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Folk Art Horse & Rider, ca. 1870

Value (2019) | $15,000 Auction – $25,000 Auction
Watch  

WOMAN: He was carved by a farmer in Iowa about 1864. And the carver was an elderly man, but he had a favorite mare, and at noontime, when they brought the animals in to feed, he would sit out in the feed yard, and he used that mare as his model and carved the horse.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh, you bought it from...

GUEST:
I bought it from the grandson of the man that had carved it. I believe the gentleman's name was Christian Anderson.

APPRAISER:
Who do you think this is, astride the mare?

GUEST:
Ulysses S. Grant.

APPRAISER:
When you look at his face, you see that great beard, it sure looks like it could be Ulysses S. Grant. I would guess that if it's Grant, it would have been carved in either '68 or '72, when he was running for president.

GUEST:
That's possible.

APPRAISER:
Because this is what he was wearing-- a stovepipe hat-- during that campaign era. And my guess is that it might be a little bit later than '64. '64, he was still a general, and he would have his Civil War uniform on.

GUEST:
That's true.

APPRAISER:
Regardless, we're talking about a fantastic piece of American folk art. All solid carved wood. The mane is human hair-- I don't know if you noticed that.

GUEST:
Yeah, I know it is.

APPRAISER:
And the tail is horsehair. It's much coarser. His clothes are a little tattered and a little shredded. But you know what? That doesn't make a bit of difference. Everything about this is fabulous. Now, you said when you bought it, it had a little leather bridle that was running through his hands. Because I notice there are a couple of holes here.

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
One thing that I think we both noticed was that there's a shadow of where a saddle used to be. It's a little lighter here, so there was some sort of a saddle on there, but it was not there when you bought it, correct?

GUEST:
Yeah. And I asked him to look for it, and I know he did. I bought the horse first, and then he said, "Oh, there was a rider that used to go with that."

APPRAISER:
You're kidding me.

GUEST:
No.

APPRAISER:
So you bought this, and then how long did it take for him to find...

GUEST:
About two days. (both chuckling)

APPRAISER:
What did you pay for it, do you remember?

GUEST:
Seven dollars and 50 cents.

APPRAISER:
When did you get it? How many years ago?

GUEST:
About 1962. I saw a similar thing, but not quite the same quality, at an antique show maybe 20, 25 years ago, and I think they wanted $2,500.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh. 20 years ago, $2,500 would have been cheap for this. I did a lot of polling from a number of people here, and we all just were shaking about this piece. A fair auction estimate for this would be somewhere between $40,000 to $60,000.

GUEST:
Wow!

APPRAISER:
And I think that there's a very good chance it could sail past $60,000 if you had the right people bidding.

GUEST:
Well, my kids are going to fight over it now. (laughing)

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Wes Cowan
Books & Manuscripts, Decorative Arts, Folk Art, Photographs
Hindman Auctions
Cincinnati, OH
Update (2019)
$15,000 Auction – $25,000 Auction
Update (2018)
$15,000 Auction – $25,000 Auction
Appraised value (2004)
$40,000 Auction – $60,000 Auction
Featured In
Reno, Hour 3 (#0912)
Politically Collect (#1219)
Vintage Reno (#2317)
RECUT: Politically Collect, Part 2 (#R0102)
Event
Reno, NV (August 14, 2004)
Category
Folk Art
Period
19th Century
Form
Carving
Material
Leather , 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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