Tuesday, November 06, 2007

I've got legs...

...but I don't know how to use them!

I stopped by a yard sale this weekend. My mom bought a hooked rug and some silverplate for $8, while I eyed these unusually carved legs. "How much for these?" I asked, not sure if the price tag read $40 or $400.

"Four dollars," the husband replied.

"For each leg?" I clarified.

"For all four of them. Heck, I'll take two dollars, if you're interested." And with a conspiratorial glance at his wife, I could tell that the legs had been taking up precious garage space for at least two years. The instant I pulled out my wallet, he jumped up, grabbed one under each arm, and headed toward my car.

I'm hoping to resell them on Craig's List. I think they would make fabulous accent brackets for a kitchen island or bar. Does anyone have any thoughts on their age or origin? They have old casters under the feet and wooden screws on the top.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Looks great, now if you knew someone who could make furniture, you could make an excellent coffee table to sell with them.

Deanna

Tamara said...

These are lovely, Meredith! What a great find (and a great deal)! I think they'd be wonderful as corbels under a mantle beam. Or used independently as corbel shelves, perhaps topped with plate glass.

Anonymous said...

i think they might be from an old square piano

Mimi said...

It's interesting that they have wooden screws. That would support anonymous' theory that they might have come from a piano. I'm not sure if the proportions are right for that, though. Of course, it's hard to tell from a photo.

I wonder if the man who sold them to you could give you some idea where they came from.

I'm certain that something delightful could be made with them!

Meredith said...

YES! Y'all are brilliant. When I read "piano legs," that made perfect sense.

Coffee tables are a modern invention, and these legs are too old to have come from those.

Yet, their bulky scale and huge casters makes them too big to have been legs on a side table.

The gentleman who sold them to me was a tradesman who worked for a lady renovating a historic house. She passed them along to him, but neither of them knew where they came from.

Cat said...

I'm late in commenting on this, but my sister has those exact legs on her table, which she made from the shell of an old piano. Yes, indeed, I think your previous commenter is right. Here is a photo of a similar piece:

http://www.atlantapianotuner.com/DSCN0608.JPG

Anonymous said...

The are gorgeous! I would have grabbed them, too!

Anonymous said...

Those are so pretty! I see you have probably solved the mystery...but I just needed to say the title (and first line) of this post cracked me up.