APPRAISER
It's signed down here, J. Nawahi, 1888. Joseph Nawahi, he wasn't primarily a painter, was he?
GUEST
No, that's probably the least of his known attributes. He was a lawyer, he was a legislator, he was an educator, and he was the publisher of a newspaper.
APPRAISER
He was in the legislature for 20 years. He produced a newspaper critical of the rebellion and the overthrow of the government, and actually landed in jail from around 1893, '95, and subsequently caught tuberculosis and died in '96.
GUEST
Yes.
APPRAISER
But he was native-born Hawaiian. We see these two snow-capped peaks here.
Uh-huh. APPRAISER
And those are...
GUEST
They're the two mountains on the Big Island.
APPRAISER
Right.
GUEST
They're Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Right, it's volcanoes there.
APPRAISER
Right. This bay here is, is probably where?
GUEST
It's the Hilo Bay.
APPRAISER
On the Big Island.
GUEST
Right.
APPRAISER
And then this island there?
GUEST
It's called Coconut Island.
APPRAISER
He was an amateur painter, and if you look at the figures, sometimes the anatomy and the perspective isn't always right. They're a little bit stiff. He's a good artist, but not a great artist. He has a good sense of the, the landscape, but he's not an academically trained artist.
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
He had some training, but not much. But it's important because he's the first Hawaiian-born to paint in this Western style. He was known for doing volcanoes, much like Jules Tavernier. There aren't many paintings by him. I think he-- how many are there?
GUEST
There are... We only know of five. This is either the largest or one of the two largest ones.
APPRAISER
Where'd you get it?
GUEST
Well, we were on our way from our property up in Volcano down to Hilo Town to go to a museum, and we stopped on the way at our favorite antiques gallery, saw this, couldn't quite make out the artist's name, but got a fix on it, and we had to rush off. So we went down to the museum and we saw his name there. My husband and I, we looked at each other and we said, "The painting!" And called the antique shop and asked them to hold it, and we zoomed back up there and we got the painting. I think we paid about $400 for it.
APPRAISER
About $400.
GUEST
That was in the '70s. It was very dark and it was grazed. The old painting had cracked and everything. So a friend of ours sent it to his restorer in San Francisco, I think it was. It was somewhere in California. And so we did have him do that.
APPRAISER
That has an effect on, on value on anything. But when you're talking about five or six pieces that are known...
GUEST
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER
We sort of forgive some of the condition issues. Do you remember what you paid for the restoration?
GUEST
Probably between $600 and $900.
APPRAISER
I consulted with one of my colleagues here who is from the islands. Because you have the Hilo Bay, you have Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, he called it Hawaiian gold for, in,
in the art market. GUEST
Mmm.
APPRAISER
Recently, works by him have sold as much as $70,000. I think, if this were to be up at auction today, I would probably put an estimate of $100,000 to $150,000 on it.
GUEST
Are you kidding?
APPRAISER
No, it's a great thing.
GUEST
(laughing) Wow. Wow.
APPRAISER
It's, it's really important. This is a national treasure.
GUEST
Yeah. Yeah.
APPRAISER
I mean, it's an amazing thing to have here.
GUEST
Well, I'm Native Hawaiian.
This is... Yeah. GUEST
So it's one of the reasons we bought it.
APPRAISER
Oh, it's great.
GUEST
Oh, gosh. (laughs) I've got goose skins. Yeah.
APPRAISER
Well, take good care of it, you know? And put it in a very safe place.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
And keep it under lock and key. (chuckles)
GUEST
(voice trembling) Excuse me.
APPRAISER
It's all right.
GUEST
We're very proud to have this picture.
Yeah. GUEST
Thank you so much.
APPRAISER
All right. Well, thanks for bringing it in-- it made my day.
GUEST
(laughing) Thank you.
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