1907 Carl Everton Moon Painting
GUEST:
He's always been important in my family. He hangs above the mantelpiece, and he follows you around the room. When we were children, we hid from him. Plus, my grandmother got him on her wedding trip in 1908.
APPRAISER:
This painting is the work of Carl Moon, and it's dated 1907. Carl Moon had a studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, between 1904 and 1907. He was born in the late 1870s. He died in the 1940s. The wonderful thing that you have to accompany this is the log of your grandmother's travels that was put together for you by another family member, and judging from your grandmother's travel log, she was on the Santa Fe Railroad, and she undoubtedly purchased this at El Tovar, which is up in the Grand Canyon. And it actually might be a work that he did after a photograph that he did in 1905 called Navajo Boy. There's a great similarity. He was an author, he illustrated children's books, he studied under a lot of very important people and all this history's paid off for him. He's increased in popularity over the past few years. His prices have risen accordingly.
GUEST:
Three years ago somebody offered my mother $1,000, and my sister and I said, "No, we love him, don't sell him."
APPRAISER:
Oh, so you became accustomed to that stare. That wasn't a terribly unfair offer at that time. It was actually quite good. He's risen to about $3,000 to $4,000 in value at this time.
GUEST:
Wow.
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.