Something I wasn't expecting

[jcaliff]

So, in addition to everything else, I like to go to the occasional estate sale. Normally I look for ceramics and art. My father collects vintage prints (Currier and Ives and Audubon and stuff like that) and over the years I've learned how to recognize, in general, whether something has age and might be worth buying. Now, let me preface that I only buy stuff I like and that I plan to keep and hang on my walls or display in my china cabinet. I'm not buying to resell.

I went to an estate sale on Friday. There were no pictures in the listing, and the description did mention art prints and an Audubon print, but nothing specific. When I got there everything was already half off. I starting looking through some of the prints on the walls and in the bedroom. There were quite a few modern copies that were framed, and even a modern copy folio of some prints that were nice, but kind of expensive. I found a couple that looked older though, two botanical prints. They're both hand-colored, have visible edges where they were removed from the original books and both had impressions of the edge of the plate in the paper. One was marked $50/set and the other had no price. I asked the people running the sale if they were meant to be sold together and they said yes, and since they were half off they were $25 for the set. In general, $50 for a lithograph with a bit of age (~100 years) isn't bad, so two for $25 seemed really good and they were both attractive, so I bought them. One is a very famous artist (Pierre-Joseph Redouté) , but I figured it was probably a more modern copy, maybe early 20th century or something.

When I got home and looked more closely at the art, I noticed that there was an old price hand-written inside the mat on the Redouté. It was originally four figures. I nearly had a heart attack.

I think I'm still having a minor heart attack. I got on the internet to do some research. Based on some papers that came attached to the back of the mat, I think I figured out which online sales site originally sold both prints (they have prints from both artists still for sale at equivalent prices), and I wrote them an email to see if I can get proof of provenance. If so, I'm not sure what to do next. Insurance? I'm a little overwhelmed. Obviously the sellers had no idea what they were selling. I had no idea what I was buying. It's still possible that it could be fake. I'm also going to bring it in to a local gallery to double check, but at this point I'm nearly 100% sure what I have. If it's real, then I guess this must be how people feel on antiques roadshow when they get told that the vase they bought at a flea market is worth 100x what they paid for it. I want to get both prints framed (right now they're only matted) but will have to make sure I get it done right. The second one isn't worth as much, but it's still worth a couple hundred dollars.

I just wanted a pretty picture to hang on the wall.

These are the two prints:

Sea Scurvy Grass by Elizabeth Blackwell

Rosa Hudoniana Salicifolia by Pierre-Joseph Redouté

I'm kind of very nervous about all of this. I figured you guys would understand.

[JWR]

So a late Birthday present.

Congrats on lucking into a bargain

[Keropi]

Wow, that's pretty neat. Congratulations on your find.

[teggacat]

oh thats just awesome!! Just like the Roadshow!
the pieces are lovely, such a find!
kinda neat to hear these things really do happen,
what a great story, thanks for sharing

[sensei]

Congratulations! For the moment, I'd just make good-quality photos or scans of the items and keep them in some secure place. Having had my house broken into during the past year, I can tell you that thieves are not interested in pictures hanging in the wall (or cel books on a shelf) but in things that can be readily pawned for ready cash -- jewelry, laptops, guns, etc. So your Redouté print is probably safe, though you should hang it in a place where it will look good and not be affected by sunlight.

Reminds me of the story (told in a book by one of the Antiques Roadshow appraisers) of the fabulously valuable colonial dresser that someone bought at a thrift shop. The appraiser at once saw not only what it was, but remembered the auction at which it had sold for six figures. He notified police, figuring it had been stolen. But, no, it turned out that the previous owner had done over one of his houses (haughty sniff) in an authentic early American mode. Then, some years later, he tired of that ambiance and told his interior decorator to get rid of the furnishings and do it over in a more modern vein. The decorator took him at his word, replacing all the furniture and dropping off the no-longer-wanted items at a nearby thrift shop. The erstwhile owner was offered back his antique dresser, but he took it all as a huge joke, and so the treasure-hunter got to keep it.