1891 Crazy Quilt Top
Watch
GUEST:
My mother closed out her house a few months ago.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
And, um, she gave this to me. It belonged to my great-grandmother, who made it.
APPRAISER:
Wow. And what do you know about your great-grandmother?
GUEST:
I know that she came from Czernowitz, which was the Austro-Hungarian Empire at one time.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
And is now the Ukraine. She came to the United States in 1885.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
And lived with her brothers in Philadelphia.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
And then she got married and moved with her brothers and her husband to Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, but she started this a year before she got married, I believe.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
And then continued working on it for a few years after it. I know that my great-grandfather had some money at that time.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
Which would explain how she had time to work on this. (chuckles) Even though she had a couple small children. And that after this was done, a couple of years later, they pretty much lost all their money.
APPRAISER:
Oh.
GUEST:
And she never again had time to do this sort of work.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm. Well, it's a beautiful Victorian crazy quilt. We call it a crazy quilt because it doesn't have the regular pattern that we see in so many of the cotton quilts.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Either earlier or later. This one is dated 1891, January of 1891. The background silks are probably from dresses. The edging, possibly she purchased that, because you have a fairly uniform repeat...
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
...on the, these sort of teardrop shapes on the edge. The spiderweb...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...is, is an unusual thing, no matter what. But the fact that it has a little Frozen Charlotte doll...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...trapped in the spiderweb just fascinates me. So I think that's really lovely. And right near you, that big spray of flowers coming down...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
They're wonderful because they're, they're raised up from the background, but then they also have the stamens, which are totally three-dimensional...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...and stick out from the quilt background. You've got some very unusual motifs in this. This one with a bug on it.
GUEST:
I was wondering if that could have been hand-painted.
APPRAISER:
I believe that one is painted and this one, as well, which is another bug.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And then...
GUEST:
My favorite is that...
APPRAISER:
The boot?
GUEST:
Yes!
APPRAISER:
Well, the boot is perfect because it's the, it's that time period, as well.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
So it, it's another thing that just ties in...
GUEST:
Yep.
APPRAISER:
...with the time of the quilt. Her use of the colors is beautiful.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
I mean, it's really just lovely. The colors all work so well together. You do have a few condition issues.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
I think there's a few near you where the black silk has split. The other thing is, she never had time to finish it.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
So you can see that the back has, is just the raw embroidery.
GUEST:
Maybe that's when they lost their business.
APPRAISER:
Or, or when she had children and just put it away thinking, "I'll get to it someday."
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
That does affect the value of it.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
But in this condition, with so many really unusual and charming motifs, I would put a retail value between $1,200 and $1,500.
GUEST:
Very nice.
APPRAISER:
If it had the back, you could double that.
GUEST:
And of course, I'd rather keep it. It's just super-special to us.
APPRAISER:
Yeah, it's a family treasure.
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.
