GUEST: I brought a chest that my mother bought at a house sale in the '50s, and this was actually in the garage.

It was all painted gray, and the man was storing his tools in it.

APPRAISER: So, I-- it's quite a tool chest!

GUEST: And her friends-- Yes!

And her friends told her to buy it.

And one of the friends said she thought it was Dutch and thought it was really old.

APPRAISER: And so where was the estate sale?

GUEST: In Winnetka, Illinois, uh.

APPRAISER: So she had the paint taken off...

GUEST: She did.

APPRAISER: ...and brought down to the natural wood.

Would it surprise you if I told you this was an Italian Renaissance piece from the 17th century?

GUEST: So it's-- Oh, my gosh.

So it's not Dutch.

APPRAISER: No.

GUEST: And it's seven-- isn't that 16-something?

APPRAISER: Yes.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh, Andrew.

APPRAISER: Yes.

GUEST: That's lovely.

APPRAISER: It's probably about 1620 to '60.

It's made out of walnut.

What I absolutely love is on the front you've got these tapering pilasters which are reminiscent of Roman architecture and columns.

So if we pull the drawer out, take a look at the way it's constructed.

The Italians tended to use thick boards for the secondary wood and not very highly finished.

But they did take the time to-to chamfer the drawer on a 45.

And if we look at the drawer apron, you can see right here, they've chamfered this opening right here on a 45 to mimic the drawer front.

So this provides a much tighter, seamless fit.

And if we look on the backside...

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: ...you've got these... backboards that aren't finished.

And that's the way the Italians made it.

But, you know... this one is, is done pretty nicely.

For something that's from the 1600s, 17th century, it's in pretty good shape.

And we've got some worm damage on the top.

And if you look at this corner, you can see there's been a-a patch to it.

I can see in the front here we-we had a-a different lock at one point.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And if we continue down, these foot facings were replaced.

GUEST: I wondered about that.

Now, maybe the man who refinished it for my mother did that?

I don't know.

It's always been like this since I've known it.

APPRAISER: You probably didn't know what your mother paid for it, right?

GUEST: I didn't, no, and she never would have told us 'cause she never wanted my dad to know what she paid for stuff.

APPRAISER: (laughs) I love it.

GUEST: So, yeah, she wouldn't have told us.

APPRAISER: If you want to keep it in the family...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...I would probably insure this for $2,000 today...

GUEST: Oh, my gosh.

Oh.

APPRAISER: ...which is, it pains me to say that, because I think it should be so much more.

Stylistically, not as many people want to decorate with this heavier furniture.

GUEST: Oh no.

Mm-hmm.