Fern Isabel Coppedge Oil, ca. 1930
Watch
APPRAISER:
May I ask how long you've owned this painting?
GUEST:
About 25 years. I found it at an antique mall in Tacoma, Washington. I paid $425. I guess you could say the painting spoke to me and I responded by stretching my budget to purchase it.
APPRAISER:
Were you aware it was signed, or no?
GUEST:
Yes, I did notice the signature but I had no idea who the artist was at that time.
APPRAISER:
But the artist is Fern Coppedge.
GUEST:
Correct.
APPRAISER:
Have you done some research?
GUEST:
Yes, I've checked on the Internet and it states that she was an artist who lived and painted in Pennsylvania, and she was an American impressionist artist. But beyond that, I don't know much about her or her career or other paintings.
APPRAISER:
It's signed down here-- Fern, "I" for Isabel, Coppedge. And you're quite correct. She's best known for being associated with the group of artists the Pennsylvania Impressionists, also known as the Bucks County Artists or the New Hope School, and New Hope, of course, is where Fern Coppedge lived. She wasn't from there originally. People are divided as to when she was actually born. It varies from 1883, 1885, 1888, so we're not quite sure, but we do know she was born in Decatur, in Illinois, and from there went on to study in Chicago and then in New York. Ultimately, she ended up at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, where she was taught by Daniel Garber, who was another of the leading Pennsylvania Impressionists, together with Edward Redfield. But Fern Coppedge, of that group, was probably the best-known of the woman artists. So she studied there and really picked up more, I would say, in terms of technique from Edward Redfield than from Garber, because Redfield was known for painting outside, en plein air, and that's what she did, too. She was known to have wrapped up in these big bearskins and gone into the winter snows and set up her easel, tie her canvas to a tree and then do a painting. This clearly is not New Hope, of course. Do you know where it is?
GUEST:
She wrote on the back, "Sunday Morning, Gloucester Harbor," which I believe is Massachusetts.
APPRAISER:
That's absolutely right, and that's where she used to go for her summers. She also painted in Rockport, which is in Massachusetts. It's always a little hard to date Coppedge's work. She started off being an impressionist, then laterally became more of a post-impressionist and some might even say almost an expressionist. I think, given the use of color, this is probably a later work, so I'm thinking '20s, '30s, '40s. She died about 1951, so I think this is a mature work and probably later in her career. I believe the frame is original. It mentions in the back that it's $40, including the frame. It's the kind of frame she would have had. She is very much in demand, probably more so back in the early 2000s to mid-2000s, when the market for Pennsylvania Impressionist paintings was very strong indeed. Some of the steam went out of it after that, but it's starting to pick up again now. The winter scenes and the ones done around New Hope and Bucks County tend to be much more valuable than the ones that she did in Gloucester or Rockport. Having said that, this is a particularly nice example of the latter. Now, you paid...$425. What would you think it might be worth now?
GUEST:
Well, it sold for $40, I paid $425, I'm hoping to add another zero to it, but I have no idea if I'm being overly optimistic, but I'm hoping a few thousand, at least.
APPRAISER:
I think in this case, underly optimistic. I would say about three times that. So I would feel, at auction, I think about $12,000 to $18,000.
GUEST:
Well, that's very nice, very amazing.
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.
