Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: Well, this is actually a wood carving.

And it was carved and painted by my older brother, who is no longer with us.

But, uh, he was a tremendous naturalist and a wonderful artist.

APPRAISER: And his name was...

GUEST: Doug Eppes.

APPRAISER: And this is him.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, this is him, that's my brother.

APPRAISER: When did he make it?

GUEST: Between mid-'80s, uh, up to '90.

APPRAISER: He died very young, 41.

GUEST: He did.

As a child, he had hepatitis, which weakened his liver.

And then I have to say that 20 years of substance abuse finished him off.

APPRAISER: And, and you were telling me that he would trade his carvings in bars for drinks.

As a person that's an alcoholic, you will get to the point where you will trade something like that for a drink.

Fortunately, he did it at a local watering hole, and the bartenders would see to it that it got back to the family.

So let's start with where he lived.

In Newark, Delaware.

And he learned the craft of wood carving with waterfowl.

His mentor was Bill Veasey, who's a very well-known carver.

GUEST: My brother decided to do something that was his signature thing, and that's what this turtle is.

APPRAISER: And this, of course, is an eastern box turtle, the, the m, the most common woodland turtle in the, in the Eastern United States.

When I look at this, I'm just astonished by the realism of it.

Everything about this says that this turtle is alive.

(chuckles) But it's not-- it's a carved piece of wood, carved and painted.

Basswood is what he used.

The individual little scutes on a turtle shell, he's got the growth rings or the growth lines carved into there.

His little plates on his feet, where he's protecting himself when he's digging, are perfect.

And I've got to believe, had your brother lived longer and established himself, that he would be recognized as one of the great wildlife woodcarvers.

GUEST: Thank you for saying that, I really appreciate it.

APPRAISER: (chuckles) GUEST: The only one that I know of that has ever been sold sold for $3,000.

APPRAISER: A turtle.

GUEST: A turtle.

APPRAISER: The three of us at the folk art table sort of polled each other, and we all came up with an auction estimate of $2,500 to $3,500, so... (laughs) GUEST: (laughing) There you go.

APPRAISER: Yeah, yeah.

GUEST: So... APPRAISER: You guys are pretty good.

(both laugh)