Bronze Medallions, ca. 1910
Watch
GUEST:
About 12, 13 years ago, a friend of mine's husband was a super of a building in New York City in the Upper West Side. And a gentleman and his wife had died recently, they were very old, and lived in this building for many years. And being a super's wife, she had to go clean out the apartment because they couldn't find any family. These people had left no children, et cetera. So I went to help her clean them out, and really wonderful things in that apartment, as you can imagine. So they collected over the years. But these really caught my eye. So as a thank you for helping for that day, she said "if you would like to take those, you know, you can take them," and so I did.
APPRAISER:
Well, these were bronze medals. And these were circa 1900, 1920 era. These were done by a fairly well known artist.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And these were put out by various museums or societies. And sometimes what they did was if you belonged to the museum's founders society, you might have an opportunity to buy one of these bronzes by a famous artist for not a whole lot of money, but you helped to support the museum.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
And I know like the Metropolitan in New York, the National Gallery, the Art Institute in Detroit, they all had their groups. This one is dated 1914, which I think is quite nice. And it has "Remember," it's in French, "the Marne," a famous battle in France.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The First World War.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
This one is of Napoleon III, which I think is great. I think it's dated about 1904.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
This one I like.
GUEST:
I love that one.
APPRAISER:
Because it's entitled "the magic of the grape."
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah, yup.
APPRAISER:
But this was also done by an artist by the name of Paul Manship.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And Paul Manship was a famous American artist. And if you go to the Rockefeller Plaza, you'll see his very large bronze there.
GUEST:
Oh yeah, wow!
APPRAISER:
That's done by Paul Manship. You go to the Metropolitan Museum in New York, you'll see his bronzes.
GUEST:
Oh, that is cool.
APPRAISER:
So what do you think these are worth?
GUEST:
You know, I've always kind of had in my head that maybe $50 to $75 apiece. You know, just not knowing.
APPRAISER:
These are worth about $300 apiece. But this one here is by Paul Manship, and that's worth about $1,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my God! (laughing)
APPRAISER:
It's a wonderful bronze.
GUEST:
Oh, my God. And that's my favorite one!
APPRAISER:
Well, that's good. So altogether, you've got about a $3,000 value here.
GUEST:
Oh, my God! I had no idea.
APPRAISER:
Wonderful, wonderful bronze piece.
GUEST:
Well, thank you so much. I knew there must have been a story, but I didn't expect a value, but that's so great.
APPRAISER:
Well, thank you for bringing them in.
GUEST:
Thank you.
APPRAISER:
Wonderful little collection.
Appraisal Details
Current Appraised Value: $6,000 (Increased)
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.
