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GUEST: This is a piece that 
I purchased at a flea market 
in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota,

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in about 1969 or 1970. And 
we bought it so that we would 
have a change table for our

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firstborn baby. I have pictures 
of my daughter at six months 
sitting in a bathtub on top

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of this buffet.

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APPRAISER: Do you remember 
how much you paid for it?

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GUEST: This antique dealer 
down there had several buffets 
of different types, and he

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wanted to clean out his antique 
store because they were taking 
up so much room, so he said

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that we could have any 
one we wanted for $25.

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APPRAISER: Wow! And do 
you know who made it?

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GUEST: I believe it's 
a Stickley, because 
I found the labels, 
actually, like, this week,

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as I'm getting it 
ready to bring it here.

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APPRAISER: So the piece is by 
Stickley, and the firm, while 
not owned by the family, is

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still in business today. 
But this piece was made 
by Craftsman, which 
was a Stickley company,

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which was started at around 
1900. What we also know is 
that it was retailed through

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their New York showrooms, and 
then that's really helpful, 
because then we have a better

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sense of when it was made, 
and we are able to say it was 
between about 1905 and 1910.

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So the paper label on the back 
has all of that information 
for us, which is really,

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really helpful. The Stickley 
Brothers firm was established 
in upstate New York just outside

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of Syracuse. So they're 
very firmly an upstate 
New York company. The 
Arts and Crafts movement,

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which came over from England, 
sort of was really established 
in upstate New York by

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Stickley. Some people refer to 
this as Mission-style furniture.

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: And Stickley really 
didn't like the use of that 
term. He really preferred

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Arts and Crafts. It's a much 
more simplistic term. He had 
these very simplistic visions

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in life and in community, 
and this is a really 
wonderful example of 
one of his pieces. It's

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made of oak, with these 
wonderful quarter-sawn 
oak panels here and 
this absolutely fabulous

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hammered-copper hardware-- 
these wonderful big hinges. 
You've got the big ring handle,

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cabinet door handles, and then 
also the drawer pulls. Also, 
this piece back here, do you

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know what this is for?

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GUEST: Yeah, for plates. I 
always have put plates in there.

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APPRAISER: Yup, that's exactly 
right, that's for plates. And 
then what's really nice...

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We have the Stickley 
mark in there.

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: Which is a joiner's 
compass. And it says, "Als Ik 
Kan," which, loosely translated,

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means "To the best of 
my ability." I would 
call it a sideboard. 
I think you had called

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it a buffet.

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GUEST: Mm-hmm.

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APPRAISER: They're very 
interchangeable terms. 
What's really lovely 
about this piece is that

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the finish is almost completely 
original. Do you see there's 
a color variation along

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this front edge? It's 
a little lighter, this 
warm honey color here?

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GUEST: Yeah.

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APPRAISER: Well, that's simply 
because when people were 
cleaning and dusting it, they

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really just focused on dusting 
the front edge, so then you 
have this transition back to the

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back, where it maybe wasn't 
dusted as much. That's a really 
good way to look at the finish

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and have a sense of whether 
it's original or not.

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GUEST: Really?

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APPRAISER: I can tell you $25 
was a very good investment.

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GUEST: (laughs)

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APPRAISER: If I were to see this 
come up for auction today, I 
would expect to see an auction

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estimate of between around 
about $3,000 and $5,000.

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GUEST: Okay. Well, that's 
exciting. That's fun. 
Now we, now we know.