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Close Up | Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's Quote

Close Up | Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's Quote

Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

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1898 Alphonse Mucha JOB Poster

Value (2016) | $7,000 Auction – $10,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
It was a gift, actually, from a lady who I knew when I was younger, ended up marrying my wife's uncle. They were divorced many years later. And I asked her, "Whatever happened to this poster?" A few weeks later, I get a phone call, "Come pick it up." And it's been hanging on our wall ever since.

APPRAISER:
Fantastic. And what do you know about it?

GUEST:
I know it's French. I believe the artist is Mucha, if that's pronounced right, and really, that's about it.

APPRAISER:
Well, so far, you're batting .1000. It is French.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
The artist is Alphonse Mucha. We've had some of his work on the show before, including another poster that he did for the same company.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Now, this company, JOB, was a cigarette rolling paper company. Printed in 1898.

GUEST:
Oh, wow.

APPRAISER:
Which was before they had machine-rolled cigarettes. So if you were a smoker, you had to buy rolling paper. And it's curious, because the owner of this company, his name was Jean Bardou, so his initials were J.B. And Jean Bardou had this idea at the time, which was to sell rolling paper in little packages, and he put his initials on the front of the package, separated by a diamond. And the public immediately took to thinking that was the letter O, a stylized O. So instead of J, diamond, B, they referred to the company as JOB, and the name stuck. So this is a glorious Art Nouveau poster done in the highest artistic style. Mucha was considered the father of the Art Nouveau movement. And his style and his designs really sort of exemplified that whole movement. And this poster shows many of his classic design traits. So the beautiful woman, the halo behind the woman, the elaborate, almost unimaginably decorative hair that's cascading down her shoulders, which is all here. So that's the artistic side.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
From a marketing point of view, Mucha really did something unusual in that he provided four different levels to reinforce the brand in the eyes of the viewing public. He starts with the title, JOB. If you look in the background, the wallpaper has a very stylized version of "J-O-B". So that's the second level. The third level is, obviously, the pack of cigarette papers which she's holding, and finally the brooch is also a stylized version of "J-O-B". Great product reinforcement from an era when this kind of thing wasn't done at all. This poster was printed with what we call a fugitive color. The red, for some chemical reason, faded more quickly than anything else. And, in fact, I've seen it not faded, which is unusual, but people react to it differently because they're not used to seeing it with such bright colors. So curiously, when it's not faded, it doesn't specifically sell for more. What's it worth? Any guesses?

GUEST:
I really... I'm hoping maybe $1,000 or more.

APPRAISER:
In the world of Art Nouveau posters, it's by one of the most famous artists. It's not a rare piece, but it is a great and decorative piece, and I think that at auction you'd be looking at between $7,000 and $10,000.

GUEST:
Wow, very nice. Very nice.

APPRAISER:
But I would point out there are a few condition issues where you can see sharp folds. I think without those folds, it would be as high as $8,000 to $12,000.

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
But even though it's common, it's so desirable, I think that's a very reasonable price to assume you might actually achieve at auction.

GUEST:
A very nice gift.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Nicholas D. Lowry
Prints & Posters
Swann Auction Galleries
New York, NY
Appraised value (2016)
$7,000 Auction – $10,000 Auction
Featured In
Indianapolis, Hour 3 (#2106)
Event
Indianapolis, IN (July 09, 2016)
Category
Prints & Posters
Period
19th Century
Form
Poster , Print
Material
Paper

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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