You never know what valuable item might be found in a box of junk.
Like a sampler a woman brought to Vern Reese for appraisal a couple of years ago. The piece of embroidered cloth had been tucked in a box with other items, the Regina antiques appraiser said during a presentation at the Western Canada Farm Progress Show last week.
It had no sentimental value to the woman, who had bought the box for a couple of dollars, and she thought it was worth perhaps $100.
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“I estimated it was worth between $10,000 and $30,000 U.S.,” Reese said.
After verifying with American experts that the piece was from New England and made in the 1740s, as Reese suspected, the woman consigned it to the famous Sotheby’s auction house.
“A year ago January, in eight minutes … it sold for $26,000 American,” Reese said.
Those kinds of stories, although rare, prompt people to head to their basements or attics to see if they too have something valuable.
At the Farm Progress Show, patrons could bring small items for appraisal at no charge. Reese said he made no spectacular finds, but he did see two oil paintings, circa 1880s England, that he estimated at $1,000 each.
The most important thing he considers when appraising is condition. The second is desirability.
“If nobody wants it, it’s not going to be of much value,” he said.
The age of an item is not that significant to him, unless other things go with it. For example, English Georgian furniture from the 1760s to 1820s is collectible, so its age is important and contributes to the value. A rock, he notes wryly, is old but not valuable or desirable.
He checks to see if furniture is “married,” a term referring to whether the piece is original or has had parts added. He also looks for repairs, refinishing and reupholstering.
Function is also important. “Can I use it in my home, without damaging it or changing it?”
Signatures on some items can contribute to their value, as can colour.
Reese said collectibility, as in the case of the sampler, is a major factor in determining value.
“The weirdest things have value,” he added. “People collect anything.”
A button collection worth about $10,000 and a condom tube from the early 1900s are among two of the more unusual things he’s seen recently.
Often people are unaware of an item’s value. He told the story of a Melfort woman who rescued a $1,500 vase from the garbage.
But even more important than monetary value is sentimental value, he said.
“That, you can’t put a price on. It’s worth more than commercial value,” he said.
“You can keep it, pass it down and keep the memory alive.”
Reese is already booked to return to the Farm Progress Show in 2005.
