Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

These are done by my great-great-aunt.

APPRAISER

Who was...?

GUEST

That was Jessie Willcox Smith.

APPRAISER

Right, and you know a little bit about her.

GUEST

Oh, I know she's very popular. She did illustrations for Good Housekeeping magazine. My parents have three paintings, and we have two of hers.

APPRAISER

That's great. Well, she is one of America's finest illustrators. She was born around 1863, you probably already know that, and lived to 1935. And she was doing things for magazines, she was an illustrator. She illustrated for books and magazines, primarily. Sort of like Norman Rockwell, but she was much before he was. She was a trained artist. She was actually trained in Philadelphia.

GUEST

Yes.

APPRAISER

Under Thomas Eakins, one of America's finest painters. Came through that Pennsylvania academy. What I found out that's interesting, she was a kindergarten teacher as well. And that brings a lot to her paintings, because most of them focus on children and very wonderful, cute visions of children and childhood.

GUEST

Right, although she never had children of her own.

APPRAISER

Really?

GUEST

She never married and never had children of her own.

APPRAISER

She had some great illustrations, and you brought a couple in today. One of the things you brought in is the book that this is for. This is the book called The Princess and the Goblin.

GUEST

Yes.

APPRAISER

You can see it here, this is the illustration for the cover. And this is another illustration back here for something later on in the book.

GUEST

Right.

APPRAISER

People who collect illustration art really go crazy for the covers. And you have one here, and it's a beautiful cover, one of Jessie Willcox Smith's best pieces. I would say at auction right now, the value of this would be about $30,000. And this one, about $20,000. This is a little bit darker. But this is just quintessential Jessie Willcox Smith.

GUEST

Right, good. Thanks. Thank you very much.