'Antiques Roadshow' guest's family heirloom from the 19th century gets an incredible appraisal

Artifacts are better preserved when they're passed down through generations, and the sentiment behind this is often visible on “Antiques Roadshow.” But perhaps none have been part of a family for five generations spanning almost 200 years. That’s what showed up on an earlier episode of the show when a guest brought a Joseph H. Davis painting that he had claimed to have been a part of his family since 1836. He was enthusiastic about it and didn’t seem surprised when it was given a five-figure valuation.

He said that he had gotten it appraised back in 1975, and it was $5,000. The picture was of a couple sitting around a table. The guest claimed that it was of her grandparents named William Floss and Polly. He also said that the two were still buried on the property. Expert Nancy Druckman loved the story behind it, but said it would be worth a ton of money regardless.

“I mean, that alone would make this a great piece, but added on top of that is the piece itself,” she said. Druckman then appreciated the lines and the patterns in the art before marvelling at a painting inside the painting. It was of a blacksmith making a wagon wheel in his shop. The expert said that it was only such a depiction of a blacksmith’s shop in her 30 years of studying art.

The guest seemed confident about his painting being worth a lot of money, thanks to how old it was and the story behind it. So, when Druckman said that it could bring around $40,000 to $50,000 at auction. However, she also believed that at the right auction during the right time, it could bring in a lot more. “Beauty’s in the eye of the beholder,” the guest said, and the expert noted that he might have a lot of beholders.

Paintings with great stories get appraised for a lot of money on “Antiques Roadshow,” even if they’re depicting something not-so-old like superheroes. On a different episode of the show, one guest had brought a Batman painting depicting a chaotic scene from the 1966 movie ‘The Caped Crusader.’ It was painted by the artist who worked on the film, Leslie Thomas.

“I don’t really remember there being such a debaucherous scene in the movie,” the expert Laura Wooley said, before adding, “I think he’s kind of used artistic license to depict the scene, and we see a lot of drinking and lots of fun going on.” She then learned that the guest had paid $1,000 to purchase it. She said that it was a good deal as production art was gaining traction in the collector’s market.

She then said that at an auction, the painting could bring in $6,000 to $8,000. “I would not be shocked at all if it went well beyond that,” she added. That’s when the guest had a stunned reaction. “I mean, the market for Batman continues to grow. He’s one of the beloved comic book figures, and Adam West Batman, I think, is everyone’s favorite Batman.”