Late 19th C. Italian Altar Piece
GUEST:
A friend of mine gave it to me and he's a priest, and someone had found it in an attic when they moved to an old house.
APPRAISER:
Mm-hmm.
GUEST:
And he said it didn't go with the church and would I like to have it, because we had just built a new house up in the mountains, and we had a chapel attached to it. And I've never known anything really about it.
APPRAISER:
This piece would be used for decorative purposes to drape over the altar. And I would say in terms of age, it's probably Victorian era, so we're talking about late 1800s, before the turn of the century. I believe that it's of Italian origin, and I believe that most of these beads are continental beads. It's interesting because it represents a very durable and attractive craft. What we have here are different types of beads. We have little seed beads that are on the interior of the medallions, and then surrounding the medallions, you have tubular beads. And you said you use it in a chapel?
GUEST:
Yes, uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
The house that the chapel is in is the house that I raised my children in.
APPRAISER:
And how many children do you have?
GUEST:
Fourteen.
APPRAISER:
14 children and it's in this good shape?
GUEST:
Well, it's been on the wall in the chapel.
APPRAISER (laughing): Amazing, just amazing. There are little, tiny areas of loss. We see, you know, a few areas here and here, but aside from that, it's in almost perfect condition. I would say that it's probably worth between $2,500 to $3,500.
GUEST:
Well, thank you. That's fantastic.
Appraisal Details
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