Let William Farmer Appraisals help you discover it.
Here are a couple of stories. They were of enjoyable and rewarding appraisal projects. A couple in Santa Fe had a pair of Spanish Colonial paintings of angels. They wanted me to value them. They had been purchased in Bolivia in the 60’s. They thought that they had two treasures. Within seconds of viewing the paintings, I had the sad duty to inform them that the paintings were 1950’s copies of 17th Century subjects. Their paintings were worth about $500.
So, we took a tour through the house looking at other objects. High on a trastero was a black, dusty pot. We took it down. I was immediately intrigued by the “Avanyu” figure encircling the pot. It definitely was San Ildefonso. Turning it over, it was signed by both Maria Martinez and her son Popovi Da. As I turned it over, a thin piece of paper fluttered to the ground. Inside the pot was a check written in 1958 to Maria for $25.00! The check had been signed on the back and cashed at The First National Bank of Santa Fe by Maria. Here was a real treasure with a real provenance. The pot was valued at $17,000 for insurance purposes.
When I am in someone’s home to review art for appraisal, I am happy to walk through and point out objects which may be of value but not necessarily worthy of an appraisal. This is a verbal approximation of value which is not an appraisal but I consider it frosting on the cake while I am with a client. Often we discover a treasure the client didn’t even dream they had.
Another interesting story was when I was called into a retirement center by a son settling his Mother’s estate. While I was there a little lady from next door came over and asked that the son be sure to remember the “Sampler” to donate to an upcoming rummage sale. While looking through the contents, I gave many approximations of value. The one thing which definitely needed an insurance appraisal was that “Sampler.” It was done by a little girl in Philadelphia. She had dated it 1810 and signed her work. Meticulous care had been taken in sewing script and block alphabets. The charming piece had trees with birds, a cat below and a dog running at the cat. A comparable sampler had sold at Freeman Auctions in Philadelphia recently for $30,000! I told the gentleman not to donate it to the rummage sale.
William Farmer Appraisals.
505/466-4506 williamfarmer@comcast.net
