Antiques Roadshow: Raleigh

At the end of June, Antiques Roadshow taped in Raleigh, North Carolina, the second stop in the 2009 Summer Tour. One never knows what to expect from any of the many stops of the Roadshow tour, and it is not unusual that more interesting things come in at some of the smaller cities than at the larger ones. From my viewpoint, Raleigh proved to be the most interesting stop of all my thirteen years working as an appraiser for the Roadshow.

At every stop for Antiques Roadshow the appraisers at the Prints & Poster table see a wide range of prints in terms of quality and interest. The variety of prints that come in to be appraised fairly closely matches the range of prints that exist in the “real world”; there are far more prints that are reproductions or inexpensively produced prints intended for decoration than there are finer, historically important prints. As discussed in an earlier blog, this does not mean those prints do not have value, but they are prints we have seen many times over the years and which do not get the appraisers terribly excited.

Raleigh was typical in that the majority of prints were of the more common, decorative sort. I mentioned in my previous Roadshow blog that in most cities we tend to see one particular type of print that comes in more often there than at our other stops. However, I cannot say that that was the case in Raleigh. There were all the usual suspects (tourist etchings from the early 20th century, etching revival landscapes from the 1890s, sepia collotypes copied from paintings in the first decade of the 20th century, Currier & Ives copies, museum reproductions of paintings, and the like), but no particular single type that we saw in Raleigh more than usual.

What was unusual was the number of prints and maps that were of particular interest to me. I have been in the print business for over 25 years so I have come across thousands of types of prints. It is rare that something I haven’t seen fairly often comes in to the Roadshow (though, thankfully, interesting prints that are worth taping come in regularly), but in Raleigh I was surprised by how many such prints did come in. I will not discuss what was taped since it will air on the program next season, but there were some wonderful things I saw in Raleigh which were not taped.

One print which came in right at the end of the day was a large folio N. Currier print of the “Wreck of the U.S.M. Steam Ship ‘Arctic.’” This is a terrific large folio print, but what was exciting was that it was brought in by a descendant of James Smith, one of few passengers to survive and the artist whose sketch was the basis for the drawing by James E. Butterworth from which the lithograph was made! Not only did his great-grandniece have an original example of the print, which had come down to her from Smith, but she had all sorts of supporting documents, such as a book written by the artist of his experiences in the disaster, a photo of the artist, and a number of other fascinating documents. Pretty cool stuff.

Another impressive print which came in was an original John James Audubon print of the “Sea-Side Finch” which was said to be a gift from John James Audubon to a natural scientist who was a friend. We do not have the time while appraising at Antiques Roadshow to do any serious research, so I could not verify what the owner told me, but there was considerable, plausible evidence that this print was an early state of the print, hand-colored by Audubon himself, and given as a gift to this naturalist. Again, pretty cool.

What amazed me, however, was that I saw two prints that I had never seen before. While there are many book illustrations and ephemeral-type prints I haven’t seen, there are not a lot of large-sheet prints of note that I haven’t come across in the many years I have been in this business. To have two turn up in Raleigh was really exciting.

One of these was a double page bird print by John Gould. This was a complete surprise for me as I had no idea that Gould did a double page bird print. Almost all of Gould’s 2,999 different prints are folio prints, single pages that were issued in his many works. However, in his Birds of Australia there were a few double page images, including the one that was brought in to the Roadshow. I am sure most of my colleagues in Australia and England (where more of these prints turn up) would know this, but it was a surprise to me and also to the other print appraisers at the table. Not earth-shattering, but one of the things I enjoy most about doing appraisals for Antiques Roadshow is being able to learn new things.

An even bigger surprise was to come across a wonderful emancipation proclamation print published in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This was a surprise because Lincoln prints are one of our specialties and I almost never come across a major Lincoln print I haven’t seen before. I hadn’t come across this print in person or in a reference book, but it turns out that an example is in the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana at the Library of Congress.

The print contains the text of the proclamation, with an image at the top of Lincoln either handing the document to or receiving it from an angel (“The Hand of God in Freedom”), while at the bottom are two vignettes. The one of the left shows a slave in a cotton field and the one of the right a black member of Congress. The print was printed by the Enquirer Job Printing Company of Cincinnati, but was published by A.B. Daniel in Tuscaloosa. There is text at the bottom saying that “Agents Wanted,” so it is possible that this print was issued to advertise a book on the topic (I have not been able to locate any such book). In any case, another wonderful print that came as a surprise to me.

These are just some of the interesting maps and prints that came in to Antiques Roadshow in Raleigh and none of them ended up being taped. And of course, there were hundreds of not-so-wonderful prints that also were not taped, though all received a verbal appraisal from myself or the other appraisers at the Prints & Photographs table. So how do those items which are taped get selected?

Each appraiser spends about 11 hours sitting at a table looking at item after item in their specialty, giving each owner information on the history and value of their lamp, broach, book, vase, print or whatever. If something comes in that an appraiser thinks might make a good appraisal for the program, he or she starts the process by calling over one of the producers.

An appraiser can judge an item is worthy of taping if the manner in which it was acquired is interesting, its history is unusual, its value substantial or it is just an exciting piece. Basically the appraisers are looking for things which will be of interest to the television audience. If the appraiser thinks the item would make “good TV,” then no information of the item is given to the owner at the appraisal table, but instead a producer is called to look at the item, hear the tale from the appraiser, and talk to the owner.

If the producer agrees with the appraiser that the item should be taped, then the owner goes off to the “Green Room” to get made-up and to wait until it is time to tape the appraisal. Up to this stage the appraiser has not had time to do any serious research, but once the decision is made to tape, the appraiser can do some research to pin down a particular fact or get a bit more context on the item. The appraiser then goes before the cameras and gives the owner an appraisal in one go. Those appraisals are not staged; what you see on air is how the appraisal happens in real time.

From what I have written above it is clear that some really nice items do not get taped. Why not? There are many reasons. Often, the owners knows too much! In the age of the Internet and Google, owners can often find out a lot about an item before they bring it in. It is much more interesting for viewers of the program if an owner is learning something new in an appraisal, as opposed to if they are just being told what they already know. Because of this, it is not unusual for something of great interest not to get filmed because the owner was too knowledgeable. Other reasons that items don’t get taped are that similar items might have been already shown on a previous show or that the item is not owned by the person bringing in it (an on-air appraisal can be given only to the owner of the object).

All these reasons for not taping an item make a lot of sense, though it sometimes seems a shame that something does not get taped. However, I can tell you that everything brought in to Antiques Roadshow does get a verbal appraisal. All the appraisers are aware that the owners put in a lot of effort and spend a lot of time to bring them down to the event. We all make it a point to give as much information as we can for everything brought in, whether it is worth $5 or $50,000, and whether it is selected for taping or not.

Sometimes if you watch the Raodshow you might think everything that comes in is valuable or has an interesting story, but if you watch the “Feedback Booth” segment at the end, you get a sense of how many items that are brought in are not that interesting nor that valuable. I hope you also get a sense of how even people whose items are not that valuable still get a good appraisal and have a good time.

The appraisers also have a good time and in Raleigh I not only had a good time, but I also saw some really cool things and even learned quite a bit. The next three stops on the 2009 Summer Tour are in Madison, Phoenix and Denver, and my partner, Don Cresswell, will represent us there, so I won’t be back at the appraisal table until the last stop, in San Jose. I can’t wait to head out west and hope I’ll see even more interesting things then…

As a reminder, if you would like to see some of the archived print appraisals from Antiques Roadshow, by myself and other appraisers, you can find these on the Roadshow web site.

A PRINT BUYER’S GUIDE: Part 2: Where to buy

In the last blog I discussed the criteria a buyer should apply when considering purchasing a print. Today I will look at the advantages and disadvantages of different sources from which one can buy prints. It is pretty obvious that I have stake in promoting the idea of purchasing from print dealers, as that is my business, but I will try to be as unbiased as possible in this discussion.

Auctions:

Auctions can be a rich source for finding antique prints. Most general auctions contain a few antique prints and maps and there are also regular specialty print/map auctions. It is well worth considering this source when looking for an antique print.

There are a couple of advantages that can come with buying at auction. First, you get the material “fresh” on the market, so that you have an equal chance to buy the print as any other buyer. Sometimes the “best” prints are sold quietly to a special client of a dealer, but at auction, all bidders are equal. The other main advantage is that you can sometimes get a print for well under market value. If there is no one else at the auction interested in the print, or if no one else there realizes its significance, you can get a real great price.

We do not buy much of our stock at auction (for many of the reasons that I’ll discuss following), but we have over the years found some real “steals” at auction. Generally we do best when we know how important a print or map is and no one else bidding does. In fact, auction is the way we get some of our best deals, for if someone brings us a print to purchase privately, we feel an obligation to pay the seller a fair wholesale price, but there is no such obligation at auction. As long as the auction house is willing to accept our bid, even if the bid is ridiculously low, that is part of the risk/reward calculus the seller accepts when putting something up at auction.

However, there are a number of serious disadvantages to buying at auction as well. One problem is that the selection of items that comes up at auction is very limited. Auction houses do not go out to try to get a variety of all sorts of prints; they sell only what is brought to them. If you are looking for a particular type of print, you might not come across anything appropriate even if you look in a large number of auctions. Of course, if all you want is some print or other—-as long as it appeals to you—-then you would probably find something if you check out a reasonable number of auctions. However, if you are building a collection or are looking for, say, a shell print of a certain size, you could go years without finding the right thing at an auction.

A second issue is that for auctions, the phrase “Caveat Emptor” should be kept firmly in mind. Almost all auctions sell their items “as is.” This means that the auction will often not warrant that the print is old, genuine, that it is a particular edition, nor that it is in reasonable shape. A framed print can look great hanging in the auction house, but once you get it home, you can find it is really damaged, that it is a much later edition than you thought, or that it is an outright fake. There is usually no recourse. As long as you either are willing to take the risk or you have enough experience to know exactly what you are getting, this isn’t a big deal, but never bid at auction without keeping this caveat in mind.

The final issue about auctions is that while you can sometimes get a print for a really good price, you also can pay more than you would pay from a retail shop. Even if you are immune to “auction fever” (where you get carried away in bidding and end up paying far more than you intended), unless you know what a print should sell for and set yourself a firm limit, you can end up paying over retail at auction. If two people are bidding on a print, neither of who knows the fair value of the print, the hammer price can go well beyond what it should. Just because there was an underbidder, someone who bid almost as much as you, doesn't mean that you bought the item at a good price.

A further factor in the cost of prints purchased at auction is the premium charged by auction houses. This is a surcharge the auction house charges you above what you bid. If the buyer’s premium is, say, 20%, then your bid of $200 will end up costing you $240. It can be deceptive to think you are only paying your bid price, but you should always keep the premium in mind. It used to be that most buyer’s premiums were about 10%, so the difference between bid and price paid was not huge, but now most premiums are at least 20% and many are now 25%! That makes a serious difference and it is all too easy to forget this surcharge when bidding.

So, in conclusion, my advice respecting auctions is that anyone wanting to purchase prints should consider looking at auctions, but only if you prepare yourself in a couple of ways. First, educate yourself so that you can recognize exactly what it is you are bidding for in terms of authenticity, significance and condition. Then you also need to figure out what a fair price to pay is for the item, factor in the premium, and stick to the bid you decide on. Of course, if you are not paying a lot and are willing to risk the money on something that is not what you thought it was, you don’t need to do this, but otherwise, take the time to prepare yourself before bidding.

Ebay

Ebay is, of course, an auction, so many of the comments above apply to it. However, I think it is worth making a few other observations that apply more specifically to ebay. In a way, ebay reflects both the best and the worst of auctions. Everyday, thousands of prints of all sorts are sold on ebay, so you can certainly find them. However, it takes a lot of work to try to find just what you are looking for and this not only can be frustrating, but you cannot be sure of success. Furthermore, prints on ebay are often miss-identified, the photos can be terrible, and usually the seller doesn’t really know what he/she is selling.

If you browse through the list of prints on ebay, you will soon realize that the majority of the prints being sold are not antiques. For instance, there must be a “Currier & Ives” print sold every 15 minutes or so on ebay, but the majority of these are reproductions. Sometimes an ebay seller will guarantee the item, but not always. An advantage to ebay is that there is no buyer’s premium and sometimes prices can be low. Still, other times the prices paid are fairly strong and like at any auction, the bids can even go over retail

The main advantages of ebay are that there are a huge number of items and sometimes things sell for well under their market value. The main disadvantages are that you cannot examine the items in person, it can be hard to find exactly what you are looking for, and there are many sellers who do not really know what they are selling, not to mention the sellers who are dishonest. My advice is similar to that for regular auctions, but with an emphasis on how important it is to educate yourself so that you can be sure you know what you are bidding on.

Note that ebay has a print buying guide page which it is worth checking out if you want to go this route.

Flea markets, thrift shops, etc.

There are lots of markets which sell mostly “low end” items, and you can often find prints there. Flea markets, thrift and consignment shops, sidewalk sales, and the like. These can be a good place to look for prints, for sometimes you can find a “treasure” in among the “trash.” It can be a lot of fun to go out to garage sales or stop by a flea market and you can sometimes find nice prints this way.

There are two main problems with buying prints from these sources. The first is that the seller almost never knows exactly what it is that is being sold and so it is very important to keep “caveat emptor” in mind. There is never a guarantee and so you might find you bought a reproduction instead of the “treasure” you thought it was. And like at auction, there can be hidden problems which you don’t find about until you get the print home. Also, while prices are usually low, sometimes you can pay too much if both you and the seller think a print is something which it proves not to be.

The other problem is that the selection you will find is very limited. When we first went into business, I used to go out on many weekends to garage sales or I would stop at roadside flea markets to look for prints. However, I have found over the years that it is only in about 1 in 10 times (if that) that I will find anything worth buying, so now I go to sales like this only when it is a nice day and I want to enjoy the experience, never simply in the hopes of finding good prints.

My advice here is just that. If you enjoy this sort of thing, it can be a lot of fun to hunt for good prints. And there some large “flea markets” (like Rennigers or Brimfield) where there are so many dealers that you have a reasonable chance of finding something of interest. But, either make sure that you buy only what you know is what you want and and at a price you know is fair, or pay only so much as you are willing to find out was wasted on a purchase you made a mistake on.

Dealers

Like the others sources, buying from dealers has both its advantages and disadvantages. The one thing that most people think of as a negative is price. Generally, unless the dealer makes a mistake, you are not going to find any “deals.” A knowledgeable and honest dealer will put a fair market price on prints. As discussed in my previous post, there is top-end market and lower-end market, but when you buy from a dealer you expect to pay market price. The other sources give you at least the possibility of buying something at a “deal” and that can be very appealing. It isn’t that you pay too much from dealers, but that you can sometimes do “better” in terms of price from the other sources.

However, there are a good number of advantages which balance this out. The first thing is that a dealer should know what is being sold and so you can have confidence that you are getting what you think you are buying. Not only can you be more confident simply because of the knowledge of the dealer, but you have further confidence because most dealers will guarantee what they sell. Given the number of fakes or reproductions of prints, this is an important point. Furthermore, a good dealer will tell you what, if anything, is wrong with the print and most will sell only prints in good condition. It might seem more expensive to pay $175 for that Currier & Ives print than the $50 you paid for the same print at auction, but when you realize you have to pay an extra $150 to $200 on top of the purchase price to get it conserved, you realize it wasn’t such a good deal.

Dealers also provide services you usually do not get from auctions and certainly not from flea markets and the like. You should be able to get a good selection of prints from a dealer, so you can find something that fits your needs and budget. One of the main services I think the Philadelphia Print Shop provides is to spend a lot of time and effort to put together as good an inventory of prints on all subjects and in all prices ranges as possible. This takes time and effort, but it means that we usually can find something a buyer will like that will suit his/her needs and will be in his/her budget.

A knowledgeable dealer will also provide you with information about the prints (date, author, significance, etc.) and will help explain why you might consider choosing one print over another. Also, a dealer is in the business of pricing prints, so as long as you are dealing with an honest dealer you can be assured you are paying a market price. It probably won’t be a “deal” but it should be fair.

One further thing to consider is that if you are interesting in buying a number of prints over the years, you you can build up relationships with a dealer that can be of benefit to you. A dealer will often give a good client a break here or there and will be on the look out for prints that the client is seeking. Also most dealers do not mind giving advice to a good client on the purchase of a print from some other source.

In sum

My basic advice is that a print buyer should consider all these sources, but being aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each. Auctions and low-end markets can be great places to buy, but make sure you go in well armed with knowledge of what you are doing. Dealers are also a great place to buy and you shouldn’t get hung up about paying a “market” price, for you usually get what you pay for. The important thing is to end up with a print that fits your needs and is what you think it is, for from such prints you will derive long term enjoyment and value.

A PRINT BUYER’S GUIDE: Part I: Criteria

Antique prints come in large variety of sizes, subjects and prices. One thing in favor of buying prints is that one can find attractive antique maps and prints that will fit your decorative needs at relatively moderate prices. Indeed, the reason that the majority of prints were made was to provide the general public with decoration at affordable prices. This is something that prints do very well.

As long as you are merely looking for attractive images to hang in your home or work place, if you find something you like the look of and you pay only what is appropriate for a decorative item, then it really doesn’t matter if it is old or has any sort of historic significance or if you might be able to find it cheaper if you looked elsewhere. If you just want decoration and the price is reasonable, go ahead and buy it.

On the other hand, if you are looking for something that has some intrinsic historic or artistic value, or if you are building a collection, or if you are looking at a print that is has a more significant price, then you want to spend more time judging the print by a number of criteria. As discussed in an earlier blog, having criteria is part of what it is to be collector, but even for someone just looking to purchase one or more prints for decoration, it still makes sense to use criteria in order to judge whether to buy a particular print or not. Today I will discuss the criteria a print buyer should use in making such a decision.

Appeal:

The first criterion, of course, must be whether the print appeals to you. The most obvious way a print will appeal to someone is by its appearance—-you can find a print beautiful, striking, moving, or it may visually affect you in some other meaningful way. However, even a print which isn’t “attractive” in an aesthetic sense can be appealing for its humor, the message it presents, what it reminds you of, or in many other ways. Some buyers are looking only for “good investments,” in which case they don’t care if a print appeals to them or not; personally this approach is not one I like at all.

To me, prints are wonderfully appealing objects on many levels and I think it is a shame if someone purchases a print that doesn’t speak to him/her in some fashion or other. The Print Shop will certainly sell prints to those who don’t care about them in any personal way--those looking for an investment or someone just seeking something to cover a wall in an office--but I get much more pleasure when buyers love the prints they purchase. It is the feeling of sharing the joy of owning antique prints and maps which is at the core of why I went into this business and why I still love to come to work at the shop every day even after a quarter of a century.

My general advice, as I said above, is that if a print appeals to you and you aren’t paying more than what any decorative item would cost, then other factors don’t really matter that much. However, when you start spending more significant money, then it is important to consider other criteria.

Authenticity:

If you intend to purchase a “genuine” antique print then you should make sure that you are getting an antique. Traditionally, the term “antique” applies to objects over 100 years old. Now-a-days this is somewhat changing, with some more recent items sometimes considered to be antiques. For instance, World War I posters are under 100 years old (though soon they will pass the century mark), however most people would still consider them to be antiques. The main thing is to make sure the print you are considering is from the period you think it is from. A poster of the Battle of Little Big Horn might be “old,” but if it is from the 1950s, I would not consider this to be an antique.

Your best approach with this criterion is learn to be able to tell on your own whether an object is a real antique. If you are unsure, however, it is a good idea to get a written statement about the age of the print from the seller and a guarantee that it is that old. If you are unsure and the seller won’t guarantee the age, it is ok to purchase the print as long as you wouldn’t mind having spent the money if it turns out not to be a real antique.

Condition:

The condition of a print is very important in considering whether to buy it or not. Obviously, condition can affect what a print looks like. You might think that the big stain in the sky, or the tear through the bird’s body might not be that bad, but over the years these sort of blemishes can start to bother you. To some extent some paper toning and minor blemishes can make a print look more “antique” and so can actually have a positive effect on its appearance. However, it is important to make sure before buying that you will not come to regret the mat burn, tear, foxing, or other problems as time passes.

The issue of condition has a further impact beyond the visual, for condition can affect the value of a print. You should be able to purchase a print with condition problems for less than you would pay for one without those problems, but usually that still doesn’t make it a good idea. This is because you will not be able (unless you get the print conserved) to sell the print for as much nor as easily as you could for one in good shape. Prints in poor condition are always hard to sell even at a discounted price; it is always easier to resell a print in good shape for a reasonable price.

The effect of condition problems are not just aesthetic or financial, for they can actually threaten the survival of a print as well. The darkening of paper, mat burns, backing board burns and similar issues indicate that acid is present in the paper itself. This means that unless the print is deacidified, it will continue to get worse, eventually falling apart. Foxing can also continue to get worse and tears can widen. These and other condition problems are ticking time bombs and this should be factored into the decision whether to buy a print or not. If you are getting the print at a good price and you plan to have it restored, then it can be fine to buy a print in poor condition, but to buy, say, a stained Currier & Ives print for $50, which you then have to pay $200 to have conserved, does not make a lot of sense when you can buy another example of the same print in good shape for only $175-$200.

Two final thoughts on condition. First, if a print is one you really want and if it is quite rare, then it might make sense to buy one in rough condition, hoping in the long run to be able to trade up. If you do, though, it is important to at least have the print conserved so that it will survive into the future. The second thing to realize is that most prints that were framed more than about a couple decades ago are inevitably going to be in a harmful environment from improper framing. These prints will have condition problems even if these are not evident. If you buy a print that was framed some time ago, you can pretty much assume you will need to spend money to have it conserved.

Importance:

The importance of a print is a criterion that often affects the decision of whether to buy it or not, and this can mean a couple different things. For instance, prints can be historically important if they had a significant role in our past. A broadside from an election, a political cartoon that affected public policy, an iconographic image from American history, a print from the first natural history of American flora and fauna, the first map to show a new state or territory, and other prints and maps can have enough historic significance that this alone gives strong reason to consider purchasing them even if the price is relatively high.

A print can also be significant if you have a collection and it fills an important role in the theme of that collection. For most collections there are a number of major prints which should be in the collection. If one of these becomes available, and if you are unsure you will get another opportunity to get this print, then the importance of the print to the collection can be a very strong reason to buy it, with the other considerations (such as condition and price) often less important.

Scarcity:

As discussed in another blog, I do not think that scarcity-—in and of itself—-is that important a reason to purchase a print. However, if a print fits the other criteria well, and if you are unlikely find another, then you might consider purchasing a scarce print even if the price is fairly high or the condition less than desirable.

Price:

It is clear from the comments above that I think other criteria are often of more importance in considering whether to purchase a print than its price. However, that doesn’t mean that one wants to be a fool and pay a ridiculous price for a print. Even with the internet and the advent of markets like ebay, it is difficult to find comparable examples of any particular print or to find a price guide. In many circumstances, when a buyer comes across a print, there is no independent way to find out what a fair “market price” is for that print. I would guess that it won’t surprise my readers if I make the comment that there are some sellers who take advantage of this fact in order to market prints at prices that are outrageous; sometimes unintentionally and unknowingly but also sometimes very intentionally and knowingly.

So what is a buyer to do? If the price is not too high, then it probably isn’t worth worrying about too much. Even if you pay, for instance, $200 for a print that really should sell for about $100, in the long run this difference in price will not matter that much and the time and effort it would take to try to figure out if this is a fair price would probably not be worth it. For a more expensive print it matters more, so it can make sense to spend the time and effort. There are some price guides which you can find in libraries or which you can subscribe to on-line, and you can also try to search the internet for “comparable prices.” Experience is also important to help figure what a fair price is, for the longer one keeps an eye on what prints in general are selling for, the more one develops a sense of value which can be applied to a print you haven’t seen a price for before.

If you are looking at a print for sale at auction, then these suggestions are about the only ways you can try to insure you don’t pay to much. In contrast, if you are looking to buy a print from a dealer, then you also have the element of trust. There is no question that different dealers have different price structures (this will be the subject of a future blog), but most dealers will try to price their prints at a “fair market” price. Talking to other print buyers or getting to know a dealer should give you a sense of whether you feel that dealer is selling his/her prints for fair prices. It seems to me that this is what you should care about, viz. that the price is “fair,’ not that it is the lowest possible price you might be able to buy the print for. Don’t pay a fool’s price, but be willing to pay a market price.

The “market price” of prints always has a range; there is no single “fair” price for a print. As long as a print is priced fairly, the difference between whether it is selling at the top of the market vs. the bottom of the market should not be that big a factor in your decision of whether to buy or not. When buying a print, you should be more concerned with the print than with the deal. If a print meets your criteria and is priced fairly, the fact that you might be able to buy it for a bit less isn’t that important. Those who are always looking for the “best price” often get better prices than prints. If you wait to look for a better deal, the object may be gone and the next time you find one it may be a lot more expensive. My advice is not to be a fool, but also not to be a miser.

One final thought on price is that it is generally a good idea to buy the best quality of print you can afford (assuming the print meets your other criteria). Poorer quality prints rarely go up much in value and it is generally the best quality prints which increase the most in value. Also, over time the difference in cost will probably end up being insignificant while the pleasure of owning a better quality print will pay dividends over the years.

Go to part 2 of the Print Buyer's Guide, which discusses various sources from which to buy antique prints.

Value of religious prints

One of the most common types of prints we see at Antiques Roadshow and about which we get enquiries are religious themed prints. Be it an engraving of the Last Supper, a popular lithograph of Jesus, or a chromolithograph of the Holy Family, we see and get questions about religious prints all the time. This is not surprising, for as the Bible is the most common book, so religious prints are the most common type of print made and have been since the beginning of print making.

This should come as no surprise. There is a huge demand for religious prints. It has always been part of the Catholic Church that religious iconography has been an important part of life, but religious images are also important for members of most Christian denominations. Today, religious art plays a much smaller role in our lives than it used to; in the past, most homes in this country which had any art, would have had at least one religious painting or print. So it is not surprising that the number of religious prints made over the centuries is huge.

One of the results of this is that religious prints tend to have low values. Almost always, a religious print will have a lower value than a comparable print (say from the same date and by the same publisher) with another subject. The ubiquitous nature of religious prints means that they are relatively common and this keeps their value down. The same thing applies to Bibles, where the very large number in existence means that most Bibles sell for relatively low prices. It is hard for a seller to price a religious print very high when a buyer can probably find a dozen comparable ones that will be priced lower.

There are a couple of other reasons that religious prints tend not to sell for high prices. First is that much of the demand for religious prints has been a “mass market” demand for utilitarian images, not an elite demand for elaborately-done prints. That is, most people want a religious print in order to have a particular image to hang in their home or work place, not because they are looking for collectible and valuable print. Most of the religious prints that have been made were made in large numbers by relatively inexpensive processes: hand-colored lithographs in the mid-nineteenth century or chromolithographs later in the century or dot-matrix reproductive prints in the early twentieth century. This sort of print on any topic will tend not to have a high value, so this is another reason religious prints are generally low priced.

The final factor that keeps the value of religious prints low is that this theme is not currently one that a lot of people use to decorative their home or office. As noted above, in earlier times religious prints would have been the most typical type of image one would see hanging in homes and elsewhere. Today, it is much more the exception than the rule that religious prints are used in such situations.


So to sum up, the quality of most religious prints is “mass market,” the supply is huge, and the demand relatively low, and the result is that most religious prints tend to have low values.

It is important to make two caveats to these remarks. First is the obvious point that while the majority of religious prints are inexpensive, there are some very fine, expensive religious prints. An Old Master engraving of Madonna and Child or an exquisite eighteenth century mezzotint of Christ on the Cross certainly have significant value. The second point is that the low price of most religious prints does not mean in any sense that these prints are without inherent value. As I discussed with decorative prints, many prints are wonderful historic artifacts, decorative and meaningful images, even if they do not sell for much on the market. The three factors I discussed above mean that most religious prints have low prices; they do not mean that these are not prints worth having and appreciating for their inherent meaning and history.

Glass Transfer Painting

Today's post is by Kelli Lucas and it is about one of the more unusual types of antique "prints":


Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, printed paper was gobbled up as a consumer good. Cheaply made from inexpensive materials, prints of high and low quality were so ubiquitous in the early Atlantic world as to be nearly superfluous. Sometimes reduced to ephemera, prints nonetheless represented the highly refined crafts and technologies of engraving and printing images. Accessible in both material and subject, prints were the ideal form for manipulation and became fodder for authors of arts handbooks. As one such author, Robert Dossie, noted, glass transfer painting was such a simple endeavor that even those doubting their artistic abilities could attempt it with success.

Using readily-obtained art supplies and a commercially available engraving or mezzotint, one could easily mimic fashionable reverse-painted glass, utilizing a painting technique that bears some semblance to modern paint-by-number. After soaking an engraving for a few days (this step varies according to the instructor), the print was laid against the glass. Turpentine (or some variant medium) was then applied until the paper appeared transparent on the glass. Glass and paper were then left to dry, usually for more than one day. Once dry, the paper could be rubbed away with the fingertip, leaving only the transferred ink of the print. To complete the effect, the outlined and shaded design could be colored in with oil paints applied on the verso. Thus transformed, the print-cum-glass transfer painting could be suitably framed and displayed.

With greater detail and prose, Robert Dossie elaborates in Handmaid to the Arts (London: 1753):

Of the taking of mezzotinto prints on glass, and painting upon them with oil, or varnish colours.

The painting on glass, by means of mezzotinto prints, is performed by cementing the printed side of the prints to the surface of the glass, by the assistance of some glutinous body which will not dissolve in water; and then destroying the texture of the paper by water, so that it may be rubbed interely [sic] off from the cement upon the glass; leaving, at the same time, the whole of the ink of the print upon the cement, and glass, in the same manner as if the original impression had been made there; by which method, a complete drawing of the picture designed is obtained on the glass; and may be coloured by the use of oil, varnish, or water colours.

The method of preparing this is as follows.

Procure a piece of the best crown glass as near as possible in size to the print to be taken off; and varnish it thinly over with turpentine, rendered a little more fluid by the addition of oil of turpentine. Lay the print then on the glass beginning at one end; and pressing it gently down in every part in proceeding to the other: to prevent any vesicles of air being formed, in he laying it on, by the paper touching the cement unequally, in different parts; and to settle the whole more closely to the glass, it is well to pass over a wooden roller over it; which roller may be made of any kind of wood turned, and may be about two inches in diameter. Dry the glass, with the print thus laid upon it, at the fire, till the turpentine be perfectly hard; and afterwards moisten the paper well with water, till it be thoroughly soaked. Then rub off the paper intirely [sic] from the cement, by gently rolling it under the finger; and let it dry without any heat: the impression of the print will be found perfect on the glass; and may be painted over with either oil or varnish colours.

The choice and treatment of the colours for painting in this way upon glass, in either oil or varnish, my be the same as for any other method, and it is therefore needless to enumerate any further particulars….

[As quoted in Ann Massing, “From Print to Painting: The Technique of Glass Transfer Painting.” Print Quarterly, ed., David Landau. VI: 4: December 1989, 383-393.]

Dossie wrote largely to professional or would-be professional artisans, instructing them on a variety of technical issues, of which glass transfer painting was the simplest. But the ready availability of prints, sold in large numbers and for small prices, meant that they could exist as both finished product and raw material for the aesthetically-minded with leisure time and discretionary income. Accomplished women, especially, were expected to cultivate artistic abilities, including painting and drawing, as well as fine taste for art and style. Not unlike modern so-called “domestic goddesses,” these women were encouraged to use their time and talents to beautify their lives. From embroidery projects to drawing lessons, techniques were perfected in genteel homes to add beauty and refinement to the family environment. Glass transfer painting, which mimicked fashionable reverse-painted glass, was one pastime that retained popularity from the mid-eighteenth century through the mid-nineteenth.

As a process, glass transfer painting is fascinating, as it manipulates one material (paper) to produce something entirely other (glass). Amateur artists who worked with this process began with a finished objet d’art (that is, an engraving) and enhanced its properties, transforming it from ephemeral to substantial. Harder to cast aside and yet vastly more fragile, the engraving was made more precious by its transfer to glass, and more permanent. As pieces of paper, engravings and other prints have always been extremely fluid objects: they can easily be moved from one frame to another, or removed from a scrapbook to be tacked to a wall. For modern collectors and scholars, this ephemeral nature can be maddening: it is often difficult to find information on how prints were displayed and used within their period of production. But attaching a print to glass via transfer transformed the print from ephemera to object, an object that could be more easily preserved, collected, and studied over periods of time. Finding one such object today is a chance to learn about how prints were valued and which prints were particularly prized (presumably, one would not go to the trouble to make a glass transfer painting with an image one did not like).

In the last several years, our print shop has handled a small handful of such prints. One was a very fine image of George Washington, engraved by Jean Nicolas Laugier in 1839 after a painting by Léon Cogniet (which, itself, borrowed from Gilbert Stuart for Washington’s head). Its transformation from print to glass transfer painting illustrates a significant fashion in American culture: a penchant for images of George Washington. During his life and following his death, Washington was elevated to national symbol, and his image graced every possible object from water jugs to neckerchiefs. It is not surprising, then, that this particularly noble-looking portrait of the first president should be applied to glass, offering it a more permanent existence.

While we had the print in our shop, I took advantage of the opportunity to study it inside and out, hoping to learn more about the method itself. Looking on the back of the glass revealed a surface that reminded me of a modern paint-by-number picture. It reinforced Robert Dossie’s assertion that glass transfer painting was a practice that could be “very alluring,” as it allowed for “the production of pictures even without being able to draw” (Dossie, Preface, Handmaid to the Arts). The application of paint was done neatly, but without any great apparent skill.

The finished result, though, was quite impressive in its period frame. When imagined hanging over a fine Empire sideboard, with its polished brasses and gilt ornament, the picture looked sophisticated, indeed. We thoroughly enjoyed having it in the shop and look forward to finding other examples of this intriguing process.

The Kelloggs of Hartford: their lithographs and a new reference book

I am thrilled to be able to say that an important new reference book has just been published, Picturing Victorian America. Prints by the Kellogg Brothers of Harford, Connecticut, 1830-1880. This book, edited by Nancy Finlay and published the Connecticut Historical Society, fills a large gap in reference material about nineteenth-century American lithography.

From about 1830 until the mid-1870s, four Kellogg brothers from Hartford, Connecticut, in various partnerships, published probably at least as many as 4,000 popular prints. While their output is considerably smaller than the approximately 8,000 prints issued by the firm of Nathaniel Currier/Currier & Ives, the Kelloggs were their chief competitors. The Kellogg’s prints were typical of the popular print style: colorful, affordable and with images covering much the same range of topics as those of their New York City counterpart. Subjects included portraits, historical events, scenes of daily life, views, religious themes, politics, sports, military, animals, sentimental images and any other topic that might be of interest to the American public. (More information on the firm can be found on our web site)

Nancy Finlay, the editor and author of one of the essays, has previously written a number of articles on the firm, and other references have appeared from time to time (including my article “The Kellogg Menagerie of Civil War Cartoons” from The Magazine Antiques, July 2006), but this excellent new book is the first comprehensive study of the Kellogg family and their copious output. Eight essays explore various aspects of the firm, their business, and nineteenth century lithography. The book is lavishly illustrated, with over 100 color illustrations and more than 1,000 b&w images. Besides the excellent essays, the book contains a wealth of other useful information, such a dating guide to the prints, biographies of the Kelloggs, a timeline of the firm, and an illustrated checklist of over 1,000 Kellogg prints. The book is available for $65 and it is a terrific value and an invaluable reference for anyone interested in nineteenth-century American lithography.

Nancy is the curator of graphics at the Connecticut Historical Society, which has a graphic collection of over 200,000 prints and photographs, including the largest collection of Kellogg prints in existence (over 1,100). Other important holdings in the CHS are prints by Amos Doolittle and Richard Brunton, drawings by John Warner Barber, and numerous 19th- and 20th-century views of Connecticut. Access to these collections are available through the research center (One Elizabeth Street in Hartford), where selections from the collections are also on view in permanent and changing exhibitions designed for adults and families. More information on the CHS and its collections are available on the society’s web site.

In anticipation of the publication of this wonderful volume, I asked Nancy to answer a few questions. I am most grateful to her for supplying the very interesting responses below…

How was the print collection formed?

The very first Kellogg prints to enter the CHS collection were donated by E.B. & E.C. Kellogg themselves in the 1840s. At that time, the Kellogg shop was right across the street from the Historical Society, which was located in the Wadsworth Atheneum. Although we’ve purchased a number of important Kellogg prints over the years, most of the collection has been the gift or bequest of collectors such as Samuel St. John Morgan in the 1940s and 1950s and more recently James Bonnette and Michael Shortell.

How can researchers access the collection?

The Research Center at The Connecticut Historical Society is open 12-5:00 Tuesday through Friday and 9-5:00 on Saturdays. Prints in the Graphics Collection may be viewed in the Research Center during those hours; no appointment is needed. However, I always enjoy meeting with print collectors and other researchers who are working with the Graphics Collection. If you want to be sure that I’ll be available to talk with you, or if you’d like me to have material ready for you in advance, you should give me a call at 860-236-5621 ext. 236 or send an email to Nancy_Finlay@chs.org.

Are your prints accessible on line?

Currently, a few of our Kellogg prints may be viewed on our website, www.chs.org and a few more are included in our digital library at www.cthistoryonline.org. Our complete Kellogg collection should be accessible online early this fall when our new online museum catalog goes live. Stay tuned.

How did you end up at the CHS?

I was born in Connecticut and had a summer job just down the street from CHS when I was in college. I used to visit CHS on my lunch hour. In the late 1990s, when I heard that CHS was looking for a graphics curator, I knew this was where I wanted to be. The Kellogg collection was no small factor in my decision to come here.

How did you become interested in antique prints?

My first love was European prints. I first became interested in 19th-century American prints when I was working in the Graphics Collection at Princeton University. Leonard Milberg was one of our big donors and Dale Roylance and I organized a major exhibition of his American landscape prints. I think it was Dale’s and Leonard’s enthusiasm for artists like William James Bennett and John Hill that first got me excited about their prints.

What are your favorite prints?

I have lots of favorite prints. I especially like the landscape prints that E.C. Kellogg produced in the early 1850s when he was working on his own. An example is "Plainville, Conn., from the South West," which is on the cover of Picturing Victorian America. It presents such an idyllic view of a small Connecticut town in the 19th century. It’s also a really fine example of color lithography. It makes you wish that the Kelloggs had done more with color printing. They really didn’t do very much.

What print was the biggest surprise when you came across it?

Probably "Blind Man’s Buff," an early D.W. Kellogg print. It’s based on a painting by the rococo artist Jean-Honore Fragonard. The Kelloggs used lots of European sources, including works by contemporary artists and old masters, but it surprised me that they would reproduce a Fragonard. It’s just a little risqué, but perhaps they didn’t see it that way.

Some of your prints must have been acquired in poor condition. Do you have a program in place to conserve those that need it?

I’m so glad you asked! We have an ongoing conservation program and have just received a major grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for the treatment of our Kellogg collection at the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. It’s a two-year project and will begin in September 2009.

What do you see in the future for the CHS print collection?

I’m focusing right now on building a strong 20th-century print collection for CHS. We’re also collecting some 21st prints. CHS collected contemporary prints during the 19th century, when they acquired prints directly from the Kelloggs, for example. Then they got distracted by the Colonial Revival and didn’t acquire much contemporary material for quite a long time. It’s important to document the present before it becomes the past, to make sure that strong collections exist to serve the needs of future researchers.

How do you think the Kellogg prints compare to those by the more famous firm of Currier & Ives?

Unlike Currier & Ives, the Kelloggs didn’t do a lot of large folio prints. They specialized in small-format prints and marketed them largely to the lower middle class. If you compare Kellogg prints to similar small-format Currier & Ives prints, they hold up very well. Many of their prints, such as their Civil War cartoons, are extremely clever and original, and many of them are technically very accomplished, especially some of their prints from the mid-1840s.

What does a study of the prints of the Kellogg firm teach us?

It teaches us a lot of different things. They demonstrate very clearly that not everything in the 19th century was happening in major urban centers like New York and Boston. The Kelloggs were very much in the forefront in the development of the popular print in America. You can actually trace the evolution of the typical “Currier & Ives” print by examining the Kelloggs’ early work. The same thing was happening in other places, too, at about the same time. Everyone pretty much knew what everyone else was doing.

How many total prints do you think were issued by the Kellogg firm?

A lot more than we suspected at first. We now know of almost 2000 different prints that were issued between 1830 and 1880. There probably were at least 4000 prints, perhaps 5000. The Kelloggs also did a LOT of book illustrations, and we’re just beginning to learn about those.

Now that the Kellogg book is out, what is the next project you are working on?

I’ll never entirely stop working on the Kelloggs. I’d like to produce a complete catalogue raisonne of their work and put it online. And I’d like to find out more about their relationships with Hartford printers and publishers. Michael Shortell, who did so much work on our Kellogg project, is compiling a database of Hartford printers and publishers. He discovered account books from the firm of Belknap & Hamersley that include references to the Kelloggs. They tell you how big the editions were, how much they were paid, exactly what they did. I am working on some other projects, too, involving late 19th- and early 20th-century book design and Hartford architecture. I’d like to do something with Nelson Augustus Moore and his family, too. Moore was a photographer as well as a painter, and almost all of his children were also artists. I never run out of ideas.

Prints from 19th century illustrated newspapers.

Many nineteenth-century prints were “frameable” prints issued as separate sheets, and many others were published as parts of portfolios, books or magazines. One of the most common type of nineteenth-century print, however, is the wood engraved image from the illustrated newspapers that were published from the 1840s to the end of the century. These prints were issued in the tens of thousands and are fairly common in print shops, flea markets, bookshops, and at auctions. The fact that they were issued in newspapers and their relative lack of scarcity means that they are often dismissed by print collectors, but they are in fact wonderful antique prints the worth of which is obvious when one judges them for what they are, not for what they are not.

Newspapers illustrated with wood engravings became hugely popular beginning around the middle of the nineteenth century. The advent of these journals followed a number of developments which made it practical to produce a newspaper filled with illustrations. First, wood engraving was a relief process, so the images could be printed from the same presses, and even on the same page as typeface. Secondly, procedures were developed which made it quick and easy to go from a manuscript drawing to a print, and then steel facing allowed for the production of thousands of images from the engraved woodblocks.

The first of this type of newspaper was The Illustrated London News, founded in 1842, and the first American illustrated newspaper was Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion, founded in 1851, its name changed to Ballou’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion in 1855. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper appeared in 1855, followed two years later by the most successful of all the American illustrated newspapers, Harper’s Weekly. Many other illustrated newspapers appeared in different countries and an article in The Graphic (London), December 6, 1890, depicted the mast heads of twenty-three illustrated newspapers from around the world.

The success of these newspapers lay in their illustrations. These images were wide-ranging in their coverage of events, places, things and persons of interest to the readers, and they were extremely timely in their appearance, often being issued within two weeks of when the images were first drawn. Readers found it new and exciting to be able to have, within days and at an affordable price, a first-hand view of a disaster from across the country, to gaze on an image of a just constructed bridge, or to see contemporary pictures of far-away cities or countries.

The prints produced in the nineteenth-century illustrated newspapers were comprehensive in subject and ubiquitous, with the most successful weeklies having press runs of well over 100,000 for each issue. The fact that these prints were “merely” illustrations in a newspaper and were issued in huge numbers has led some to dismiss them as unworthy of study or ownership. This is a real mistake.


The quality of the engraving is generally very good and many of the drawings were by skilled artists. For some important American artists, illustrated newspapers gave them a start on their careers and many of their important images were published in this format. Artists such as Theodor R. Davis, F.O.C. Darley, Charles Graham, A.B. Frost, and Frederic Remington all produced fine images which were intended to be produced as illustrations for newspapers. Thomas Nast is one of the most influential American artists of the century, both for his prototype images of Santa Claus, but also for political cartoons, which not only created the classic symbols of the Democratic and Republication parties—-the donkey and the elephant-—but also had a huge impact on the politics of his time-—Nast's political cartoons in Harper's are credited with helping to bring down “Boss” Tweed of Tammany Hall.

Another figure who produced an important body of illustrated newspaper prints was Winslow Homer. Like Thomas Nast, Homer gained his early experience as a Harper's staff artist working on the Civil War battlefield. He then went on to produce a series of classic images of American life in the 1860s and 1870s. These prints were not simply copies of paintings, but were images originally drawn by Homer specifically to appear as wood engraved illustrations in Harper’s Weekly. These are “original Winslow Homer” prints, which while more expensive than most other newspaper illustrations, are still very affordable.

Beyond the artistic quality of the prints that appeared in these newspapers, they are also important because they often are the most accurate and current images done of their subjects, and in some cases these are the only contemporary images of the people, buildings, and events depicted. There were often separately issued prints of the most famous individuals, the most spectacular disasters, the most substantial new structures, the most significant political events, and the most populous cities, but there were thousands of people, events, structures, towns and cities for which illustrated newspaper prints were the only contemporary images ever done.

One area of particular interest to me are images of sports such as baseball, football, cricket, polo, rowing, and tennis in the earliest days of their development. With very few exceptions, there are no separately issued prints of these sports from before about the turn of the century. However, illustrated newspapers were filled with such images. Like Homer's prints, the sports prints from the newspapers tend to sell for more than other subjects, but they still are both affordable and some of the earliest images one can own of these sports.

Our understanding of nineteenth century America would be far poorer without the existence of the prints from illustrated newspapers. Though in the past often dismissed by scholars, they are now being appreciated for their documentary importance and more and more print references on particular topics (such as my recent publication, Panorama of Pittsburgh , on nineteenth-century views of Pittsburgh) are taking these prints into account. Also, whatever subject from this period one is interested in, there is likely to be at least a few reasonably priced images one can find. These are thus images that print collectors should be aware of and they can be wonderful and affordable prints to add to ones collection.

Two excellent sources of information on these newspapers are Frank L. Mott’s A History of American Magazines, Vol. II, 1850-1865 (Cambridge, MA, 1967) and David Tatham’s Winslow Homer and the Illustrated Book (Syracuse, 1992).