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American Miniature Portraits, ca. 1810

Value (2019) | $4,500 Auction – $6,700 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
They came down through my husband's family. My husband's grandmother was a wealthy woman in Wilmington, Delaware, who was known to collect early American items.

APPRAISER:
The first one here is signed by the artist.

GUEST:
Hmm.

APPRAISER:
But we don't know who the sitter is. It's very, very tiny signature, and it's Thomas Hanford Wentworth, who was an itinerant painter in the 18th century and, and into the early 19th century. While we don't know the sitter, it's a very fine example of his work. And on today's auction market, it would be expected to fetch between $500 and $700.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Now, the one that's much more interesting is nearest you, and in this case, we don't know the artist. It was probably an itinerant painter, but on the back of the miniature is an inscription telling us who the sitter is, and the sitter is, goes by the name of William Bayard, Jr. And he was a pretty pivotal figure during the Revolutionary War. He's best known for being a close friend of Alexander Hamilton's. And Alexander Hamilton, after his duel with Aaron Burr, died in William Bayard's house in Greenwich Village, New York, and that's where he passed away the day after. Bayard was a very prominent banker in New York City, and from that likeness and from others like it, we determine that that is probably a portrait taken much later in life. And it probably dates to about 1810.

GUEST:
Oh!

APPRAISER:
So it's an oil miniature. There are very few images of Bayard, except for a handful of other portraits, and this does not appear like those. So it was probably taken from life. At auction, the miniature of Bayard, Jr., would be expected to bring in anywhere from $4,000 to $6,000.

GUEST:
Unexpected. (chuckles): Wow.

APPRAISER:
It's a fantastic thing.

GUEST:
Thank you.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Graydon Sikes
Paintings & Drawings
Caza Sikes Gallery
Cincinnati, OH
None
Appraised value (2019)
$4,500 Auction – $6,700 Auction
Featured In
Desert Botanical Garden, Hour 3 (#2412)
Event
Phoenix, AZ (April 16, 2019)
Category
Paintings & Drawings
Period
19th Century
Form
Miniature

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.

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