03.11.2008
‘Antiques Roadshow’ appraiser sees good, bad and fake
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Ken Farmer Jr. poses at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts at Old Salem. Jennifer Rotenizer photo. |
People who bring their family heirlooms and auction finds to be appraised by the experts with “Antiques Roadshow” sometimes hope for the best and get the worst.
Ken Farmer, who recently spoke at an annual furniture seminar at the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts in Winston-Salem, has been a guest appraiser on “Roadshow,” PBS’ highest-rated series, since 1995. He remembers one woman whose story never got on the air.
The woman came to an appraisal session with a fitted wooden case labeled “Vampire Killing Kit.” She had bought it at auction in New Orleans for $1,500, and she thought she had an aged treasure, complete with a wooden stake, a pistol and bullets that looked like they were made of silver.
Farmer knew right away that the muddy varnish on the stake had been applied to make it look old. An expert on books and manuscripts determined that the label had been made on a laser printer, and Farmer noticed that the dividers in the case showed no wear.
When the woman got the news that her kit wasn’t worth much, Farmer said, “She cussed a blue streak.”
Many people contain their disappointment when they discover that beloved family pieces - and the stories that go with them - aren’t as genuine as they thought. Many stories start as rumor and then become legend.
If all the pieces people say Abraham Lincoln and George Washington slept in or sat on were authentic, Farmer said, the line of furniture would stretch all the way from here to Washington. Although the “Roadshow” looks for interesting stories, he said, “I think it’s not too much fun to go on national television and break someone’s heart.”
He offers sound advice for people who are considering buying antiques. One thing that “Roadshow” viewers often hear is how destroying the original finish of a piece can reduce its value to a fraction of what the intact piece might have been worth.
As Farmer walked through the galleries of MESDA, he pointed out several pieces of painted furniture from the Eastern Shore of Virginia most likely made in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Most of the furniture was made of yellow pine, a wood that was not considered formal.
“I don’t think any of it went out of the South without being painted,” he said. He showed two chests with their original paint. One, a piece from Wythe County, Va., shows the area’s Germanic influence with its stylized patterns of tulips and urns.
“A lot of these got stripped,” he said. A piece with its original finish could be worth as much as 100 times more than a similar stripped piece, he said. But he doesn’t want people to think that they should never refinish or restore any antique.
“Almost every piece of furniture could benefit from some type of adjustment,” he said, “unless it’s a rare museum piece.” An expert removed a coat of brown paint that hid the valuable wood inlays on a big corner cupboard displayed at MESDA. “A restorer cleaned it down to what it is,” Farmer said.
If people question the wisdom of refinishing an antique, they should consult an expert, he said.
“Don’t jump in and do something hasty. Don’t use a belt sander.”
If people want to build valuable collections, he had this advice. “Buy the best example of what you are looking at, whatever you can afford. Don’t buy 10 lesser pieces; buy one good thing.
“It takes a lot of the fun out of it for a lot of people.”
He advises people that although buying the best can be painful financially, “great collections are not built on bargains.”
His own house in Radford, Va., is filled with antiques made in southwest Virginia, western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. But his house is no museum, even though its furnishings include a painted pie safe from Wythe County worth between $30,000 and $50,000.
“We raised two boys and only had two things broken in 27 years,” he said. “If you can’t live around it and be comfortable, why bother? You develop a certain familiarity with it; it doesn’t intimidate you.”
He does recommend that people keep small, valuable, breakable pieces in cabinets behind glass. Cracks and chips can lower their value.
Now and then, some old piece that a family has never paid much attention to can wind up being worth a bundle. Farmer has happily delivered good news to participants in “Antiques Roadshow.”
“I’ve been kissed,” he said. “Not on the lips, though.”