Thursday, January 18, 2007 Older Editions

Worth? It's all relative

By April Guilmet

Stuart Whitehurst chuckled when he referred to himself as "The Grim Reaper of Family History."

But during last Friday evening's antiques appraisal event, Whitehurst, an appraiser for Skinner Inc. and regular on the Antiques Roadshow television show, was only half joking.

"Most people are interested in finding out what their objects are and what they're worth," Whitehurst said.

And often, he said, that news comes as a disappointment. Such might have been the case for several local people who attended last week's "What's It Worth," event at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, sponsored by the Andover Historical Society.

Glenn Cairns of Andover carried a weathered wooden sled with wheels, an object he said he'd found in the unlikeliest of places.

"I found it in a landfill; I think it was in Natick," Cairns said, adding he hadn't the slightest idea what it was worth. The news probably wasn't what he hoped for.

"This is what we call an industrial collectible. It demonstrates the difference between what machines make and what's handcrafted," Whitehurst said. "But nowadays, we're partial to things that are handmade."

Whitehurst estimated the sled, made in the 1840s, to be worth a meager $30 or $40. Cairns took it in stride.

"If nothing else, it's something to talk about," he said.

Cairns' wife, Jane, asked Whitehurst to appraise her antique Heidelburg fraternity print, which once hung in her grandmother's house.

"It's a family piece," Cairns said, adding she believed the print once belonged to an ancestor who served in the Civil War. She said she was mostly curious to learn about the print's history. "I think the signatures on the print are printed on, but my brother-in-law thinks it might be signed," Cairns said.

"This is a lithograph with stamped signatures," Whitehurst said, estimating its value to be between $125 and $150. Whitehurst also encouraged her to replace the acidic cardboard lining the print's frame, saying the acid could eventually damage the print. "If you like it, do a little conservation," Whitehurst advised.

A green upholstered chair with mahogany swan armrests brought back memories of her grandmother to Mary Roberts of Andover, who attended the event with her 100-year-old mother, Mary Ronan.

"My grandmother, who had arthritis, used to sit in this chair. She'd use the swan necks to help boost herself out of it," Roberts said.

A woman her grandmother worked for gave the chair to her grandmother in 1920. Whitehurst said the chair was made during the Empire Revival period, around 1820. He said it was worth between $400 and $500.

A pair of Apache Indian baskets brought by Richard Baldwin dated back to about 1900. The Andover resident said the baskets were purchased at Fort Apache by his wife's grandfather, who served as a physician on the fort.

"These are the real thing," Baldwin said.

Whitehurst agreed.

"These are very good Apache baskets," he said, adding that the smaller basket was worth $3,500, while the larger one was worth $5,000.

Evelyn Retelle's Shirley Temple doll was still in its original box, with its original "autograph" by the curly-haired actress. Retelle, of Andover, said she received it at Christmas when she was 10.

"My mother wouldn't let me play with it," Retelle laughed.

Whitehurst said the doll was made by the Ideal company and estimated its worth at about $150.

David Abbott of North Andover brought in a sugar bowl that had once belonged to his mother, which Whitehurst said was made around 1880.

"This was part of a larger set," Whitehurst said, noting the bowl's value was mostly sentimental.

"It's worth around $40," he said. "But pieces like these actually helped inspire the child labor movement since only small kids fit in between the factories' kilns."

A tattered cookbook nestled in a shadow box held sentimental value for Victoria Robb, who said the book was given to her grandmother when she was 14.

"It was my grandmother's first cookbook," Robb said.

Robb said she inherited the cookbook, published by the Gem Chopper Co., in the early 1970s, shortly before her grandmother's death.

Whitehurst, who estimated the book's value at around $30, said the book was "more a piece of advertising memorabilia."

"But the fact that it came from your grandma makes it irreplaceable," Whitehurst said.

About 65 people attended the event, according to the Historical Society's executive director Elaine Clements. This was the Historical Society's second antiques appraisal event fund-raiser.

Held last March, the first event took place at the Historical Society rather than at the church, but the church provided more space, for more people and more appraisals.