GUEST: It belonged to my grandmother, who passed away when my father was only 16. So it's been in the family. However, it was sold in an estate sale back when he was 16, for money for him, and a distant cousin bought it. And then, as we grew together as a family, again, after later in life, the cousin said, well, she had a plant stand that belonged to my dad's mother. And so we went up to Missouri, in Joplin, Missouri, and picked it up.

APPRAISER: We figured out that we can firmly attribute this table to this company, Charles Parker of Meriden, Connecticut. It started in the early 1830s and it continued throughout, almost till the end of the 19th century.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: I would date this table somewhere around 1880. And they were known for making flatware, spectacles, spectacle cases...

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Coffee mills, some furniture. So they were a big company.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: But not particularly well-known, like some of their contemporaries. But this, to me, this table is a wonderful example of sort of the Aesthetic sort of Japanesque design. There's a, there's a design of elements that's unexpected and, for me, exciting to look at. This is definitely my kind of thing. And I think you mentioned that your dad fixed it up. It looks like he polished it up a bit.

GUEST: He polished it up, he did, and replaced the marble piece on top.

APPRAISER: All right.

GUEST: And did a little painting on the background only, of this piece, but other than that...

APPRAISER: So we've... So we've got, we've got thistles and, uh, an exotic dancer.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: With a tambourine.

GUEST: Tambourine player.

APPRAISER: We found other examples. There's an example in the Brooklyn Museum. There's an example in the Victoria and Albert Museum and other places. Not exactly like this, but with many of the same elements.

GUETS: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So I find this very exciting because it's, it's kind of dazzling. I can see a big Boston fern on top of it, that kind of thing. And the company called this table, its category, artistic bronze goods.

GUEST: Huh!

APPRAISER: So, kinda, kinda nifty. So I've learned a little bit, like, looking into this.

GUEST: Sure.

APPRAISER: About the company and the table. But the thing that attracted me the most to it is that it's just plain wonderful.

GUEST: Well, thank you.

APPRAISER: So do you have any idea as to what its value would be?

GUEST: Not at all-- I mean, family. But other than that, we really don't.

APPRAISER: Well, this Aesthetic Movement furniture continues to be popular.

GUEST: Hm.

APPRAISER: At auction, I would estimate the value of the table between $800 and $1,200.

GUEST: Wow, great. That's wonderful. Thank you.

APPRAISER: Thanks, thanks for lugging it in here. I appreciate it.

GUEST: Oh, absolutely, no. It's one of my favorite pieces.