in old warehouses. A local sawmill purchased a couple of these and your table looks like it to an almost match.

[Charles McKinley]

I'm with Chris the price tag has to be in Lira. ;)

On the other hand P.T. Barnum had a great trueism about a sucker born every minute and if you call it art the sky is the limit once you have a name. (There was a bag of garbage thrown out buy the cleaners at the Tate Museum supposedly some great work by some 1960's artist)

http://abcnews.go.com/wire/BackPage/reuters20040829_113.html

They wouldn't say what they paid the artist for a replacement bag of garbage.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

I didn't see a funny "L" Chris, but hey ya never know right? I am taking it one step at a time, I've offered it to a client of mine for $2250 without any documents to prove it's origin except what's shown on the website. I explained everything I know and left it for her to decide if she wants it or not. If not it will go to ebay with a correct description of what I know and don't know. Whatever it brings, it will be better than what I paid and much less than the price tag.

If we all find out later the maker is someone famous, it will all be good...I'm just sad it won't fit in my kitchen, I'd love to keep it!

[Joe Mioux]

Hi Kelly:

I think you asked (your first post) and answered your own question (post 15... the auctioneer GAVE away everything that didn't sell) as to the value the table.

Joe

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Joe, have you seen the Antiques Roadshow? We have a lot of new money here in Dallas and not a lot of brains, the fact that it never sold has absolutely no bearing on anything other than the fact that maybe no one in the gallery wanted it that day. There are many supercars from the 70's that no one bids on at auction because of many variables. Maybe the opening bid was too high, maybe no one wanted a kitchen table 9' long, maybe....get the idea?

I passed up a car in 1976 when gas shot up to 76 cents a gallon from .22...it was $1600...1970 454 SS Chevelle 4 speed w/air. One similar car sold for $90k at Barrett Jackson last year. I know that's a wild example, but the fact it did not sell means nothing to me. It's all in who might want it now that matters and how I price it.

[Joe Mioux]

Hi Kelly:

I made the assumption that the owner or the auctioneer knew the value of the table. If they did, why would they just give it away? If they didn't, then you got a good buy.

I hope your table is worth a lot more than $75.00. I was just evaluating your scenerio from a different angle. Also, your car scenerio doesn't apply here. If a car is to be auctioned off and it doesn't sell, the car is not given to the auction workers.

Again, I really hope you have something that is worth alot more than $75.00.

Good Luck & Best Wishes
Joe

[Kelly C. Hanna]

That's a good queston, it really depends on the terms and conditions of the bankruptcy proceedings. This table could have been moved out of the warehouse without permission by someone or just fallen through the cracks. It also could be a monumental fake, who knows?

I do know I can get a lot more than $75 just becuase I know how to sell on ebay. But the client I emailed is very interested so I may not have to list it.

[Robert Cox]

There is another possibility.

Perhaps the value on the tag is coded to reflect the real cost to the seller without overtly revealing it for inspection?


14685 could be code for 165

[Kelly C. Hanna]

It's official, it's an antique for sure. I called over a cabinet/furniture maker I know and he looked it over. The drawers are a newer addition to the table, the fronts were stretcher under the top, the mortises were filled in, the stretchers cut off and made into drawer fronts. He looked over the whole table and told me it was pretty old. He thinks somewhere between 75-85 years old due to the construction. He thinks it's Heart Pine. If my client doesn't want it for $2250, I'l start it on ebay with a $3500 reserve and see how it does.

I couldn't be more excited after hearing and seeing what he found! And...my 1023, sliding table and mobile base came today!!!

[Chris Padilla]

Kelly,

If you are interested, you might try and spend more time to figure out the provenance of the piece. If you can establish that, odds are good you could get even more for the piece or perhaps you'll discover it really is firewood. Dunno.

Best of luck to you...I think it is a very cool huge table regardless of where it came from and what its history is.

[Jeremy Bracey]

I vote you use it as an outfeed table. But I guess you didnt ask for a vote:(


Cool find. Good luck.

[Kelly C. Hanna]

Chris, I have feelers out for just that. I'd love to get some paperwork on it, but I fear that it's lost as the business went under in '03 and the stock was sold off at auction. So far no luck on finding the owner.