'Antiques Roadshow' guest almost loses her balance after finding out value of her family heirloom

From precious rocks used as doorstops to a Mayan vase in a thrift store, things that seem like items for everyday use may be hiding historic significance and a lot of value behind their worn-out exterior. Some guests who arrive on "Antiques Roadshow" with such items tend to do their research and arrive with a price in mind, while others have absolutely no idea how valuable their family heirlooms are. In one such case, an elderly guest was left speechless and almost lost her balance after hearing the massive valuation of her small mobile artwork created by American sculptor Alexander Calder, a pioneer artist in the "Mobile" art form. 

One-of-a-Kind Piece of Art

The elderly woman appeared on PBS Antiques Roadshow in 2010 on an episode from Miami Beach, Florida. She had brought her aunt's old mobile to be appraised by the experts. "My aunt and uncle were having a cocktail party and Calder was visiting friends of theirs who were invited to the party so they took Calder along" the guest explained.

She further added that her aunt was very creative and she had done a needlepoint pillow inspired by one of Calder's artwork. The pillow left the sculptor astounded and her aunt gifted it to him. "He'd never seen one like that before and so she gave it to him," the guest said.  A couple of days later, someone representing Calder came to the guest's house with a gift from the artist. Calder had sent a mobile artwork for the woman to thank her for the pillow. The mobile was eventually passed on to the guest, who kept it safe since 1985.

The expert pointed out that some restoration work was done to the artwork as some of the colors had begun to fade. He added that it would affect the value of the artwork to a “certain degree” before sharing the fascinating details. He and the guest estimated that the artwork was created in the early 1940s, before Calder's work became “very iconic” in the modern art scene in the following decade.

He noted that the artist usually used thin wire, either aluminum or an “anodized weather-resistant material” and always picked primary colors for his work. However, some of the pieces of the guest's mobile were orange which the expert thought was a little unusual.

Despite this, the guest estimated that the item in the late 80s would have been worth at least $30,000. Kennedy further added that it has undoubtedly gained a bit of value since then. “We worked on the values to somewhat of a consensus and it still needs to be validated," he said.

Floored by the Valuation

Finally, the expert shared that at a fair auction, the mobile would go for somewhere between "$400,000 and $600,000.” Failing to believe the numbers, the guest asked him to repeat and after confirming the staggering value, she said “I don’t believe it” while struggling to keep her balance.

Kennedy further continued that the market for Calder's work was extremely hot at the time and it would not be "at all inconceivable" to estimate that the small but wonderful piece of art could fetch more than $1 million. 

"Not bad for a pillow", he quipped, while the guest shared that the problem for her would be to share the inheritance with her two children, but her family would still be very happy.