19th-Century Souvenir Painting, "The Portrait of Henrietta of France"

Appraised on: July 30, 2005

Appraised in: Bismarck, North Dakota

Appraised by: Colleene Fesko

Category: Paintings & Drawings

Episode Info: Bismarck, Hour 2 (#1011)

Originally Aired: April 17, 2006

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (2:55)

GUEST: This painting was purchased from a Russian antique dealer in Chicago many, many years ago. It's been hanging in a back bedroom, and when the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW was coming to town, we thought maybe it was time to dust it off and have somebody take a look at it.

APPRAISER: All right, it's a portrait in the style of the 17th-century Flemish painters. We have this wonderful label here that says it's by Pourbus, Franz Pourbus, who was a member of the Flemish Pourbus family in the 16th and 17th century.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: We also have the name of the sitter, "The Portrait of Henrietta of France." Henrietta later became the wife of Charles I of England. So, that's what we can tell from the front, but the back is where our portrait really gets interesting. From the back of the painting, we can tell first that it is not a 17th-century frame. It's, rather a 19th-century frame in the style of the 17th century. The same is true with the stretcher that the painting itself is on. And then we get even more information. Here we have "Francesco Pourbus," and it's in Italian because the painting, as identified on the front, is actually in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Yes?

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And here we have a seal from one of the supervisors of the studio at the Uffizi-- the copyist studio at the Uffizi-- saying that this is in fact an authorized copy of a Pourbus painting. It went on to Rome to be sold and eventually came to the United States. This type of painting is a souvenir painting. During the years between 1840 and roughly 1940, people were visiting Europe and when they would come back, they would bring back wonderful souvenirs of their trips. We bring back snow globes now; they brought back wonderful replicas of important paintings, and that's what you have here. You have a 19th-century copy after a 17th-century painting. The unfortunate news is that an original Pourbus painting could be in excess of $100,000. Some of them are very, very valuable. But this is a lovely 19th-century copy. Pieces like this can sell at auction for as much as $5,000. Given the condition of this piece, the little losses that you have, this piece at auction I would value at between $1,500 and $2,500.

GUEST: Wow. Thank you.

APPRAISER: Much better than a snow globe.

GUEST: Much better than a snow globe.

APPRAISER: Thanks for coming.

GUEST: Thank you.