Petrus van Schendel Oil Painting, ca. 1860
Watch
GUEST:
I've had it for about 15 years now. It actually belonged to my dearest friend's parents. She lived on the West Coast with the rest of her brothers and sisters, and their mother was dying of cancer, and so I offered to move into the house to care for her. And when they were distributing art amongst the children, this piece was given to me as a gift for what I had done for the family.
APPRAISER:
Well, obviously, they must have been very appreciative of what you did to give you such a lovely painting.
GUEST:
Yeah, I think so, but it was a privilege to take care of her.
APPRAISER:
Do you know much about the painting? Do you know the artist? Have you looked into it at all?
GUEST:
I don't know the artist. I've looked up the name on the Internet and was able to see a picture that was in a museum by him, and that was kind of neat. That's all I know.
APPRAISER:
When you took it out of the wrapping, it's one of these artists you immediately know, and the artist's name is Petrus van Schendel. He was born in the Netherlands, but he lived most of his life in Brussels and in Belgium, and was famous, really, for doing these candlelit scenes, to the extent that the French nicknamed him "Monsieur Chandelle," which I probably pronounced terribly, but "Mr. Candle." I couldn't see a date on it, but he was born in 1806, died about 1870, so this was probably done about the '50s, '60s. He was really working in the Dutch 17th century tradition of similar painters who also did work by candlelight: artists like Gottfried Schalken or Gerrit Dou and perhaps most famously, The Night Watch by Rembrandt.
GUEST:
I used to say to my friend and her mother that I swear that if you blew that candle, it would go out. That's how real it looked to me.
APPRAISER:
Absolutely, it's very realist, very polished. She's got a lovely expression: you've got the warm glow of the candlelight in her face here. And if we look up to the top left, it's signed by the artist as well. I don't know if you've ever noticed.
GUEST:
I had never noticed that until the lights hit it today.
APPRAISER:
It clearly has great sentimental and emotional meaning for you, you have great attachment to it, but even so, it's always good to know what you have in the home for insurance purposes or whatever. If this were coming up at auction, I would expect it to have an estimate in the region of $20,000 to $30,000.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
For insurance, you could be looking at maybe $40,000 or so. So you need to take very good care of it, as I know you do.
GUEST:
I do.
APPRAISER:
But I think it says a great deal about what you did that they gave you this painting.
GUEST:
Thank you.
APPRAISER:
Thank you for bringing it in.
GUEST:
Great.
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.
