18th C. Tibetan Gilt Bronze Vajrapani Figure
GUEST:
Got it at a garage sale about five years ago.
APPRAISER:
And what attracted you to it?
GUEST:
He's fantastic! I think he's just totally good-looking. I don't know if he's, like, a little god or a little demon. On his butt, there's a fox.
APPRAISER:
(laughing)
GUEST:
(laughing): So, you know, you have to buy something that has a fox butt. You do-- yeah.
APPRAISER:
Was this an antique store or...?
GUEST:
No, no, it was at a garage sale...
APPRAISER:
Garage sale.
GUEST:
...with, um, two acrimonious divorcing people who were selling each other's things for way too cheaply. So three dollars. I don't know anything about him, except he's good-looking in a freaky kind of way.
APPRAISER:
(laughs) This is a Tibetan deity.
GUEST:
Ooh.
APPRAISER:
He's called Vajrapani. Vajrapani was a bodhisattva and one of the eight heart-sons of Shakyamuni Buddha. And he had numerous manifestations, but the two main ones were that he was a benevolent deity or, in this po, pose, a wrathful deity. He's a protector deity. His job here is to protect the sutras in all written documents that are associated with Sakyamuni, with the Buddha.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And so here he is holding a thunderbolt, and he has his hands in a mudra. This gilt bronze sculpture is lacking its base, which would have either been in the form of a lotus base or a wave-designed, again, gilt bronze base. He's basically tamping down all rivals or people who would subvert him from protecting his texts. And it's a cold gilding process-- it's a mercury gilding process, which heightens his robes and leaves his face bare. He also, if he were intact, because he's minus his base, would have had some prayers consecrated or a dedication put inside of him, and then he would have been consecrated by a, a lama. So, you say you paid three dollars for him at a garage sale?
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Well, at auction, even lacking his base, today, as an 18th-century...
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
...figure, he would bring somewhere between $1,500 and $3,000 at auction.
GUEST:
(exhales through gritted teeth) Whoa, Nellie! Wow! Real... (exhales) Good job, little guy. (laughs) Yeah.
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.