GUEST: My great-great-grandfather was friends with a guy named Nicholson, who was a steamboat captain. I think he ran a line of steamboats that traveled from the Great Lakes all the way down to New Orleans. And they were friends because we did business with his son-in-law's correctional institute up outside of Detroit, where they made furniture in this shop, and we bought their furniture from that shop and brought it to St. Louis through his steamboats and sold them. Nicholson had his son-in-law have the prisoners make this chair for my great-great-grandfather, and that's what happened.
APPRAISER: Whose name was...
GUEST: Lammert, Martin Lammert. It was part of the memorabilia as the history of the company evolved. We kept things that were important, and this chair was always important because it sat out in front like a sign.
APPRAISER: So it was pulled out because I look at the size of it, of course, and this says, "Notice me." Obviously, it was shouting out. And I noticed also these huge casters on the feet, these double casters, which were meant to pull it out of a building, right?
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And you've actually got here, you've brought in...
GUEST: This is a lithograph stone of one of our downtown buildings. As we grew, the buildings got bigger and bigger, and the flag on the building there says "Lammert."
APPRAISER: So it's in reverse because this was meant to print. What an amazing document. I mean, it's just unbelievable advertising in the late 19th century, which stylistically, this dates to the late Victorian period. Looking at the design, starting at the base, these faceted legs, turnings here, this skirt with the gilt decoration, all of this is late Victorian right up to the spindles and then the shell motif.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: All of that looks about 1885 or 1890. The condition is pretty amazing. There's been some repainting up here on the top. In terms of value, I would say because of the wow factor, which is that folk art appeal-- the craftsmanship and the decoration make such a statement-- with this stone, I think the two together, I would put an auction estimate range of $10,000 to $20,000.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: But I really think that if you got two bidders who really wanted this...
GUEST: Fighting back and forth.
APPRAISER: ...it could just fly over that.
GUEST: Great.
APPRAISER: And I want to thank you for bringing it in.
GUEST: Thanks a lot!
