Sarah Stilwell Weber Illustration Painting, ca. 1921
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APPRAISER:
Tell me about this young lassie romping in the Miami surf.
GUEST:
Yes, this is a painting that I bought at an antique show about 15 years ago, and in fact, the antique show was in this very building here…
APPRAISER:
Oh.
GUEST:
…in Miami. It had some tears, so I only paid ten dollars for it, but it looked cute.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
She reminded me of, like, the Campbell's Soup kids. And about three years later, I was at another antique show, and I found that it was a cover for the Saturday Evening Post. And I had to pay $15 for the cover, so I paid more for the cover than I did for the original art.
APPRAISER:
Good heavens.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Well, that's an unusual set of circumstances…
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
…I must say. Now, obviously, you know it's by Sarah Stilwell Weber...
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Who is a marvelous illustration artist and in fact studied at the Drexel Institute, which is in Philadelphia very near where I work, in fact. She signed it with her initials down here. And while she was at the Institute, she worked with Howard Pyle, who's probably the best-known or one of the best-known American illustrators and taught N.C. Wyeth and Schoonover, Harvey Dunn, all these people, but also had some fantastic female students. Now, that probably sounds a bit sexist, but I feel as though they've been neglected, rather, over the years…
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
…against the males. And the market's really become more and more interested in their work recently, so there's great interest in her work. She also did a lot of work with, ah, Collier's magazine and Harper's Bazaar, but as you pointed out earlier, this one's for the Saturday Evening Post. Now, not only are there a whole group of collectors of women artists-- the illustration market itself is extremely hot just now-- but there are also people who specifically collect original artwork for the Saturday Evening Post.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
Now, this one, I think, is a particularly charming example. It's had one or two little problems in condition terms, but you've sensibly had those addressed…
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
…and it really looks super now. Have you thought at all about the value of it?
GUEST:
Um, well… when I had it restored, I paid about a thousand dollars…
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
…and I thought it was worth that, so I'm hoping... I'm hoping that I did all right.
APPRAISER:
I should probably start with this one, actually. What's this worth now?
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So that was $15.
GUEST:
$15 I paid for that.
APPRAISER:
It's worth about $20 now.
GUEST:
Oh, good.
APPRAISER:
On the other hand, this one's going to be worth, I would say, given the combination of factors and just the sheer charm of the subject, $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST:
Very good. Oh, that's great.
APPRAISER:
So I hope that's good news for you.
GUEST:
Yes, that's very good news. I'm happy to know. She's going to go back in my bedroom, but I'm happy to know the value.
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