Sidney Richard Percy Oil
GUEST:
This was in my mother's dining room, and it was always in a dark place, and I never really saw the colors and everything. And then when she died, I moved it, and I saw how pretty it was. And I just was very fascinated with it, you know?
APPRAISER:
Did your mother collect a lot of paintings? Were there other ones at home like this as well?
GUEST:
A few, yes.
APPRAISER:
Do you know who this artist is at all, or any idea?
GUEST:
I have no idea.
APPRAISER:
Well, it's a beautiful painting. You reacted, you know, quite easily to it. It's a charming landscape, beautiful colors, a couple children playing here. He's actually fishing with a little fishing pole. It has all the elements that people liked in a painting in the Victorian era, and that indeed is what this is: it's a Victorian painting by an artist by the name of Sidney Richard Percy. And Percy specialized in these landscapes of Northern England and Northern Wales. Part of the reason why you probably didn't know who it was is it's signed down here, and it's "S.R. Percy," the black on the brown, so you probably couldn't see exactly what all you had here. But Percy specialized in this scene, as I said. Sometimes a little more mountainous, more cattle, a little more going on. But this is very idyllic, very pleasing to the mind. In fact, I wasn't sure who it was until I turned it around, and on the back, you have this label here. And it was hard to read. But this is a lot easier. It says, "Green Pastures by Still Waters." I mean, you couldn't ask for a more calming thing. Then, "Sidney R. Percy." Then his address down below there. Recently, these have gone up in value a lot. He's highly sought after. Did anyone smoke in the family?
GUEST:
Very much, about 30 years ago, and they smoked until about maybe 15 years ago.
APPRASER: They smoked like chimneys.
GUEST:
Oh, yes, yes.
APPRAISER:
Well, anyhow, you see a lot of that here. You see this? This should be white. You can take this to a professional conservator, and what he can do is he or she can actually take off this layer of varnish and dirt and tobacco by using solvents that will take that off, but won't disturb the paint underneath. Then they revarnish over that. And it's going to be like an unveiling to you. It's going to come out, and it's going to be absolutely beautiful whites, great light coming through here, bathing the scene. It's going to be a beautiful painting. You'll see the quality in it. Did you have any idea what it might be worth?
GUEST:
I have no idea.
APPRAISER:
No idea? Well, recently he's brought a lot of money. His market has gone up. A painting like this, if I were to put it into one of my auctions, I would fully expect to get about $15,000 for it.
GUEST:
Oh, my, that's good.
APPRAISER:
This is a very good one for him.
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.