Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: I'm hoping it's a woodblock print.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm?

GUEST: A friend of mine gave me, or let me choose, two.

And these prints were given to her by her aunt, who had a friend that had a friend that worked in the embassy during World War II.

APPRAISER: Ah.

GUEST: So they were exchanged, I, we were told, for food, medicines, or whatever.

APPRAISER: Yeah, yeah.

GUEST: She was given a, a, a fairly good-sized stack of all kinds.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And she told me I could pick two.

And this was my favorite.

APPRAISER: Oh, you did well.

GUEST: Oh, good.

(both laugh) APPRAISER: You know what it is?

GUEST: I think it's a woodblock.

APPRAISER: Yes, it is.

A woodblock print.

GUEST: I'm hoping-- that's what we were told.

APPRAISER: Yes, woodblock print.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: But, uh, um, not traditional one.

It's an early 20th century...

GUEST: Ooh.

APPRAISER: ...called sosaku-hanga.

So the, uh, artist, Kotondo, is very famous.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And all the print collectors like him.

His, um, last name was Torii.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And he's, um, famous, um, maker, famous, uh, printmaker, making, uh, posters for kabuki.

Also, uh, he did bijin-ga, meaning "beautiful women prints."

It's very popular.

GUEST: That's where this comes from, yeah, okay.

APPRAISER: Yes and he worked in Tokyo.

And it's signed here, Kotondo.

Here-- it says its artist's name and the artist's name in a seal.

It's dated Showa, Showa-- fourth of Showa.

So that's around 1930s.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And she's combing her hair, actually, right?

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: You can see.

Yes.

GUEST: Yeah, long hair.

APPRAISER: Yes, yeah, long hair.

So the title is, it's embossed.

GUEST: Oh!

Yes, it is!

APPRAISER: Can you see?

GUEST: I see, I never saw that before.

APPRAISER: Says "Kamisuki," meaning, uh, "Combing Hair."

GUEST: Huh?

Never saw that.

APPRAISER: Wonderful, yes.

Yes.

GUEST: And I called it "The Girl With a Comb."

APPRAISER: When they do a block, it's not one.

You have to make several.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: You have to do the key block, which is just black outline, and then you have to do red, the lips, and yellow for the comb.

GUEST: Jeez.

APPRAISER: You see?

So you probably have to do four, five different blocks.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

APPRAISER: Japanese prints are not numbered, yeah.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: But they probably made about 200.

So, yeah, I have seen this, it's one of my favorite.

GUEST: Oh, you're kidding.

APPRAISER: So I was surprised to see it in, uh...

GUEST: I have looked, I have gone on the computer.

I have never found it.

APPRAISER: Oh, you haven't?

Yeah, okay.

GUEST: No, never saw it before, again.

APPRAISER: Oh, I see.

Yes, and you probably wonder how much that would be, 'cause you didn't pay for it, right?

You picked.

(chuckles) What do you think?

GUEST: $500?

APPRAISER (laughs): No, much more.

GUEST: Ooh.

APPRAISER (laughing): Yeah.

GUEST: No, no... APPRAISER: Um, I think in a shop, they could go for...

It's a good condition, so it could go for maybe $4,000?

GUEST(gasps): Oh, my gosh!

(laughs) No!

APPRAISER: On a good day, $5,000 or more.

GUEST: No idea-- none.

APPRAISER: Yeah, yes, yeah, yeah.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: But anyway, if you wait, the, the market is very good for these Japanese prints, so it might go up in prices.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: So I'll see you in five years.

(both laugh) GUEST: Yeah, oh, that's exciting.

APPRAISER: Isn't that?