Sidonia Klein Goldman Porcelain Plaques, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
This woman is Sidonia Klein Goldman. She was my husband's grandmother, and she lived at the time when women had to do something at home to entertain themselves and as, I would say, a sample of good housekeeping, and she chose china painting. And evidently, she was very good at that, and she graduated into really a very high class of painting.
APPRAISER:
Now, these are hand-painted on porcelain plaques. Did she paint in other ways, did she paint other things?
GUEST:
Oh, yes, I'd pick up things all the time around the house that have S.K.G. on them, and that's for Sidonia Klein Goldman.
APPRAISER:
And did she have a prosperous family?
GUEST:
They were very prosperous. Her husband opened up a furniture store in downtown St. Louis.
APPRAISER:
Well, these are certainly wonderful examples of American china painting. And as you mentioned, she's an example of the thousands and thousands of women-- and some men-- all over America who took up the pastime of painting on china. Now, most of them would paint on plates or vases or things like that. And some of the more ambitious artists would actually paint on plaques, which could then be hung on the wall like a work of art.
GUEST:
That's correct.
APPRAISER:
And a lot of the china painters were just not very good, but they enjoyed it. I think it's a good hobby to have. Others were quite good, and then some of them really got very, very skilled. And she obviously was a pretty good artist. These are very nicely done.
GUEST:
Oh, good, good.
APPRAISER:
We've got one up here of monks with a bunch of fruits and vegetables. And this was done very near the end of her life. She died in 1921.
GUEST:
That's correct.
APPRAISER:
And this plaque here of two little boys is signed on the back, and it looks like she copied it from something she was seeing in a book or something. But she did a lovely job. Now, these are... two plaques are a contrast in value. Now, this one is larger and this one's a little smaller, but one is worth much more than the other for two reasons. This one here is monks, and it's well done with all the vegetables and everything, which I think are rather great. But as a subject matter, most buyers these days aren't really very interested in monks. And another thing that I noticed is that this one has a lot of scratches on it. There are scratches where something was laid on the surface.
GUEST:
Can I tell you what it was?
APPRAISER:
Sure, tell me.
GUEST:
My husband told me that that plaque was on a table in their hall. And when they came in in the evening, they would throw their keys on it.
APPRAISER:
So it's just laying flat like a tray.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
They scratch very easily, and quite frankly, a scratch on a porcelain plaque is just as bad as a chip or crack in terms of value. It's a bad thing. Now, this one on the other hand is two wonderful little boys, which are very well painted. I mean, children is a universally loved subject matter, and they're beautifully painted. Now, this plaque, because it's so well done, I would say a retail value would be between $400 and $600.
GUEST:
Oh, wonderful!
APPRAISER:
It's really, really nice.
GUEST:
I cannot believe that, that's wonderful.
APPRAISER:
But the monks, the combination of the subject matter, which is not as desirable, and the scratches, a retail value might be as little as $100 to $200. Just a little bit, but it might be hard to sell actually.
GUEST:
Yeah.
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