Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: The Longmont Historical Society in Longmont-- it's a small town north of Denver-- has a fundraiser twice a year.

And we found this.

The man wanted $500 for it.

We walked around for a little while.

We came back, and he said, "All right, you can have it for $350."

So we said, "Okay, that sounds good."

And my husband is really good at researching.

He took the name "Amanda Strattan," and he was able to find out some information about her.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: She went to a school, I believe it was called the Tidball School, in Pennsylvania.

The school taught the young girls.

And we think she was nine when she did this APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: which is just amazing.

She went on to marry a-a Civil War soldier, actually an officer.

She had two children, but she contracted cholera, and she died really young.

APPRAISER: Oh, no!

GUEST: So we kind of feel like we really want to preserve this.

APPRAISER: And you're quite right, this was from a school in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, which is today a suburb of Pittsburgh.

The school was in operation from about 1834 to 1854, so 20 years.

And we know that samplers were being made, at-at least at the school, at least until the 1840s.

There are at least 15 samplers from the Tidball School that are known.

The Tidball School is known for these very large, distinctive flowers.

What's unusual about this for the Tidball School is the great house in the middle.

You have a little dog here.

And then over on your side at the bottom, you see at least three sheep.

And the third sheep, he-he's sort of cut off.

And that's because the sampler is folded under.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And it's folded under because they put it in this awful drink tray!

GUEST: (chuckling) Yes.

APPRAISER: It's dated 1836, but the tray that it is in is probably from the 1920s.

GUEST: It's terrible.

APPRAISER: So it has nothing to do with the date of the sampler.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: So what do you think it's worth?

GUEST: Well, I-I think it probably is worth $500.

APPRAISER: Yeah?

How about more than that?

How about, maybe, ten times more than that?

Maybe $5,000?

I-I think a good auction estimate would be $4,000 to $6,000.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: So you got a great bargain.

You got something you really love.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness!

(sighs) (voice breaking) I mean, we'll keep it forever, but.