Featured ARS in St. Louis, small 15th C. Buddha

Anyone else see the show tonite? Lady bought a small bronze Buddha on 3rd day of estate sale, piece missing one hand and opposite arm. She paid $75. Appraiser said it was almost certainly made for the Chinese emperor, 15 th C. He valued it at $100-125k. The dealers had crawled all over the stuff for two days and all passed it up. Bet a few of them are kicking themselves now.

 

'I have had the brooch valued by a expert from Christie’s auctions and was pleasantly surprised by its value.' Whatever Christie's told them, BIN with shipping is GBP 157.80 or USD approx. 221. It is a mass produced, molded resin cameo. When I see things like this, it makes me wonder how far I can trust 'expert' appraisals when I have no special knowledge.

 

If you bought it for 50c and Christies valued it at 4 bucks - perhaps you'd still be pleasantly surprised

 

Unless that thing belonged to a celebrity and can be proven to be hers, if I got real money for that piece I'd be shocked. Four bucks would be a lot for it.

 

And there was a "face jug" on ARS .......... https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...es-roadshow-expert-mistake-school-art-project

 

That one cracks me up every time.

 

Although I am sure that most of the items are ID'd correctly on the show, I have always thought the dollar amount put on the majority of the items are way out of the realm of reality.

As we tell folks who come here wanting an appraisal, there are too many variables to put a dollar amount on items. Are you selling it on-line, at an auction or in a shop? Will it be a specialty auction or a local anything goes sale? Is it a high end shop in a large city or a booth in a local antiques mall? Do you want an insurance replacement value? If it is a family piece than you are dealing with sentimental value.

We are also aware that not everyone can know everything about all items in a specific category. That is why a site such as this is so wonderful. We have multiple people who are knowledgeable about many different things so we can fill in the gaps for one another.

I have told this story before, but my ARS story took place in Omaha Nebraska a few years back. I took this large Blue Opalescent Hobnail tray like piece that I had never been able to ID. The lady, who was a supposed expert in glass, they sent me to said that there was no way I would ever be able to know who made the piece.

A few months later I posted it on the old PG&P board on ebay. Within 15 minutes someone told me that it was a c.1900 ice cream tray by Hobbs Brockunier & Co.

Face it, these people are all looking for something that will get them on the show & if you bring in something that is ho-hum they are not going to give you the time of day.

 

A good thing we have a forum with so many pairs of eyes, and so much combined experience. There is usually someone here who can correct us or give us extra insight.

 

Yes, I saw that too Spring. The lady all but fell off her chair. I would have too.

 

Haven't seen the Buddha episode -- will check it out. The buyer must have had some hint it was better to buy it in a broken state for $75 two decades ago. Anxious to see the appraisal.

I'm glad I wasn't at the estate sale and passed on it, as I most surely would have.

Was looking for something on Youtube last week, and wound up getting distracted and watching this short ARS on a bakelite collection. Spoiler: They appraise the bracelet at $6-8 thousand, "maybe even more".

I know that some of the more rare pieces can sell upwards of $2K, and that the market has softened since this 2006 episode, but $8K or more?

Bracelet discussion starts at the 1 minute mark or so:



Also, I'm always a little suspicious when the buyer looks so shocked at the appraisal . Just seems a little coincidence that she is a big time bakelite collector and that the family was "going to throw this bracelet out and would she like it?" Not suggesting she stole it, but maybe she had eyed it earlier and mentioned wanting it. Sounds like they helped the former owner, so maybe all good in the end.

Somehow doubt this would now sell for $8K, or???

 

You have pay close attention to what the appraiser says. Sometimes the appraiser gives auction value. That is auction estimate, and anyone who has bought or sold at auction knows you shouldn't expect to get more than 1/2 of that minus commission (though sometimes it is a lot more or less depending on the crowd and whether you set a minimum starting price). Sometimes the appraiser gives retail value, which is about two times the auction value. And sometimes the appraiser gives insurance value, which about two times the retail value.

In short, the estimates they give are at least double, and up to eight times what you can expect to sell something for at a well-advertised auction. If you have a well-known shop that specializes in that type of item then you may be able to approach the retail value - but not at a typical auction mall where you're pretty much back to auction value.

That is how I view it, at any rate.

 

This cameo, which can be yours for $59,999.99, seller states was looked at by museum experts & declared 'priceless'. I see they have altered the listing so that material is now given as ceramic rather than the original claim of 'bone', which presumably was code for ivory. They claim it is unique, at least 200 years old, formerly property of the Romanovs, & that the crack has been skillfully repaired, without mentioning that the tip of the nose is missing.


When trying to persuade a seller that a piece is not unique, I send along at least 1 other example. Sent this seller several, all lava, including one below. They felt they were 'completely different.' Yeah, this one is better. The Romanovs would not have touched any of them.

 

The cameo (with nose) looks a bit like Rubens, but I'm sure there are other gentlemen from the era who were represented similarly.

 

No, you're right. It's Rubens, from the medal. If the seller had been more receptive to guidance, I would have told them. As it was, felt inclined to leave them to museum experts. Heaven knows what claim they would have been making for it otherwise, maybe that it was by Rubens' own hand, commissioned by the Tsar.

 

They say the quality of the bronze is so good that the piece is likely Imperial. Quality of the bronze or of the details? Imperial piece would very likely have been marked as such.
Is it just me or it looks like gilded base metal?