GUEST
I was perusing online and was looking for a glass table, and I stumbled upon this for $100. I figured, heck, that glass is probably worth that. So I went and picked it up.
APPRAISER
And about what year was it?
GUEST
2009 or 2010. Right when I bought it, I'd seen a matching one online, but it was in a gallery in L.A. And then, but it got sold, like, almost immediately and was taken down. And then I forgot to write down the artist's name.
And so I don't know anything about it.
APPRAISER
Did the person selling it give any indication of whether or not they knew this was by a known sculptor?
GUEST
Um, the only thing he said to me was that his late wife, her parents were millionaires, and it was theirs.
APPRAISER
Do you use this in your home? Where do you store it? Tell me more about how you use it.
GUEST
Um, I used it for about a year or two, and then I moved, and it's just been sitting in my basement for about the last ten years, I'd say.
APPRAISER
This is by a California sculptor and furniture maker named Daniel Gluck. Some retailers who've handled similar examples of this title it "Maze" or "The Maze."
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
And I have not been able to drill down, is that a title the artist gave it, or perhaps later a dealer or gallery thought up that name. But this is in keeping with other examples of this form by the sculptor, Daniel Gluck, working in Los Angeles as Daniel Gluck Studios.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
And this was created 1970 to 1975.
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
Certain examples have had an applied metal tag that the artist signed "Gluck." I looked this over really thoroughly and did not see one. It's a piece of Brutalist furniture. And Brutalism speaks to this certain kind of austerity, or a crudeness, or almost a hostility...
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
...in how kind of raw and some would say unpleasant-looking.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
But obviously, to others, it is very pleasant-looking.
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
It's very much in keeping with Brutalist furniture that started in the 1950s and '60s, but was still being produced throughout the '70s.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
What I think is really interesting about Gluck is that he also worked as a set decorator in Hollywood and designed sets for two of the Star Trek movies.
GUEST
Oh, wow! That's so cool. I'm a big Star Trek fan, so that's awesome.
APPRAISER
This table has had a life.
GUEST
Yes.
APPRAISER
There are some broken-off elements that you actually have with you here that could be easily restored back onto the piece. And I'm not really speaking to the condition of the glass top.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
Because pretty much any seller of this type of furniture...
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
...would get rid of any glass top that came with it.
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
Because they're going to put a pristine, new...
GUEST
Yeah, it's...
APPRAISER
...piece of glass on it. This table base, in the current condition...
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
...I think has a retail value of around $8,500.
GUEST
Wow! That's awesome. Heck, yeah.
APPRAISER
So you did pretty good for...
GUEST
Yeah! $100! Can't, that's a good turnaround on that.
APPRAISER
In better condition, examples of this can sell for as much as $12,000 to $13,000.
GUEST
Okay. Wow.
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