Whether invaluable artifacts or worthless junk, discriminating appraisers say even if it’s trash, it’s treasure to someone.
“People want to understand what they’ve got and to find out whether grandma’s item, which came over on the Mayflower, really did,” said British Artiques Roadshow fine art connoisseur David Freeman. “They want to get to the truth behind their own family myths and legends.”
The academics, who are appraising items at Londonderry Mall this week, haven’t taken their show on the road to buy antiques, but to educate their owners of their value.
“That’s what makes things valuable — unique, special and rare, not old,” he said.
Unique, just like Janice Waring’s hand-carved rosewood end table she purchased for $1,500.
Appraised by Roadshowers at $5,000, the 17th century Chinese artifact found at a thrift store is an example of a common mistake made by sellers, Freeman said. “Don’t put it in a yard sale until you find out what you’ve actually got,” he said.
Through the 1960s, Aldyth Schotte often walked past a Jasper Avenue art shop and wished she could drop $200 on the works of Rose Leonard. Over 40 years later, she discovered one of the paintings at a garage sale priced at $8. Though the small, oil pastel painting is valued around the same today, she agreed the find “means a million.”
Appraisers will remain at Londonderry Mall to view items today, though all appointments are booked.
