German Relief-carved Plaques, ca. 1890
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GUEST:
So in 1921, my great-grandmother came from Poessneck, Germany, and she brought these items, along with a few other items from home, that her grandfather had carved out of wood.
APPRAISER:
First of all, let's talk about what they are. These are relief-carved panels, and I think they date from around 1870, 1880. Your grandfather, or your great-grandfather... Is...
GUEST:
It would have been my great-great-grandfather.
APPRAISER:
Great-grand, I was going to say.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
There's a lot of greats in there.
GUEST:
Yes!
APPRAISER:
He, he was very highly skilled, just the way he did the mountains and everything. The fact that he was from Germany sort of puzzled me a little bit with, on this bigger one.
GUEST:
Exactly.
APPRAISER:
Because that's a Norwegian flag.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
But sometimes, they did things like this from prints.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
The images were print-inspired. They weren't necessarily something that they just sort of took out of nature.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
But your great-great-grandfather was, was way better than average because of the way he did the mountains, the way he did the people's faces, and everything is so animated.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And I especially love the one up front here that has the trees.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
The other thing I like about this stuff is that it has the original finish.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
The frame is, is integral to the whole thing.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
It's-- the frame is not added.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
The whole thing is one solid piece of wood.
GUEST:
One piece, yeah.
APPRAISER:
Well, personally, I'd hang them in my house.
GUEST:
(chuckles)
APPRAISER:
In a heartbeat.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
So in a good retail setting, I would say, on this large one, we'd be at about $1,000 to $1,500.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And each one of these would be about $400 to $600 each, give or take.
GUEST:
Very nice. Yes, they mean a lot to me and been in my family a long time, and they'll keep hanging on my wall till I go. (laughs)
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