Walter Inglis Anderson Collection, ca. 1950
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GUEST:
Walter-- I think it's Ingram-- Anderson was a graphic artist in south Mississippi. His brother Peter had a pottery called Shearwater Pottery, and Walter was hired to decorate the pottery.
APPRAISER:
I believe it's Walter Inglis. Rather than Ingram.
GUEST:
Inglis, you're correct.
APPRAISER:
But he actually studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, which is in Philadelphia.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And did very well there to the extent that he was awarded the very prestigious Cresson Traveling Fellowship.
GUEST:
Oh, neat.
APPRAISER:
So he went off to Paris. Now, of course Paris was a hotbed of modernism at this time. I think it's very telling that actually he got more out of visiting the caves and the ancient cave paintings than he did out of modernism. And I think that influenced...
GUEST:
Well, I can see that.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, it says a lot about him, and really how his connection with nature and everything else because as you say, he was very much a visionary artist. There was very much a spiritual element to his work. How did you come by these? Could you tell us a little about that?
GUEST:
This first piece was given to my father by his brother. It hung in my parents' home until my 50th birthday, and then was given to me by my father. The second piece, a nephew of mine had about maybe 20, 25 pieces and he contacted me first and said, "Would you be interested?" And we cherry-picked eight or nine pieces that we felt some affection for.
APPRAISER:
And do you remember what you paid for it?
GUEST:
I want to say somewhere between $800 and $1,200.
APPRAISER:
Okay, this one was done in 1947 or thereabouts, I believe, yea.
GUEST:
That's correct.
APPRAISER:
And this one I suspect is later just stylistically, and also it's not quite as faded. We don't know exactly when it was done, but we could speculate maybe into the '50s possibly.
GUEST:
I do not know.
APPRAISER:
He died in the '60s I know, so yeah.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And then of course the bowl.
GUEST:
This piece was purchased by my parents down at Shearwater Pottery, and it was part of the gift my father gave me for my birthday.
APPRAISER:
Well, let's start off with the bowl then. And I discussed it with one of our specialists in the ceramics table. And he said it's a nine out of a ten, basically.
GUEST:
Well, that's nice to hear.
APPRAISER:
In terms of quality. And he felt Anderson probably would have hand-painted it as well. At auction, felt that it would probably... he would estimate it around about $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST:
Well, my goodness, let's put some potted petunias in there.
APPRAISER:
Well, not too sure about that.
GUEST:
That really... I think that would make Walter smile.
APPRAISER:
And then moving along to this one, which is this wonderful study of a crab, although it almost looks like some strange kind of mechanical apparatus.
GUEST:
Well, you're right about that, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, I just think it's got such a great intrinsic sense of design and line, and it's a lovely sepia ink drawing. Estimate on this, probably again around about $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST:
Well, that's shocking. That really is shocking because that's significantly more than we paid for it. Well, maybe ten years ago.
APPRAISER:
Well, I think it's fair to say the market has moved on as well.
GUEST:
Well, I haven't.
APPRAISER:
So there's a lot of demand. (laughs)
GUEST:
Well, joyful.
APPRAISER:
And then of course we come to this one, which was your 50th birthday present, and pelicans. And of course in the Anderson pecking order-- excuse the pun-- pelicans are really what people tend to want. Now, this one does have some condition issues, you know.
GUEST:
Oh, of course it does.
APPRAISER:
As you tend to expect given the age. So it's a little faded. I can see there's a little bit of grime, or dirt, or something.
GUEST:
It needs a bath. It needs a bath, I know.
APPRAISER:
You need to do something about this because I can see there's dirt or something on the glass.
GUEST:
Well, I can see-- yeah.
APPRAISER:
So, wonderful fluidity of line, it's a great subject, the classic kind of Anderson image. And I would suggest for auction an estimate of $8,000 to $12,000.
GUEST:
(laughs) You are a goofy guy.
APPRAISER:
(laughs) Thank you. I've heard that before.
GUEST:
I know you have. But I am truly amazed.
APPRAISER:
And if it was in great shape, then $10,000 to $15,000 probably.
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