Q: I am sending you photos of a cabinet I purchased 13 years ago. It has a “Sellers Kitchen Cabinet” metal plate on the top unit, but I am not sure if it is original or been added. I had someone (not an antique expert by any means) tell me that the bottom was not made by Sellers and they weren’t sure the top was either.
Is there a specific way to tell the difference in brands? Did Sellers make possum belly drawers? Do you know if these two pieces went together? I would like to try to sell this unit, but I have no idea how to value it, especially if it is mix matched pieces. There is also about a one-quarter-inch wide space in the top of the table, under the hutch section.

Could you tell me the approximate value of this piece?

A: No Hoosier style cabinet that I have ever seen had possum belly drawers like that. The base to your unit is a baker’s table, circa 1890-1900, maker unknown. The top probably was not made by Sellers. Sellers almost always used vertical lift center tambour doors, never horizontal. Hoosier on the other hand never used a vertical lift door that I have seen, relying only on horizontal tambours. Your top unit appears to be a Hoosier unit circa 1921-1925. At best you have a mislabeled marriage. Value is “make an offer.”

I strongly recommend the book Hoosier Cabinets by Phillip D. Kennedy. It is available on Amazon.

Q: I am sending you a picture of the wicker/cane chair I inherited. I have no idea of the age or value of the chair. I’ve had the chair in my possession for at least 25 years. Would you be able to make an assessment of the chair

A: Your chair is called a “faux bamboo” chair. The turnings are meant to resemble the texture of bamboo. The seat is made of natural cattail rush, a very different substance from cane of wicker. Faux bamboo was especially popular just before and around then turn of the 20th century. That’s when your chair was made - 1890-1910. It would sell at auction in the $100 range.

Q: I am sending several pictures of a very old desk that my husband purchased 35 plus years ago in Marquette, Mich. It is all walnut, is a two piece desk and has a leather insert in the top of the desk. The two pulls on the two middle top drawers are replacements but are very old. The desk is approximately 62.75-inches high and 53-inches wide. On two places it is marked U.S. Property. There is discussion as to whether this was a postal desk or a land surveyor’s desk. Government surveyors were in this area of Upper Michigan in 1840 or even before. A post office was established in Marquette in the 1850s.

We would appreciate anything you can tell us about this desk, such as style, time period, and your thoughts as whether it is a postal or land surveyor’s desk.

A: Your desk is in the Renaissance Revival style of the 1870s/1880s. It is more likely to be a postal officer’s desk than a surveyor’s because of the limited top surface space. A surveyor needs to lay out plat books, etc.

In good condition it would sell in the $1,000 plus range at auction.