Continental Intarsia Pictorial Panels, ca. 1885
Watch
GUEST:
My grandmother gave these to me about 15 years ago, and she said that they came from either her parents or my grandfather's parents. And she believes they got them during some of their travels to Europe. My grandmother was 100 when she died a couple of years ago, and I'm assuming that my great-grandparents probably traveled in Europe in the 1800s, but I don't know.
APPRAISER:
That would make sense. They would have been fairly expensive then to buy as a sort of souvenir...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...but the kind of thing you could really only find in Europe then. The technique we call intarsia. And intarsia is a word really meaning "inserting." And what's happened here is that a craftsman has taken very small pieces of wood and inlaid them into a ground of wood.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now, there is a difference between this technique and a more familiar technique that we call marquetry, or marquetry veneer. Marquetry is a slightly more sophisticated technique where instead of inlaying the little bits of wood into the ground, you actually make a kind of jigsaw puzzle, a sheet, of veneer, or different materials, and then you stick that onto a frame.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And that doesn't really start until the 17th century, and we don't see it in earnest until the 18th century.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And intarsia is actually the much older technique. There was forms of it in the ancient world, but essentially, in this kind of form, it starts in the early Middle Ages, Southern Europe, Italy, and kind of migrates northward. The Germans got very good at it as early as the 15th and 16th centuries.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Although these were not made that early. They were probably made, I suspect, in the 1890s.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Possibly the 1880s. So it's possible that they were new when your ancestors were traveling. To me, the scenes-- and they are, by the way, a definite pair-- reflect a very provincial Alpine way of life in Europe: this chalet, this kind of costume. There's some great features on this particular one. The woman herself is beautifully conceived.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
I like this little feature, which was common throughout the 19th century and into the early 20th century...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...in rustic homes like this. It's a linnet cage.
GUEST:
What is a linnet?
APPRAISER:
A linnet is a kind of songbird.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
It could be kept as a pet, essentially. It's just to entertain you by singing.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
They sing beautifully in the morning.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
But everything's designed to look appealing from a kind of bucolic, ideal, rustic point of view. And they are in very good condition.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
To find another pair of this scale and age would be quite difficult.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
I think if they came up at auction today, the low estimate would certainly be $3,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And the high estimate perhaps $5,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
Appraisal Details
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.
