Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: It's been in my husband's family for a very long time.

It was passed down to his parents.

and then after his parents passed away, it was passed on to us.

And we've just had it hanging up in the house.

APPRAISER: Cornelius Krieghoff was a very interesting 19th-century Canadian artist.

And what he's really known for are these wonderfully vibrant genre scenes that almost read like novels.

You have the images in the piece of the sled, and of the mother and child, and just a great deal of activity.

He was born in Holland, and there's a tradition of really finely painted genre scenes in Europe.

And he took that training and style and transposed it to sort of rough-and-ready Canada GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: mid-19th century.

He was very popular during his lifetime because the scenes are really wonderful snapshots of Canada, Quebec City area.

Because of that, there are a number of fakes of Krieghoff's work.

And we really looked at it, and the quality of the piece, the style of the piece and the provenance of the piece led us to come to the conclusion that there's a very, very strong chance that the piece is right.

GUEST: That's fabulous.

APPRAISER: I would certainly consider more research for the painting, but everything falls into place.

The original frame, which has been painted with radiator paint, I suspect.

And we believe it to be a lovely example of Krieghoff's work.

GUEST: That's wonderful.

APPRAISER: Given that, I would estimate the piece at auction between $200,000 and $300,000.

GUEST: Oh... my... God!

(both laughing) Oh, my God!

APPRAISER: It's a wonderful example of his work.

GUEST: Uh... (laughing) APPRAISER: For insurance, and retail purposes, in excess of $350,000.

GUEST: I can't believe it, Colleene.

I just can't believe it.

APPRAISER: Believe it, and insure it right away.

GUEST: I will.

(laughing) I can't believe it.

I just can't believe it.