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Appraisal Update | Cut Glass Centerpiece Base, ca. 1885

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Extraordinary Finds | Hear More from Lowry About the Auction!

Extraordinary Finds | Hear More from Lowry About the Auction!

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Tramp Art Frame with Scarf, ca. 1900

Value (2012) | $18,000 Insurance
Watch  

GUEST:
Well, the flag was brought over by my great-grandfather, who was Belgian. And one of the curiosities is that it's all written in French. He brought the flag over as part of his possessions when they immigrated to the U.S. And the story that my grandmother always told me was that he started working on the frame on the boat coming over, carving it out of cigar boxes. And as we've researched it, we understand now it's kind of in the tramp art family of frames, if you will. But we've never been able to really pin down the significance of the flag.

APPRAISER:
What year would they have immigrated?

GUEST:
1919.

APPRAISER:
Okay. This is actually a scarf.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
The time period of the scarf is probably 1870s, 1880s. The reason that that scarf was created was to celebrate universal voting rights. I don't think it really had anything to do necessarily with women's rights. If it was published in France, women's voting rights in France weren't until, like, 1944.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Think about the time period that this textile was created. That was when the French gave America the Statue of Liberty.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
And he came to this country seeking that very thing: freedom, the right to vote, the right to own property. It's a political scarf, and there were similar things printed in this country from 1860s, '70s, '80s-- presidential campaigns, all different kinds of things. The tramp art frame itself is fantastic. They made these out of little thin pieces of wood, as you know, which would have been... could have been cigar boxes. And tramp art is... I mean, they weren't necessarily made by tramps, they were just made by anonymous people. And built up in layers, and I like the way that all of this gives it this big three-dimensional effect. We assume that these frames are going to be... One this ornate, especially, seems like it would have been a little bit earlier than the time period that he came over.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And also the varnish and the patina, and just the overall look of it has an earlier look to it. Now, I'm not saying that he couldn't have carved it on the ship, okay?

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
The other point that I would make is that originally, there was a picture of somebody in there.

GUEST:
Yeah. My great-grandfather's picture was in there. When we had it mounted, we didn't know that.

APPRAISER:
Have you still got it?

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
It'd be good to put it back in there. So bottom line, at a good show in New York, in a really good dealer's booth, I could see that frame being priced at $15,000.

GUEST:
Really? Wow.

APPRAISER:
Now, let's talk about the scarf. That to me lends a whole different characteristic to it and probably increases the value by another $2,000 or $3,000. Put your grandfather's picture back in there, I'd say you would want an insurance value of around $18,000.

GUEST:
Very nice. Okay, good. Well, thank you.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Ken Farmer
Decorative Arts, Folk Art, Furniture, Musical Instruments
Ken Farmer LLC
Charlottesville, VA
Appraised value (2012)
$18,000 Insurance
Featured In
Myrtle Beach, Hour 2 (#1708)
Event
Myrtle Beach, SC (June 23, 2012)
Category
Folk Art
Period
19th Century , 20th Century
Form
Bandana , Frame
Material
Cloth , Wood

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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