Late 19th-Century Charles Zacharie Landelle Painting
GUEST:
I bought it in Crane, Missouri, and we've had it almost 50 years. I gave the guy $2,500. He said he needed a new barn worse than he needed this picture.
APPRAISER:
And what do you know about the artist?
GUEST:
Just what's on TV... I mean, the computer.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well the artist's name is Charles Zachary Landelle. He was born in 1812 in France, and the picture is also inscribed "Alger" because it was painted in Algiers. And Landelle studied art in Paris and he ended up living in Algeria for about five years in the 1890s. He's painted a very beautiful subject.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
She's probably just coming home from the market with her flowers. And have you any idea, if you were to sell this, or have it insured, what that value might be?
GUEST:
No, I don't really have the value on it. That's what I came to this show for.
APPRAISER:
Okay, well I think if you were to sell it at auction, it might bring between $25,000 and $35,000. And if you wanted to insure it, I would insure it for $40,000.
GUEST:
Well, that's not too bad.
APPRAISER:
That's not too bad.
GUEST:
It's a little return.
APPRAISER:
I bet you can get two barns for that, maybe not these days.
GUEST:
Probably.
APPRAISER:
I don't know how much a barn is going for now.
GUEST:
Depends on the barn. (laughs)
Appraisal Details
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Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
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