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GUEST: My friend Linda...

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GUEST: ...who is now 81, gifted 
this to me about five or six 
years ago. Her father

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traveled extensively, and, uh, 
the late '60s, early '70s. And 
he went to Japan,

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and he went to the factory where 
this was produced, and that's 
where it was purchased.

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APPRAISER: The factory that this 
was bought in was in Japan, and 
it was a factory that actually

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manufactured lacquer, lacquer 
wares. But what they also did 
is, they sold antique lacquer 
objects.

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GUEST: Okay. That is 
what this is. (whispers)

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APPRAISER: Yes. So this was 
not manufactured by them.

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APPRAISER: It was sold by 
them. So that's one part.

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GUEST: Okay.

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APPRAISER: Now, the second part 
is just the stunning decoration. 
You can see the cranes,

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and then you can see the sky and 
the waves. There's a variety of 
gold and silver. All of

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this is accentuated by the black 
ground, which is lacquer. Cranes 
represent in

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Japan, and throughout Asia, long 
life and happiness and success. 
So this is a Japanese

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lacquer writing box and table, 
and it dates to around 1900. You 
can see inside the case,

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you've got an ink cake stick at 
the bottom over here. There are 
several brushes that are 
lacquer.

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APPRAISER: You have a little 
silver container at the top for 
other implements. And in the 
center

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of it, also, is the ink stone. 
What we see is just this mix of 
skills of a silversmith,

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lacquer workers, the people 
that designed this scene,

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that came together to create 
truly what is a masterwork. What 
do you think it's worth?

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GUEST: There was a receipt.

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GUEST: When he purchased it, he 
paid around $2,200, U.S. 
dollars, for it.

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APPRAISER: That was a 
lot of money in 1966.

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GUEST: Yeah, '66 is when 
he bought it. And so,

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well, I would hope it has 
doubled in value, that would be 
nice.

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APPRAISER: The Japanese market 
has been very interesting. What 
we had is a peak of

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the market in the late '80s, 
early '90s, and a gradual 
diminution in interest...

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GUEST: Oh.

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APPRAISER: ...up to where we are 
now. But because this is so 
extraordinary...

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GUEST: Ah.

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APPRAISER: ...it's going to do a 
little bit more than what you 
thought. I think that in

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an auction situation, this would 
realize somewhere between 
$10,000 and $15,000.

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GUEST: Wow, wow! Blows my mind!

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APPRAISER: (laughs)

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GUEST: (chuckles) Really? Oh. 
Well, I don't know what to say.

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APPRAISER: (laughs) GUEST: 
(chuckles) Wow! That's 
wonderful.