GUEST: Well, it was a piece that our parents purchased at an antique auction in Southern California back in the late '60s, early '70s. And when they purchased it, they took it home in the back of a Chrysler Imperial. I think it's English from the turn of the century, but I don't really know much more about it.
APPRAISER: Well, the piece is English, and it really is a very typical piece made in the English Arts and Crafts style. There was a company in England that was very successful and very influential throughout all of Europe called Liberty. And in fact, Liberty & Co. became known in France and continental parts of Europe as having a style of its own. It was a department store and a manufacturer.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And they employed a number of designers, but one of them was named Leonard Wyburd, and Leonard Wyburd was the in-house designer for Liberty's until the early 1900s. In that period, he brought in a Moorish influence. And on this cabinet, we can see these bottle glass windows, which is a very typical Leonard Wyburd style of bringing in a Moorish Spanish element and incorporating it into what was then kind of a new, fresh style. There's a lot of elements on here that are typical of the English Arts and Crafts style. This really classic arch, very long, very narrow, broad arch is very typical of Arts and Crafts period furniture made in England. Another Moorish element is this column here. The column gives it a really wonderful kind of lightness. It's a very big, tall, heavy cabinet, but these very thin, elegant columns really help to lighten the cabinet up. Also, this very long, thin crest. Other elements that we have in this cabinet are the hammered copper straps and hinges. The lock plates, all these French lever locks that were typical and we know that are original. Do you remember what was paid for it?
GUEST: $175.
APPRAISER: The cabinet today is not as popular as it was a few years ago.
GUEST: Sure.
APPRAISER: But at auction I would estimate the value at about $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST: Awesome, that's great.
