1878 Scandinavian Small Valuables Box

Appraised on: June 26, 2004

Appraised in: St. Paul, Minnesota

Appraised by: Marybeth Keene

Category: Folk Art

Episode Info: St. Paul, Hour 1 (#901)

Originally Aired: January 3, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (1:31)

GUEST: It's from my husband's family. His great-grandfather brought it from Norway when they immigrated here in the late 1800s.

APPRAISER: Well, what's wonderful about this particular box is the fact that it says "Norland,"which is the Northlands-- or Scandinavia-- and it's written right here. And then it says brought to "North America," so it really shows that it came from Scandinavia to North America. It also has the date of 1878 on it, so that's when they came and brought their treasure. And the box itself is pretty wonderful even if it didn't have all that great information on it. It's a beautiful dovetailed box, beautifully painted. And I'm going to tip this up so that you can see the bent-over nails. And this is what I love, too, is the handle mark where the handle has been hitting there for years, and also this wonderful decoration. Because of all the information on it and the wonderful paint, the wonderful decoration and its absolutely almost pristine condition, I would say is somewhere between $1,200 and $1,500.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh. I think it'll get off the floor in the living room and get up high where the grandkids can't... sit on it and play. And my husband will be excited. It takes a little bit more for him to get excited about the old stuff that I love so much.