1878 Daniel Huntington Portraits with Original Frames

Appraised on: July 25, 2009

Appraised in: Denver, Colorado

Appraised by: David McCarron

Category: Paintings & Drawings

Episode Info: Denver, Hour 3 (#1412)

Originally Aired: April 12, 2010

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (1:59)

GUEST: I lived with them all my life, and the little one over there is my dad. The lady is my grandmother, and this is my great-grandmother. I know the painter was David Huntington.

APPRAISER: The artist is Daniel Huntington. He was an American artist born in 1816, died in 1906. Primarily worked in New York City, although he did work in Europe. Daniel Huntington basically was known as a portrait artist. The vast majority of his works are portraits. He was a member of the National Academy, and very well respected in his time. These are studio portraits, and they're very lavishly staged with what appears to be quilts or Oriental rugs, and very, very nice furniture. Now, they're also dated 1878, so they were done presumably right at the same time. Your dad was a beautiful child, and he's about three years old there?

GUEST: That's my guess.

APPRAISER: Okay. So this one, of course, is gorgeous. And then the grandmother is a very handsome woman, but realistically maybe not quite as valuable on the open market. They're very nicely framed. These appear to be the original frames. They could benefit from a cleaning. A lot of this would brighten up. Have you had these appraised in the past?

GUEST: I think we had them appraised when we had an appraisal for insuring all the things we had in the house.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: And I think they were at $500 apiece.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: And that was in the early '70s or thereabouts.

APPRAISER: An auction estimate on the single would be $4,000 to $6,000. This one, however, would have a little bigger impact in the market because of the beauty and charm. I think I'd go with $25,000 to $35,000 for this one alone.

GUEST: The difference... that much difference between the two?

APPRAISER: Oh, yeah, a great deal of difference.

GUEST: I'm floored.