GUEST: It's an inherited piece through my wife's family. We really don't know too much about the piece.
APPRAISER: Okay-- it's difficult to determine origin for pieces of furniture made in the 19th century. America experienced a tremendous amount of growth from 1850 to 1900, and there was furniture factories virtually from California to New York. So, some of the things we look for can indicate the region in which a piece was made. And in this particular piece, we can see that it has a lot of decorative elements and a level of quality that's consistent with furniture produced along the Atlantic seaboard. But I think that we feel safe to say that it was a very skilled cabinetmaker working in the Mid-Atlantic region, probably New York.
GUEST: And you think of mid-19th century? Is that...
APPRAISER: About 1870, 1875. Today's market, value on it at auction would be about $2,000 to $3,000.
GUEST: That's actually more than I was anticipating.
APPRAISER: Oh, that's good.
GUEST: In fact, I was actually expecting you to say that it was a European piece, judging by its ornateness, and, uh...
APPRAISER: Good.
GUEST: So I'm kind of pleasantly surprised that it's American-made.
