APPRAISER: This piece of furniture was made in this country sometime in the very late 19th to the early part of the 20th century.

It's a good quality piece of furniture.

Um, a good example of the craftsmanship that was still evident in the furniture manufacturing business, uh, in America at this time.

It is-- it couldn't be characterized as being any particular style.

It's sort of a, a combination of styles.

A, a design cooked up by some designer who worked for the company.

Uh, we could almost call it colonial revival in a sense.

Um, in the 18th century, you would not find a piece of furniture that looks precisely like this, but you would see certain elements, uh, in pieces, isolated elements.

If we go from top to bottom, we see that the piece is made out of s-solid mahogany and veneers.

Uh, veneers are used in this instance not because it's of lesser quality, but to achieve a certain effect.

In this case, they've matched these veneers right up the middle and then centered this really beautifully inlaid, uh, d-- cartouche design, embellished it with exotic woods and even, I think, a little bit of mother of pearl here that's yellowed a bit through a varnish.

The inlaid stringing, which outlines the back and continues on down the arms, down the leg supports and so on, again, is the mark of quality.

The difference between this piece of furniture and a piece of furniture that was made, uh, earlier, is in construction.

You can see through a little bit of shrinkage here that this lyre-form pierced, uh, back splat is doweled into the back.

An earlier piece of furniture would not be made in that way.

You would in all likelihood see a mortise and tenon joint, um, rather than the dowel, uh, situation.

Did you put the upholstery on this?

GUEST: I-- It came from my grandparents' home, so I don't know what was added and what wasn't.

APPRAISER: Well, someone selected a really wonderful textile.

I mean, it's appropriate for the piece, um, and it's in very fine condition.

Is it-- have you sat in it?

Is it comfortable?

GUEST: Oh no, dear, no.

APPRAISER: (laughing) I think you can sit in it.

Just don't lean back too much.

I think probably, in all likelihood, these brass cap casters are original to it.

It might have been a piece of furniture that, uh, matched a couple of other chairs, I don't know.

Because it is not an accurate copy of an early piece, but rather kind of a, a combination of styles.

There are those people looking for accurate, old quality copies who would not be particularly attracted to this piece.

On the other hand, I know of collectors who specifically will go after this, because of the wonderful combinations of, uh, design elements.

And it's pretty, it's small, so that makes it marketability a little bit more in that it would fit in a small apartment, could be used in a variety of situations in a sitting room, a bedroom, or whatever.

So, now I suppose we could get to the clincher here.

What's it worth?

GUEST: (chuckles) Yeah.

APPRAISER: Um, I would think in an-- in auction situation, for example, you might expect to see it, uh, bring somewhere between, oh, $300 and $500, something like that.

It's sort of an-- We could call it an antique of tomorrow and I'd hang onto it.

Just don't sit too hard on it.

GUEST: (laughing) Okay, thank you.

APPRAISER: All right, thanks a lot.