GUEST: This has been passed down on my wife's, uh, side of the family for generations. We found some letters documenting that it started in, I believe, 1859, and that it was made for one of the daughters of the great-great-great- grandfather. They settled in an area called Lancaster. The letter also stated that it was to be given to the eldest daughter of the family as the generations progressed. Um… so my wife ended up with it in 1997...
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: ...and she's intending to give it to her daughter.
APPRAISER: It's interesting that you said Lancaster, PA, because when I saw this box I thought Pennsylvania, and what we have here is like a child's chest. It's got this great salmon-colored paint. And this floral decoration on the front, top, and sides are very indicative of the type of paint decoration you see on Pennsylvania furniture, I'd say mid-19th century. And one of the ways we can tell that is by the shape of the turned foot here. I would say that this is actually the original paint of the box.
GUEST: Whoa!
APPRAISER: It's got great surface, and cute sells. Everybody loves diminutive things, this great child's blanket chest. If this were in an antique store, I wouldn't bat an eye if I saw a price tag of $2,500 on a piece like this.
GUEST: Whoa!
APPRAISER: Gonna view it a little differently now?
GUEST: Oh, yeah, oh, yeah!
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: Wow, who would have known?
