Painted Pennsylvania Folk Art Candle Box, ca. 1840
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GUEST:
I think it's a candle box. I bought it recently.
APPRAISER:
At a shop or something?
GUEST:
At an antique mall. The asking price was $35, and I got a ten percent discount, so I paid $31.50.
APPRAISER:
It is, in fact, a candle box. We have a painted box with a sliding top. So here on the side, we have this wonderful, really explosive basket of flowers. It is this really creative American floral motif that's coming out of somebody's mind, right?
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
In the 19th century, okay? That folk appeal, that raw combination of colors, makes it powerful as folk art. On the top is the same basket, of course, but it's covered with dust because dust settles on a horizontal surface. It's a sliding top, and that's typical of candle boxes. And the thing is, at this point in the early 19th century-- this box was made about 1830, 1845, right in that period-- they were still using tallow. It was made of animal fat. And mice, those little critters, mice really loved to get at that animal fat, so they had to be in a box somewhere where it's sealed up, and the sliding top actually sealed it.
GUEST:
I didn't know that! That's great.
APPRAISER:
I've seen candle boxes with the corners chewed with holes in them. If we turn it around and see the end of it, I love this color here, this single flower coming up, and you have the yellow band around it, right? And the interesting thing, I found this fascinating, is that that back side is not painted.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
We don't think that it was ever painted. I mean, you can see, if we go to the other end, that this board, this exact board has paint on it, it's not a replaced board. But the one thing is that it makes sense as, like, "Why bother? That's up on the wall." What's powerful about folk art is that it's by untrained artists, it has the appeal, the brightness, and this would brighten up a room. What do you think it's worth? I mean, you paid $31.50. Maybe double your money?
GUEST:
$400.
APPRAISER:
That's a good guess, but I'd multiply that by ten. Yeah.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh! (laughing) Oh, my gosh!
APPRAISER:
I know! (laughing)
GUEST:
Wow!
APPRAISER:
You're going to be having piña coladas with your friends tonight.
GUEST:
Yes, we are!
APPRAISER:
So an auction estimate on this painted Pennsylvania box would be $3,000 to $4,000.
GUEST:
Oh, that's wonderful!
APPRAISER:
On a good day, it could bring $5,000.
GUEST:
That's fantastic!
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