Folk Art Portrait Painting, ca. 1845
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APPRAISER:
This is an ancestor of yours, correct?
GUEST:
Yes, my great-great-great-grandfather was born in 1844.
APPRAISER:
This is probably done sometime in the 1840s, is what you're telling me.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, and I would've dated it, based upon this subject matter, in that, in that sort of....
GUEST:
In that timeframe.
APPRAISER:
In that timeframe. It's a great portrait. At one time, your family must have had some money.
GUEST:
They did.
APPRAISER:
Because this child is holding a rattle...
GUEST:
A silver rattle.
APPRAISER:
Silver rattle, and is wearing a silver medallion. And just to have a portrait this scale made of your child meant that you had some money. I love the expression of the little boy. He's got a very sort of taciturn and almost suspicious kind of look. So many of these paintings were painted by itinerant artists who traveled from town to town doing commissions and then would travel to the next town. So I don't recognize the hand here. In terms of value, an auction estimate is going to be somewhere between $8,000 and $12,000.
GUEST:
Nice, very nice. And what would you put it as an insurance?
APPRAIESR: I'd probably insure it for a little bit more than $12,000-- maybe $15,000, maybe $20,000.
GUEST:
Okay, perfect. That's awesome, thank you so much.
APPRAISER:
Great, it's charming-- I really love it.
GUEST:
Me, too.
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