upper photo- Alexander Graham Bell at his desk
lower photo- Ma and Pa Kettle
In the early 70’s, I received a call from a friend asking me if I’d be willing to appraise a house full of furniture for a friend of his. When questioned, it was explained that the people were buying half of an existing farm property; the other half had been purchased by a large corporation. His friends bought the half with the house, and the current owners were moving to a place that they could more easily take care of, as they were very old at the time. Their daughter was taking care of helping them to move.
They thought I would be able to do this because of my knowledge and experience with antiques and would give an honest appraisal of what I found. However, I was doing this as a favor, so I was the cheapest appraiser they could find. My friend assumed I’d do this because I’d be interested in the inventory.
I decided it would be fun, as I’d never done this before and was prepared to do it. Whatever I found that I didn’t know about, I’d honestly tell the truth and let them seek additional help.
We drove out to Virginia to meet with the friends, the owners and the daughter on a lovely summer day. The people were very old and looked a bit like “Ma and Pa Kettle”, the fictional characters played by Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main in the old movie comedies. They had both been to college and had graduated a very long time ago. They were a very interesting bunch!
The daughter was not about to trust me, but I tried to ease her mind. I didn’t want to buy anything; I was just trying to price things so that the new owners could, if they chose, buy the furnishings. I took a small Post-It note pad with me and agreed to post a price on each thing I was able to appraise.
Going through the house, there was lots of golden oak furniture, circa 1895 to about 1915, mostly European rather than American. I was surprised by this, but it all was very nice, collectable, and something I knew about.
After the first two floors, they suggested we move upstairs to Papa’s room, a room locked on the upper floor, where the father of the husband had his things, although he had long since left this earth.
They opened the door and we went in, and I froze! There was a wealth of artifacts, things from the Pacific Islands, Inuit items and a vast collection of everything! I remember a bowl of small figures and heads, all quite beautiful, just sitting on a desk!
They thought I would be able to do this because of my knowledge and experience with antiques and would give an honest appraisal of what I found. However, I was doing this as a favor, so I was the cheapest appraiser they could find. My friend assumed I’d do this because I’d be interested in the inventory.
I decided it would be fun, as I’d never done this before and was prepared to do it. Whatever I found that I didn’t know about, I’d honestly tell the truth and let them seek additional help.
We drove out to Virginia to meet with the friends, the owners and the daughter on a lovely summer day. The people were very old and looked a bit like “Ma and Pa Kettle”, the fictional characters played by Percy Kilbride and Marjorie Main in the old movie comedies. They had both been to college and had graduated a very long time ago. They were a very interesting bunch!
The daughter was not about to trust me, but I tried to ease her mind. I didn’t want to buy anything; I was just trying to price things so that the new owners could, if they chose, buy the furnishings. I took a small Post-It note pad with me and agreed to post a price on each thing I was able to appraise.
Going through the house, there was lots of golden oak furniture, circa 1895 to about 1915, mostly European rather than American. I was surprised by this, but it all was very nice, collectable, and something I knew about.
After the first two floors, they suggested we move upstairs to Papa’s room, a room locked on the upper floor, where the father of the husband had his things, although he had long since left this earth.
They opened the door and we went in, and I froze! There was a wealth of artifacts, things from the Pacific Islands, Inuit items and a vast collection of everything! I remember a bowl of small figures and heads, all quite beautiful, just sitting on a desk!
I was tired by that point and told them all that I could not help them here, and suggested they contact the Smithsonian and discuss their collection! The Papa had been an archeologist in the 1800’s, and I had no idea where to start.
We went outside and they tried to find Alexander Graham Bell’s desk in the barn but couldn’t come up with it. We did find some roosters running around. We then tried to find the autographed book by Abraham Lincoln, but couldn’t quite find that either! The barn was full of barn stuff!
I thanked them and they all thanked me and I never saw any of them again!
I never will volunteer for such a job again! I also wanted to protect these people from vultures, even though it was not my problem.
I hope they all got what they wanted!
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