Jay Leno: Contemporary Custom Mermaid Weathervane & Peacock Garden Statue
APPRAISER:
Jay, we're in the garden, and there's even antiques out here.
GUEST:
Right. Right.
APPRAISER:
Tell me, tell me about the weathervane.
GUEST:
Well, I was hoping you could tell me something about the weathervane. I, I've been up on the roof, but never examined it up close. I don't know if it's a one-off, if somebody made it specifically for this house, or... I don't know anything about it.
APPRAISER:
I don't believe that it's a, a 19th-century weathervanes...
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Which is most of the ones that we see in America. The antique ones. I think this is a custom-made piece from the, probably 2000 to... Not very long ago.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
You can get these weathervanes done in the $15,000 range, and then they start going up. This is a mermaid form.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And she's got a shell that she's holding. Which is a rarer form for the 19th century. We see them much more in the 20th and 21st.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
It just seems to be one of those symbols that, that people love. This one is particularly beautifully made. If you look at the directionals, I mean, that's always a nice sign for the quality of a weathervane. But I would say probably in the $15,000 to $25,000 range to buy it new.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
If you had to, to have it fabricated.
GUEST:
Did you notice the peacock out on the...?
APPRAISER:
I saw that.
GUEST:
In 1947, a lady bought this house and redid it after being devastated in '38. And she had that in the garden, basically right out here, as a centerpiece. Then there was a huge hurricane. Water came and swept it out to sea, and that was the end of that. Then ten years later, she sold the house. Then, 20 years later, she comes to visit the new owners, some time in the '90s, and she sees the peacock out on the lawn again. And she says to them-- and it's hers. It's a bit battered and beat up, and she says...
APPRAISER:
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
GUEST:
"Where'd that come from?" They said, "Oh, we had a huge storm one day, and the peacock just showed up on the lawn the next day." So apparently, it got swept out to sea, stayed out there for a couple of decades, and then was swept back in again.
APPRAISER:
Oh, my gosh.
GUEST:
At least it came back, so that's, that's good.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, yeah.
GUEST:
So maybe it's, maybe it's a homing peacock, yeah.
APPRAISER:
So the peacock is a symbol of many, many things. And one of the symbols is resurrection, because they lose these tail feathers.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And then they grow back again. So there's biblical references to the peacock. So that's kind of cool.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
So this is sort of a resurrection.
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
This thing left and then it came back again.
GUEST:
Kind of like my career. I work for NBC so that, their symbol is a peacock, and, so there you go.
APPRAISER:
Wow. Wow. I mean, it's a great, complicated story.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So any idea of its value?
GUEST:
I have no idea. I have no idea of its value. I mean, I think the story makes it valuable.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
So I think it's more in the provenance almost than in the actual value of the statue.
APPRAISER:
I think it's a pretty cool thing.
GUEST:
Yeah?
APPRAISER:
And I think there is a vibrant market in garden statuary.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Maybe an auction estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST:
Oh, okay, that's pretty good.
APPRAISER:
You know, and I think it would do better than that.
GUEST:
Really? All right.
APPRAISER:
It's a really pretty.... I love the tail.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
The way it drapes down.
GUEST:
You just don't know if it's gonna run off again. You know, it's like "Runaway Bride." It's one of those things, it shows up, and it disappears
for decades, and it comes back.
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.