He told me he paid around $200, several years ago at a little mom & pop antique shop while traveling. He said he's had it for a while.
I contacted an appraiser today. I sent her the pictures. She told me that due to the lack of markings, there is a very good liklihood that it was commissioned. She said it's definitely old, and definitely handmade...but that was as far as she would go without charging me $150 an hour to research it. Considering I only paid that for the chess board...yeah, I'm cheap. lol
I did send off my entry for tickets to the Antiques Roadshow in Corpus Christi, TX, this summer. Tickets are given out by random, 3 weeks before the show. If I win... we'll have to come up with a code word for Eccie, so I can say "hi" to y'all on TV without the rest of the world knowing what I'm talking about.