Gebrüder Heubach Cats, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
I inherited them. They were either my mother's or my grandmother's. My mother told me they were her mother's, but... My m, I lost my mother when I was 12, so you don't really remember the stories clearly, and at 12, you don't pay much attention to things that are in the house-- they're not important. But they've been in a box and I just absolutely adore them.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and where do you have them now? How do you store them?
GUEST:
Well, I have to admit, they're stored in, just in a shoebox, mostly because I wanted to decorate my daughter's bedroom with them. But she found the grin a little intimidating. And I have to admit that I found it that same way when I was a child. (laughs) So I understood it.
APPRAISER (laughs): And what exactly was her words that she s...?
GUEST:
"A little freakish."
(both chuckle)
APPRAISER:
"A little freakish." Your little kittens were made by a German firm called Gebrüder Heubach, and they were made around 1910.
GUEST:
Ah, grandmother's.
APPRAISER:
So that would fit with your grandmother's time?
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
They each are around six-and-a-half-inches tall.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And you do have all three. Their heads are made of bisque and their bodies are made of papier-mâché.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
They even have on their original little ensembles.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
A little cotton playsuit. A lot of detail in it. A lot of detail. They're just in really great, vibrant condition. The shoes don't have little nicks on 'em. When you started unrolling them out of your towel, I al, I almost let out a scream, because I never, hardly ever s...
GUEST (laughs): I'm so surprised.
APPRAISER:
...never see them. And then to see three all together was just such a perfect joy. Um-
GUEST:
Are they called the three little kittens that lost their mittens? They're not?
APPRAISER:
No, uh the-
GUEST:
My mother always said that's what they were.
APPRAISER:
No, they're just little cats that Heubach made. They also made a little bear. Everything about Heubach, just all the little extra detailing to the facial features just gives them so much personality. In a retail doll shop, the one gray cat would be worth $2,300. And I, I have seen him before.
GUEST:
Oh, no. Really?
APPRAISER:
Yes. The little white cat is also valued at $2,300. And sometimes, I think, I have seen him go a little bit higher. I have seen him.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
And then, oh, my goodness, this heartbreaker here. This is the little black one. I've never seen the black one. He does have a little bit of damage to his ear, so I'd have to keep his value around $2,300, also, even with the damage. So as a set, they're worth about $7,000.
GUEST:
I don't know what to say to that. That's amazing.
APPRAISER:
Are they still freakish to you?
GUEST:
Uh... Well, yes, actually, they... (laughs) Maybe they're even a little more freakish...
(both laugh)
APPRAISER:
Um...
GUEST:
...since I wasn't expecting that at all.
APPRAISER:
And if this little guy didn't have...
GUEST:
The damage?
APPRAISER:
...the little bit of damage, I would probably put him a little bit higher for the set, for around $8,000. Or even more.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER:
I, you never see 'em.
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