1862 Julius Jacob Sketchbook
APPRAISER:
Well, I understand that this artist is your ancestor.
GUEST:
Correct.
APPRAISER:
What was his name?
GUEST:
Julius Jacob. He's from my mother's side of the family, and he's from Germany, and from what I understand from what I read about him, he was a very prolific landscape artist, and this is a sketchbook that he took with him when he went traveling in Europe and did sketches. Some of them are finished, some of them aren't.
APPRAISER:
It's very interesting. This is... basically, it's almost like a visual travelogue of his journey across... the Alps, wasn't it?
GUEST:
I think it's mostly Austria and Switzerland... And Germany, of course.
APPRAISER:
And here we see... this is one sketch. And this is the Matterhorn, and he's been very meticulous. They're all dated. I want to turn this over. If you could help me. I'm rather nervous with this book. It's falling apart. Some of the pages are starting to fall out. The binding's gone. But as we go, you can see all these fabulous drawings, and the detail is just extraordinary. And here, they're not all pencil drawings. Here's one that's done in pastel. There were some slight alarm bells went off-- I have to say-- when I was looking at these pastels and also the drawings. If we look on the opposite side here, we can see what's happening. Now, fortunately, there's paper between most of the drawings. Unfortunately, the pastel, as it has a tendency to do, has been lifting. So it's coming off. It's been a little bit scuffed in places, and I do urge you to do something about this. You need to see a paper conservator and have this book treated properly and have these probably fixed so that they don't start smudging, which is a real problem with pastel. If we go a little further on... I also found that some of them in fact fold out. Look at this. Here's this whopping big drawing. And just look at this detail-- it's extraordinary. And you can imagine him perched up aloft with his pencil and paper, and sketching these mountain ranges. So as a topographical record of that time, it's terrific. Now, I'm terrible in math. I'm the first to admit that. But I went through, and I was looking at the drawings and mentally toting everything up. So I can't tell you exactly how many drawings are in here. But there's quite a number of them-- varying in quality and size. But generally, I would say, of a pretty good quality. I came up with a figure, altogether, that was somewhere in the region of $25,000 to $40,000.
GUEST:
Really? Whoa!
APPRAISER:
You know, even... let's say, the less good ones, are going to be worth $200 or $300. And some of the better ones, like this, I think would make over $1,000.
GUEST:
Wow! My brother has a whole bunch of his. I've got to call him when I get home.
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.
