Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

This is an inlaid fruit dish made by my grandfather in the 1920s in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He did this as a hobby. He was a car inspector for the Southern Railroad for 51 years. He did this and he also did a dining room table, same type plan.

APPRAISER

This is a parquetry piece. When it's geometric and made up of lots of pieces of wood, we call it parquetry. When there's pictorial elements, we add the word "marquetry."

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

This was a men's hobby, and almost referred to in a way as "men's quilting." So men would work by themselves typically to create these pieces. They were made typically well into the 19th century, right up through the 20th century. And it was a European tradition that was brought over here with immigrants. Good pieces of parquetry typically are simple, square boxes with large pieces of wood.

GUEST

Yeah.

APPRAISER

When you start to get better, the pieces get a little smaller and maybe some shape takes place.

GUEST

Right. A little more creativity.

APPRAISER

And then you have the best pieces.

GUEST

Right.

APPRAISER

And this is a piece that falls into the "best" category.

GUEST

Good. I think the family history says there are 7,000 pieces of wood in this one piece?

APPRAISER

That's right. The work is really, really exquisite. You have some marquetry elements, with a flower. And it really becomes in that "best" category because he even embellished the bottom. This was not going to be seen, but yet he felt compelled to do it.

GUEST

Yeah.

APPRAISER

So here is this piece that a hundred years later, it's tight, it's smooth as silk, the wood is not popping or separating...

GUEST

That's right.

APPRAISER

And therefore he really knew what he was doing. He was self-educated, so...

GUEST

learned on his own.

APPRAISER

In terms of value, we see pieces like this and they tend to trade in the few-hundred-dollar range. But when we get into the best in these parquetry pieces, we now elevate the price. I think a nice retail price for this piece would be somewhere in the $3,000 to $4,000 area.

GUEST

Yes. My family will be proud.