Anna Hyatt Huntington "Winter Noon" Bronze, ca. 1905
Watch
GUEST:
I acquired that in '69 or '70 from two friends of mine who were sons of the owners of Graham Galleries in New York. They showed me a photograph of it, and they said, "This is going to be deaccessioned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art." And they said, "They have two, and they're going to get rid of one." And I said, "I'd like to have that, I really like that." And they said, "Well, you're going to have to buy it sight unseen." And they said, "How much do you think you could go?" And I said, "Oh, maybe, $1,200." And like ten days later they were back and said, "Congratulations, you owe us $1,100."
APPRAISRE: (laughing) Well, you got a deal!
GUEST:
I did, I did, and I love it.
APPRAISER:
It's a great sculpture by Anna Hyatt Huntington, one of America's leading sculptors of the early 20th century. She was trained in traditional ways at the Art Students League in New York, with Gutzon Borglum, who did Mount Rushmore.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
She studied in Paris, she exhibited in Paris. She was a spectacular artist. She received numerous public commissions for all over the world. And one of her most famous ones is Joan of Arc, which is in New York City on Riverside Drive and 93rd Street.
GUEST:
I've seen it, I didn't know that was hers.
APPRAISER:
It's one of the earliest public sculptures by a woman artist. She married Archer Huntington, who was very, very wealthy, and the two of them founded Brookgreen Gardens, a large sculpture garden and botanical garden that's in Murrells Inlet in South Carolina. Really a great sculptor. And part of her training is, she used to go to the Bronx Zoo, and she would look at all the animals and sketch them and model them, so she really had this firsthand knowledge of these animals. So this sculpture is cast out of bronze. And what's interesting about this particular piece is that it has a wonderful look in three dimensions. And I think that's what the great thing about sculpture is, that it exists in its own space. And I love the way the drapery comes down, partially blown off by the wind. And I think that's what makes it such a wonderful piece. This actually has a title, it's called "Winter Noon." And you can see these two horses sort of nuzzling against each other. And I think that's part of the charm. Most sculptures, you have a horse, you have a dog. But here you have this wonderful interaction, this real personal interaction between these two animals.
GUEST:
What year would you put on this? 1900, 1902?
APPRAISER:
1905-ish, yeah.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, I mean, it's an early work by her. We talk about markets changing, going up and down, and this market, especially, her work has maintained its value, and has actually gone up in value. I would say in today's market, in a gallery setting, you're probably looking at $8,000 to $10,000.
GUEST:
All right, well, thank you. All right.
APPRAISER:
Thank you.
GUEST:
It beats $1,100, and I'm delighted in the pleasure it's brought us over the years.
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.
