Charles Partridge Adams Oil Painting, ca. 1910
GUEST: My husband and I love this painting. We love the artist and we loved everything about the color in it.
APPRAISER: How long ago did you acquire the painting?
GUEST: It would have been about 40 years ago in the '80s from a gallery in Denver.
APPRAISER: What do you know about the artist?
GUEST: Well I just simply know that he was very prolific in Western art, and particularly, in Colorado.
APPRAISER: Well his name is Charles Partridge Adams.
GUEST: Partridge... yes.
APPRAISER: And he was born in 1858 in Massachusetts, and moved to Colorado when he was 18. His sister, I believe, had tuberculosis, so, you know how you would go to the mountains?
GUEST: Oh yes, oh yes.
APPRAISER: And he started working at a bookstore called Chain and Hardy, and the wife of one of the owners had actually studied with George Inness and when she realized that he had artistic talent she very much encouraged him and supported him in his quest to become an artist. He had his first exhibition in Denver in 1886 and established his first studio in Denver in 1893. He also started spending the summers in Estes Park and painting there. And one thing he figured out when he did establish a studio was that if he painted in watercolor, those paintings tended to sell a little bit faster because they were less expensive. So he was-- he was very clever. He moved to Los Angeles around 1920 and basically lived there 'til he died in the '40s. But he-- again, being clever, he figured out that the Colorado subjects that he liked to paint didn't really sell so well in California, so he started to paint coastal scenes. But he would still paint Colorado subjects from memory and send them back to Colorado for sale. So he was quite entrepreneurial.
GUEST: He was very, very prolific and very popular.
APPRAISER: Yes. Here. This is a very good example of the artist's work. A circa date might be 1900 to 1920. The medium is oil on canvas. What I particularly love about the painting, like you, is the color, but I also just love looking at the surface, where you can see the texture of the paint...
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: ...and the mark of the brush. I know we talked about maybe how much you paid for it.
GUEST: I just can't really remember, but I'm guessing $20,000 to $25,000.
APPRAISER: Well that would make sense, because in the late '80s, the Western market was very, very strong...
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: ...and there were very good prices then.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: If we were to offer this in a retail gallery now, the asking price might be around $50,000.
GUEST: Well that's always encouraging and nice to hear, but I love having it in my own house. I love showing something as beautiful as that, and 'cause I adore Colorado.
$50,000 Retail
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
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."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
