Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: This came from my father's house.

APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

GUEST: Uh, he lived on three acres in Lombard, Illinois.

APPRAISER: Uh-huh.

GUEST: He had a big house, big old garage, all the way down to a chicken coop.

APPRAISER: (laughs) Oh, my goodness.

GUEST: And he had it all filled with things.

He loved to go to auctions and... APPRAISER: So was he in the business?

Was he a picker or was he just... GUEST: No, no, no, he just lived to be 92, and he enjoyed himself doing that.

(laughing) APPRAISER: Well, everyone in the antiques business loves to hear about pickers... GUEST: (laughs) APPRAISER: ...and great, uh, pack rats... GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: ...who never threw things away.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, yeah.

APPRAISER: Well, you certainly picked a treasure... GUEST: Well!

APPRAISER: ...from the chicken coop.

GUEST: Oh!

(laughs) APPRAISER: Um, this is a painting by Jane Peterson, who was an American Impressionist artist.

She was born in 1876... GUEST: Oh!

Hm!

APPRAISER: ...and died in 1965.

She traveled all over the country, spent a great deal of time in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and painted there quite a bit.

This painting was probably done in 1924 in Constantinople.

GUEST: Ah.

APPRAISER: She was there, she was in Venice.

She traveled all over the world.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: The issue with valuing this painting is twofold.

First, there's the bad news, then I'll give you the good news.

GUEST: (laughs) APPRAISER: The bad news is location, location, location.

GUEST: Ah.

APPRAISER: Her most valuable paintings are the American Impressionist scenes in the United States.

You know, great scenes of women in gardens with hollyhocks and flowers... GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...and things like that.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The good news is, um, that women artists are really being reappraised... GUEST: Oh!

APPRAISER: ...in the auction market and in the secondary market.

For the longest time, they were just seen as, you know, biding time, doing paintings between their fathers' homes to their husbands' homes.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Uh, now they're really being seen as the fine-quality artists that they are.

And Jane Peterson's works have sold for over $100,000.

GUEST: Hm.

APPRAISER: They're tremendously valuable pieces.

GUEST: Hm.

APPRAISER: And this piece, I would put a value of $8,000 to $12,000.

GUEST: Oh!

(chuckles) Wonderful!

(laughing) APPRAISER: Oh, good!

GUEST: Wonderful!

APPRAISER: So go back to that chicken coop.