Wes Cowan Visits Eiteljorg Museum January 16, 2010

WES COWAN VISITS EITELJORG MUSEUM FOR APPRAISAL DAY
Featured appraiser on PBS offers tips for spotting treasures
(INDIANAPOLIS) – Saturday, Jan. 16, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art will host Appraisal Day, featuring Wes Cowan, star in the PBS television series History Detectives and featured appraiser on PBS. Cowan, aided by other experts from Cowan’s Auctions Inc., in Cincinnati, will teach museum guests how to spot Native American and Western treasures and will provide on-site appraisals of items, including Native American objects, Western artifacts, paintings, photographs, documents and decorative arts.
Tour the museum’s galleries; meet Wes Cowan and see the different objects people bring in. Each person wishing to have something appraised is limited to no more that three items. Eiteljorg Museum members will be charged $15 for the first item and $10 for each additional item. The fee for non members is $20 per item $10 for each additional item and includes one adult museum admission. Space for appraisals is limited. Purchase your spot in advance by contacting Autumn Soeurt (317) 275-1310 or asoeurt@eiteljorg.com. Appraisals are focused on American Indian art, Western and American paintings, sculpture, furniture and decorative arts, and historical Americana and Western artifacts (no pop culture items).
The Eiteljorg Museum’s Appraisal Day is made possible in part by media sponsor WFYI.
Trash or Treasure?
For anyone wondering whether the “junk” gathering dust in the attic or sitting at the neighborhood garage sale is valuable or merely a curiosity, Cowan offers the following hints:
1. Paintings: Check authenticity - There is nothing worse than spending hard earned money on a beautiful painting by a favorite artist only to find out it is a fraud. Fakes have become more prevalent in the world of antiques, duping everyone from dealers to collectors to institutions. When dealing with a major artist, it is always important to check for a comprehensive publication of the artist’s extant works. If any useful information is revealed, make copies and keep these with the piece. They are vitally important and directly affect the value of a painting. The easiest way to determine whether a signature is authentic is by placing the painting under a black light or a powerful UV light. This process also helps to determine the amount of prior restoration to a painting. Later overpaint by a conservator or a false signature will fluoresce a dark purplish black under UV light rays. These can be removed if a painting were cleaned, because they are sometimes applied over a varnish.
2. Furniture: Condition is important: Original upholstery and construction elements add value to a piece. Original finish on a piece may be a different story. In general, collectors prize early hand-made pieces that retain their original finish. Surprising as it may seem, a piece of grungy, age-darkened and stained piece might fetch astronomically more than it’s clean, refinished cousin of the same age. Why? Because nearly every piece of furniture made before the mid 19th century has been refinished at one point in its history, making those few that haven’t exceptionally rare. But few collectors worry about the finish on furniture made during the machine age because some many more pieces were manufactured. So, should you refinish Grandma’s oak kitchen table made in 1910? You bet. Stripping away that grunge and grime will expose the beautiful grain and color of the wood, and provide a fine, clean eating surface, and won’t affect its value.
3. Know what’s hot…: Just for example, collectors, for years, have placed a premium on things associated with the country’s westward expansion. Big money is spent on the era’s books and other printed materials, photographs, firearms and other weapons and cowboy and Indian artifacts.
4. …But learn about what you are interested in collecting: Go to the library, search the Internet, read, and visit exhibits at museums. The educated buyer is the smartest buyer.
5. Go local: One of the most important trends that have developed in the last decade in the antiques business is the rapid rise in value of regional antiques. Thanks to museum exhibits and a host of attendant publications, antique collectors nationally have become increasingly aware of the items produced in their state or region. Salt-glazed stoneware, those heavy, grey or brown glazed “crocks”, -- often decorated with hand painted or stenciled blue decorations -- many of us remember from the basement of our grand-parents house, are a perfect illustration of this trend. Stoneware has been produced in hundreds, if not thousands of local ceramic kilns since the inception of our nation, almost without exception for strictly utilitarian purposes. In the last decade stoneware prices have skyrocketed, as private collectors and institutions have come to recognize the inherent simplistic beauty of these everyday 18th and 19th century containers. But the value of a crock varies from state to state or region to region. A collector of the wonderful ware of John Bell in Virginia might not be interested in the equally fabulous ware produced in the stoneware “depot” of James Alexander of Akron, Ohio.
6. Go to an auction: Arrive early at the auction to preview the offerings and to inspect the items being sold. At most auctions, if you buy it, it’s yours so make sure you’ll be happy if you’re a successful bidder. Familiarize yourself with the terms, or the auctioneer’s rules governing the auction. In Indiana, auctioneers are required by law to post these terms of sale. Auctioneers require a photo id and one other form of identification to participate, virtually all require immediate payment, and some take credit cards, and others only cash or check. These are the rules of the road – know them before bidding! Before the auction begins, take a few minutes and decide exactly how much you’re willing to spend. Once the auction begins, remember your limit and when the bidding reaches this bar, stop. If you follow this rule, you won’t suffer buyer’s remorse or think you paid too much.
7. Ask a professional: Do you have treasure in your attic? Most of us don’t, but it still may be worth a second look. A few years ago, Cowan’s Auctions received a phone call from a Ohio gentleman who had “found an old painting” in his attic and “wanted to see if it was anything.” A short while later he appeared in the office with a painting that caused a collective gasp. The painting was a large bird’s eye view of a town, and clearly written on a large, white building in the center was “Lebanon House”, a historic landmark 40 miles north of Cincinnati. As it turns out, this painting was probably one of the most important Ohio paintings to be “discovered” in years.
8. Don’t rely on age: There are two separate issues at stake: age and value. Both are relative measures. What is “old” in America may be very young in China where the age of antiques can be measured in the thousands, not hundreds of years. On the other hand, there were many furniture makers in New England prior to 1800, and fine examples of their output can be readily obtained. In Indiana, however, the same piece of furniture made by a local craftsperson might be worth far more than one made the same year in Maine or New Hampshire simply because there were few furniture makers here before 1800.

Value is a totally different issue. The true worth of anything is what someone is willing to pay for it and also varies depending on the class of item.
The Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art seeks to inspire an appreciation and understanding of the art, history and cultures of the American West and the indigenous peoples of North America. The museum, which opened in 1989, is located in Downtown Indianapolis’ White River State Park. For general information about the museum and to learn more about exhibits and events, call (317) 636-WEST (9378) or visit www.eiteljorg.org.