1 00:00:02,602 --> 00:00:06,940 GUEST: Uh, my dad was a professor at the University of California, and they had just finished 2 00:00:06,940 --> 00:00:11,344 updating an old house and needed to furnish it. 3 00:00:11,344 --> 00:00:16,549 And they went to an auction and pretty much bought up any pieces of old oak furniture 4 00:00:16,549 --> 00:00:19,152 they could find. 5 00:00:19,152 --> 00:00:24,691 My mother has told me that if he paid ten dollars for it, it probably was a lot. 6 00:00:24,691 --> 00:00:25,992 APPRAISER: So you remember this as a kid? 7 00:00:25,992 --> 00:00:26,893 GUEST: I do. 8 00:00:26,893 --> 00:00:27,994 I do. 9 00:00:27,994 --> 00:00:28,862 APPRAISER: Wow. 10 00:00:28,862 --> 00:00:30,296 Wow. 11 00:00:30,296 --> 00:00:32,232 GUEST: It had a long journey. 12 00:00:32,232 --> 00:00:33,233 It left Berkeley, it lived in Jerusalem, Israel, for many, many years. 13 00:00:33,233 --> 00:00:35,702 APPRAISER: Wow. 14 00:00:35,702 --> 00:00:41,307 GUEST: And when my father passed away, and my mother left her house there, um, she divided 15 00:00:41,307 --> 00:00:45,078 up some of her things, and this was one of the pieces I picked to bring back to the United 16 00:00:45,078 --> 00:00:47,647 States for me, because I liked it. 17 00:00:47,647 --> 00:00:50,617 APPRAISER: This is in a style a lot of people refer to as Mission. 18 00:00:50,617 --> 00:00:54,921 Uh, Gustav Stickley was not fond of the term "Mission." 19 00:00:54,921 --> 00:00:58,091 "Mission" refers to Spanish Colonial Mission furniture. 20 00:00:58,091 --> 00:01:00,126 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 21 00:01:00,126 --> 00:01:02,662 APPRAISER: This is more Arts and Crafts in the European tradition. 22 00:01:02,662 --> 00:01:04,864 Stickley and the Stickley family is a fascinating story. 23 00:01:04,864 --> 00:01:06,299 Gustav had many brothers. 24 00:01:06,299 --> 00:01:08,501 There were five of them. 25 00:01:08,501 --> 00:01:10,637 There were several iterations of the Stickley companies. 26 00:01:10,637 --> 00:01:13,073 GUEST: Okay. 27 00:01:13,073 --> 00:01:17,510 APPRAISER: This iteration was with two brothers, Albert and John George Stickley. 28 00:01:17,510 --> 00:01:24,317 Uh, they came together to form Stickley Brothers Company in roughly 1891. 29 00:01:24,317 --> 00:01:29,756 And then they launched this line called Quaint Furniture in roughly 1903. 30 00:01:29,756 --> 00:01:32,292 It has the model number, which I get a kick out of. 31 00:01:32,292 --> 00:01:33,560 GUEST: (laughs) 32 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,429 APPRAISER: 314 and a half. 33 00:01:36,429 --> 00:01:40,500 So what we have here is a piece that many people refer to as a taboret. 34 00:01:40,500 --> 00:01:43,103 A taboret can be a stool. 35 00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:45,371 GUEST: (chuckles) 36 00:01:45,371 --> 00:01:48,641 APPRAISER: Uh, I think, however, this table was intended to be used as a plant stand or 37 00:01:48,641 --> 00:01:49,576 a lamp stand. 38 00:01:49,576 --> 00:01:51,344 GUEST: Oh. 39 00:01:51,344 --> 00:01:51,478 APPRAISER: The whole piece is made of white oak. 40 00:01:51,478 --> 00:01:53,546 Mm. 41 00:01:53,546 --> 00:01:54,881 And there was another version of this which was in dark oak. 42 00:01:54,881 --> 00:01:57,317 GUEST: Oh! 43 00:01:57,317 --> 00:02:01,488 APPRAISER: And that was a fumed finish or an ammonia finish to get it nice and dark. 44 00:02:01,488 --> 00:02:06,326 This one is closer to natural, but when you cut it on an angle, it gives you, like, a 45 00:02:06,326 --> 00:02:07,327 tiger pattern. 46 00:02:07,327 --> 00:02:09,362 GUEST: Right. 47 00:02:09,362 --> 00:02:11,331 APPRAISER: And you may have heard people call, uh, oak tiger oak. 48 00:02:11,331 --> 00:02:13,766 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 49 00:02:13,766 --> 00:02:16,302 APPRAISER: Well, it's really quarter-sawn and it has to do with how the lumber is cut 50 00:02:16,302 --> 00:02:21,474 down to reveal a more expressive, dancy fluid in the grain. 51 00:02:21,474 --> 00:02:25,745 We have a very, very thick top, and then the thickness steps down to a slightly thinner 52 00:02:25,745 --> 00:02:27,514 leg. 53 00:02:27,514 --> 00:02:29,382 On the top, we see the legs coming through. 54 00:02:29,382 --> 00:02:32,118 That's a tenon. 55 00:02:32,118 --> 00:02:35,989 And then over here, we have this connection pulling the whole form together with these 56 00:02:35,989 --> 00:02:39,325 wedge-shaped pieces. 57 00:02:39,325 --> 00:02:46,132 So there's no screws, there's no nails, there's no hidden aspect to the way this is made. 58 00:02:46,132 --> 00:02:53,106 Arts and Crafts collectors are very keen on originality and finish. 59 00:02:53,106 --> 00:02:56,476 They do like the darker version slightly more than the lighter version. 60 00:02:56,476 --> 00:02:58,878 Um, there are some boo-boos... 61 00:02:58,878 --> 00:03:00,380 GUEST: (chuckling) 62 00:03:00,380 --> 00:03:00,880 APPRAISER:...or blemishes on this table. 63 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:03,449 GUEST: Definitely. 64 00:03:03,449 --> 00:03:06,252 APPRAISER: But all told, it's still very desirable because they're so easy to use and they're 65 00:03:06,252 --> 00:03:08,488 so practical. 66 00:03:08,488 --> 00:03:13,793 In this original condition, at auction, this would bring about $800. 67 00:03:13,793 --> 00:03:17,197 And the same piece in a dark finish, with roughly the same, uh, blemishes, would bring 68 00:03:17,197 --> 00:03:19,832 about $1,200. 69 00:03:19,832 --> 00:03:23,002 In a gallery, no problem-- $2,000 for a piece like this. 70 00:03:23,002 --> 00:03:26,372 GUEST: And if it didn't have the blemishes? 71 00:03:26,372 --> 00:03:30,376 APPRAISER: If you had something that was free of any of these blemishes, to the right collector, 72 00:03:30,376 --> 00:03:31,444 it's easily $3,000. 73 00:03:31,444 --> 00:03:33,546 GUEST: Whoa! 74 00:03:33,546 --> 00:03:34,847 (laughs) Not what I would have expected. 75 00:03:34,847 --> 00:03:34,647 APPRAISER: (laughs)