Although meeting Wes Cowan and chatting with him was a blast, the ultimate purpose of the Trash or Treasure events were to get the full Antiques-Roadshow-treatment for the things we didn’t know anything about.   Finding those items turned out to be the most difficult part for us:  while D and I aren’t the most focused of collectors, there’s very little in our house that we’re missing information on.   A few pieces here and there, but if it can be researched we’ve already done the footwork.   We were both surprised and satisfied that Cowan and his peers access the same resources as the rest of us, so it meant we were down to just the ’stumpers’ when it came to the appraisal fair.

We actually had two occasions for Cowan and Farnand to view our mystery items.   First was Friday night, at the VIP dinner.  Fine foods were catered by the museum cafe’s resident chef, local media hob-nobbed, and Cowan gave a short speech before reviewing the items on the front table.

Like last year, there were a lot of nice items, but none of the “$10,000-surprise” variety.  Cowan was, as every time we heard him speak, both charming and unhesitatingly honest.   One of the first items he picked was a European painting that the owner believed was at least a century old.   They learned, however, that while the frame had the darker patina of older wood, the painting’s stretcher was quite new, maybe a few decades old, and the painting itself was most likely a souvenir reproduction of an Italian master.   Another person brought a small reproduction of Whistler’s Mother, and was pleased to find out they paid the right price for it:  three dollars.    19th century books had quality issues and were of minimal value.  A — honestly quite beautiful — carved wood Italian table suffered from being stripped and repaired without a conservator’s touch.

The next day, we spoke briefly with Sue Petry, Public Information Manager for the Plains Art Museum and the coordinator behind the Trash or Treasure event, and she said she had been quite worried over the poor valuations that came out of the V.I.P. Event, concerned that the people who brought their antiques would be disappointed or offended at being told their stuff was not worth much.  Petry was reassured Saturday morning when the woman with the not-so-antique Italian painting was back with something else to glean Cowan’s opinion about.  Much of the entertainment of the V.I.P. appraisal night was Cowan’s friendly handling of the lack of value in some of the items.   He kept the event light and cheerful, without making the owner feel small for bringing in something of minimal value.   An antique book — missing quite a few pages — was worth more than a few jokes from Cowan and kept the audience laughing, including the book’s owner who shared a table with D and myself.  Everyone who brought items in seemed to have more than enjoyed themselves, regardless of the price tag put on their collectible.

As I said, Deanna and I had some difficulty coming up with what to bring to the V.I.P. appraisal fair.  D brought a small 19th century piece of advertising ephemera that Cowan couldn’t add much to what she already knew about it.   I brought in a selection from my 1930s A.O.U.W films, which Cowan said might have a marginal financial worth, but the Library of Congress would probably be quite happy to borrow from me for archival purposes.  While we both enjoyed ourselves at the event, we wanted to bring things to the general-public appraisal fair that would be less of a stumper for Cowan.

Wes Cowan seemed to have more to say about the paintings and artwork at the V.I.P. event, so D and I picked several pieces of art to bring.   Cowan also had commented that folk art was one of his recent favorites, so that also made us adjust our selections.   We picked a silk-and-watercolor piece of Japanese art, a relatively-rare paint-by-number of a bear walking along a mountain road, and the woolie D brought to last years’ Trash or Treasure.

Sue Petrie of the Plains Art Museum also said she was surprised and pleased with the turnout for the Saturday public appraisal fair.    Last year, we arrived a little late and had no trouble getting in line, but this year we had a nearly two-hour wait to get our funky art underneath Cowan’s nose.   We occupied our time with the charity rummage sale, and chit-chatting in the museum cafe.   When our number came up, however, we were ready to take what Cowan had to say about our art.

The first thing he said was, “this is where you’re supposed to say, ‘are you tired of seeing us?’” to myself and D, turning on that wit that we’d seen the previous days.   We knew we weren’t going to hear huge prices from Cowan, but were hoping for more information than anything.     He started with the Japanese silk, and said it was not as finely done as classical Japanese silk-work, but was probably a post-WWII souvenir, and definitely worth around the seventy-five cents we paid for it, give or take a dollar.    When he came to the paint-by-number, he was impressed that we had found the manufacturer, model number, and title: “you know more about this stuff than I do,” was Cowan’s response, which, of course, D is going to get printed on a t-shirt for next time she goes rummaging.

When he got to the woolie we were a little surprised, but it resolved some thoughts we had from the year before.   The Ivey-Selkirk appraiser said the woolie probably dated from the 1930s to 1950s, which the wood stretcher would indicate, but I had thought the materials looked newer and D also thought the style wasn’t as detailed or well-done as other period woolies.  Cowan pointed out that the color and style of the burlap back was very 1960s or 1970s, and his opinion was that the art was done by an amateur as a basic art project using whatever materials they had at hand.  While it moved it to the edge of being called a “woolie,” it is still a piece of amateur folk art, and his price wasn’t too far off of the Ivey-Selkirk appraisal from the year before.

All-in-all, the Plains Art Museum did an excellent job of hosting an enjoyable series of presentations, speeches, dinners, and events, bringing a little chunk of Antiques-Roadshow-style fun or our northern part of the nation.  Everyone we met had fun seeing what an actual History Detective had to say about their show-and-tell selections.  We’re already looking forward to next year!

I’m pretty sure all you collectors know Wes Cowan from 13 years appraising on Antiques Roadshow and six years as a History Detective. Many of you might also know that he was raised in a household filled with Victorian antiques by a mother who liked all things “old” and that he turned his love of “old” into degrees in anthropology and archaeology; eventually teaching and then becoming Curator of Archaeology at the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History. But what you might not know is that Cowan has always been a collector.

As a child Cowan collected fossils, arrowheads, and china plates; as a young man in college, he collected antique photographs. In fact, if it weren’t for a passion for collecting he might never have become “Wes Cowan, Auctioneer,” let alone a regular on those TV shows. After 15 years of collecting photographs, Cowan had amassed what was, at the time, the best collection of Frank J. Haynes photographs & stereoviews — which he (somewhat painfully) sold to start his business.

When we met Cowan briefly before his Thursday night lecture, part of the Plains Art Museum’s Trash or Treasure event, it was really clear that his passion for collecting isn’t just some front to appease collectors or fans of the shows. Within the first few minutes the talk turned quickly to collecting. Not just asking us what we collect, but making an off-hand comment that he’s been kicking himself for not starting a collection of hotel door key cards earlier. It’s just the sort of comment you’d expect a traveling collector to make.

Once he began his talk, Cowan focused on the appeal of History Detectives. He said that the show “taps into our inherent interests in the history of our country and the history of our families.” His enthusiasm for collecting and understanding of collectors was clear as he talked about how objects hold stories and how collectors should think of themselves as curators. (In my notes I wrote, “It’s like Wes reads my columns!”)

When discussing History Detectives, Cowan winced and ducked from imaginary tossed tomatoes as he told us that none of the stars of the show do the research. He explained that they may suggest objects and stories they run across but it’s the producers who select the objects & then assign them to the show’s researchers. Working in pairs, researchers have six weeks to do the research. From this research, a loose script or story lay-out is created, allowing the History Detective to provide off-the-cuff narration — including the inclusion of new or changing information as it comes in. Each History Detective then has three days to be filmed telling the story, with two days of travel. (With so much travel, it’s no wonder Cowan laments not starting that hotel door key collection earlier.)

Cowan feels honored to be a part of the show, saying, “It’s a privilege to be invited into homes & stories and to go & do what others can’t.” Watching him say it, there’s no doubt of the sincerity of his words.

Antiques Roadshow production has far more of a family atmosphere among the appraisers; not just because he’s been a part of the show for twice as long but because he and the other 75 appraisers work together at each show. And boy do the appraisers work at each show. Even if each city Roadshow visits airs as multiple episodes, it all was taped in one day. That means 75 appraisers work with 7,500 people — each one bringing multiple items — all in one day. None of the appraisers are compensated in any way for participating in Roadshow — flights, food, hotel etc. is all paid for out of each appraiser’s pocket. Each appraiser does it for the fun and exposure. Or I should say for the potential exposure. For while there are 12 million viewers, there is no guarantee that any appraiser will have a taped segment. As appraisers run into great stories, they have to make a pitch about being filmed to producers. If they make a strong enough case, they may get air time; if not, they’ve paid for the trip, done an exhausting day’s work, all for naught.

Well, almost naught…

Appraisers are allowed to set their cards and literature on tables. However, they are absolutely forbidden to solicit business. This includes verbally giving out their contact information. Cowan tells the story of a lady who asked how to contact him. He replied that he couldn’t say, but mentioned where his card could be found. When she stated she was unable to read the print on his card, Cowan told the woman she would need to get her granddaughter to read the card because he was forbidden to read it to her. That’s pretty strict; but just goes to show you how ethical Roadshow is.

As for his “day job” as auctioneer, Cowan says the business has changed a lot. “Farm auctions are no longer lucrative,” he said, and, “Sotheby’s & Christie’s have proven that auctioneering is all about marketing.” And he addressed the impact of the Internet too.

Within 5-7 years, eBay and the like have quickly shown that “rare” is indeed a relative term based on dealer opinion &/or experience. Once “rarely seen” things were shown for the readily available stuff they were, and the prices for low-to-middle end antiques & collectibles dropped drastically. However, the accessibility of the Internet has assisted those searching for scarce items, likely bringing stronger auction sales for high end antiques and art. He also said the accessibility was a good thing, allowing people to find objects, connect with other collectors & collecting groups, as well as research more easily.

On Friday, before the VIP Trash or Treasure dinner, we had yet another opportunity to talk privately with both Wes Cowan and his colleague, Danica M. Farnand, a specialist in American Indian Art. We have lots more to share from those conversations, but for now we’ll leave you with the one question that every collector & watcher of History Detectives wants to know: What are their favorite resources for research?

Farnand first mentioned Google, then added that she most often uses the Burke Museum database, as well as the Smithsonian database, AskArt.com, and Peabody’s database (but added that it was a bit difficult to use). Cowan added ArtFact.com, Prices4Antiques, Ancestry.com, ABE.com, CivilWarData.com, and The Library of Congress’ American Memory Historical Collection to the list. He also said that more and more universities and museums are adding their archives online, so the resources would only be growing.

Skeptical that they were hiding something, like secret databases and clandestine meetings in private libraries off limits to the average collector, we pressed a bit. “On History Detectives you have a lot of access to archives and libraries of organizations… Do average collectors have such access?”

“In my experiences, as a collector, researcher and auctioneer, I’ve found archivists & librarians are always anxious to help,” he said.

“Even if you’re not a History Detective?” we asked.

“It’s not like a librarian’s ever going to tell a researcher to go away,” he added, laughing. Then he leaned in, grinned and conspiratorily added, “But being a History Detective doesn’t hurt!”

Trash or Treasure Event At Plains Art Museum, Fargo

It’s that time of year again — the Plains Art Museum is having their second annual Trash or Treasure event.

Hubby and I attended the event last year & had such a great time we were hoping it would become an annual event. Sue Petry of the Plains Art Museum says that along with being a fund raiser for the museum the event raises awareness of collecting and celebrates it. “We had a couple of great finds: a book someone found in a closet in an old house was worth $1,500 for example. People really enjoyed learning more about the things they collected,” she said.

I know we did.

This year’s event began three weeks ago with their weekly lecture series, which are free to the public. I’m not only all about “free stuff”, but as the series focuses on collecting, well, I’m so there.

Last week, October 2nd, the session was The History & Collectibility of North Dakota Cable Pottery, with University of North Dakota Ceramics Professor Donald Miller. The session began with a viewing of UND Clay: The Cable Years, a documentary produced by the UND Television Center, covering the history and legacy of the ceramics department at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

UND School Of Mines Stamp

It’s a fascinating story involving a chemist, the first state geologist, and founding dean of the School of Mines, Earle J. Babcock, who teamed up with an artist, Margaret Kelly Cable; both of them believing that the seemingly limitless supply of North Dakota clay would be a means of economic development, allowing North Dakota to create a pottery industry to rival Ohio and other states with a large pottery industry.

Under Cable’s direction, North Dakota clays & glazes were researched, examined, tested & perfected as part of the School of Mines. Ceramics classes were open to more than UND students, family members of faculty and local citizens were also involved. Because of this, UND School of Mines pottery has many levels in artistry. You have works from the many talented instructors (such as Cable; her sister, Flora Cable Huckfield; Frieda Hammers, Margaret Pachl; and Julia Mattson), talented students such as Laura Taylor Hughes (who went on to start Rosemeade), and average, everyday, folks with not-so-much talent.

Due to the number of years the UND School of Mines was open, from 1910 to 1963, you have many influences: Art Deco, Art Nouveau, and the Arts and Crafts movement. Popular designs feature regional interest such as crocus, prairie rose, wheat, flickertail, ox cart, cowboys, buffalo, horses, & Native American images.

1926 North Dakota Products Vase By Cable

One of the most famous examples of regional designs is the North Dakota Products vase. In 1926, Governor Sorlie asked Cable to create a single vase depicting an amazing number of North Dakota Products: corn, wheat, flax, clover, pigs, chickens, turkeys, cows, sheep, bees, potatoes, sugar beets, lignite coal, Dakota Maid flour, a pumpkin, a flickertail, a wild rose, a lump of clay and a cream can. Cable not only met the challenge, but did so with a stunning example of sgraffito (in which the blue glaze is scratched away to reveal the white of the pottery). While there was quite a demand for replicas of the presentation vase, Cable only made four of these beauties and denied all other requests. Donald Miller brought along one of the four North Dakota Product vases (the one which had belonged to Governor Sorlie). A collector next to me told me that it would likely fetch $25,000.

There I was, inches from it.

Some of the most coveted pieces are called bentonite pottery. Bentonite pottery, created by painting on a slip glazes of red, brown, creme, result in monochromatic yet vibrant works, such as these by Ruth Schnell, a Grand Forks resident who began UND ceramics classes when she was 46.

Bentonite Pottery By Ruth Schnell

Along with the usual conditions issues with pottery, there are several things to know to look for in UND pottery. Authentic pieces will bear the cobalt blue School of Mines stamp — even the most uninspired pinch-pot can fetch $50 to $100, as long as it bears the proper UND School of Mines stamp. Not all pieces are stamped thus; some have a more simple UND stamp. Artist names can be confusing; not all student records exist to cross reference, some women signed their husband’s name, and Cable herself signed her Prairie Pottery pieces with “Maggie Mud.”

Good references are University of North Dakota Pottery: The Cable Years, second edition, by Donald Miller, the heavily illustrated UND POTTERY: a History and Comparative Study of the Art Pottery, by Ken Forester, and the UND North Dakota School of Mines pottery collection website will be adding additional images and information. There’s also The North Dakota Pottery Collectors Society, which has their own “Road Show”.

Sgraffito Vase By Margaret Kelly Cable

Because of this Trash or Treasure lecture series event, I learned much about UND pottery. I have Andy Maus, Mark Ryan, and Rusty Freeman of the Plains Art Museum to thank for that. They are the folks who choose sessions and select lecturers. Maus says the team, “attempts to reflect the diversity and interests of our collecting community and those curious about collecting. As a regional museum, we do whatever we can to reflect the interests, talents and diversity of our community through all of our programming.”

The Trash or Treasure event continues at 7 P.M. tonight, with Discovering the Past Through Objects: Adventures of a Real-Life History Detective, a lecture by Wes Cowan. Yes, the Wes Cowan of History Detectives. He and Danica M. Farnand of Cowan’s Auctions, Inc. are the headliners at Friday night’s VIP Appraisal Dinner and Saturday’s Appraisal Fair.

That means I have three “dates” with Wes Cowan this week!

If I was nervous last year, you can only imagine how much worse it is this year… It’s not like I have any UND pottery to take along.

Intellectually, I know I shouldn’t be intimidated. But it’s Wes Cowan! The kids and I have huge crushes on him. (The kids think I’m cool and want me to get Cowan to autograph a photo or something. How nice that I can really blame it all on the kids!)

The lecture tonight is free and open to the public. And there’s still time to get tickets for Friday & Saturday’s events. As an extra bonus, those attending can watch me stammer & sound like a school girl when talking with Cowan.

“Not unless they’re perfect, or extremely rare.” At the Trash or Treasure event, I heard several of the appraisers saying such things about books. They were polite, and kind, when telling folks that their books were common editions of little value, or that the problems such as broken hinges & bindings rendered the books undesirable to collectors; but they were clearly saying that the books had no value.

I did my best not bite my tongue and not let them see my twisted facial expressions — partly ‘cuz Momma taught me to be polite, and also because appraisers can be intimidating — but fundamentally, I disagree.

With all due respect to the appraisers, who obviously deal in volumes I couldn’t afford the catalog for, book lovers fall into many categories, and while I ask you to call me a bibliophile, I am still, first and foremost, a reader. And readers know the value of a book surpasses such things as conditions.

As readers, we love a story, old or new; the author had something to say, and we still want to hear it. Some of us love books for the tactile experience of holding tender tomes of brittle pages & fragile bindings, wondering who held them before us. Some of us love old children’s books, with their tattered and scribbled pages, because they, like the Velveteen Rabbit, have been loved to life.

Even non-fiction books from ages ago are to be cherished.

If I had not dared to salvage this copy of Earth, Sea and Sky Or Marvels of the Universe by Henry Davenport Northrop (published by James Lewis Springfield, Massachusetts, 1887), I would not only have missed out on the beautiful boards & the 300+ engravings, but the out-of-date science & knowledge.

It is precisely the out-of-date knowledge which I learn from. How else would I know that the giraffe or camelopard was once one of the “curiosities of the animal kingdom”? I may take a trip to the zoo, or the Internet, to see a giraffe for granted, but once it was a mighty curious beast.

How else would I have known of of the “strange people”, of the “wild tribes & their curious customs”? It is from these things that I know of the reality of ethnocentric thinking.

If hinges and spines had to be perfect, then I would have passed up the two volumes of History of Ancient Egypt by George A. Rawlinson, M.A. (John B. Alden, publisher, 1886) — and then I would have missed this wonderous book of illustrations and text with actual Egyptian symbols right in the text, showing how the names etc. were actually written or carved.

Of course, I’ve also picked up works of less amazement. Books which may or may not be out of print, but were printed in the millions anyway so they are not rare; books with new editions; books which most would just call ‘used’. Like these old nature guides.

I compulsively buy them, often duplicating titles to the the point of same editions and covers. But does one really suffer from such things? Perhaps the locations or habitats have changed as the environment has, but certainly should I or one of my brilliant children wish to compare the ranges to see the effects of global warming or human encroachment on said habitats this could easily be done sitting such books side-by-side.

Books need not be in pristine condition or rare to be valuable; they just need to be found by a reader, a book lover — a bibliophile.

Naturally, such appreciation and adoration of books leads to buckling bookshelves which are, more often than not, in disarray. I personally find it rather delightful. In my own home I get to browse and, yes, rediscover books at my leisure. No waiting for that charming local book dealer to open, I can peruse anytime I wish to. Some might even find the spilling shelves part of our eclectic decor. We sure do.

Someone recently asked Pradeep Sebastian, “Books may furnish a room but where does it say that they have to furnish every room?”

My reply would be similar to that at Bibliophile Bullpen, “I find that very amusing as when I need more actual ROOM in a room, I usually remove something that is non-book, like a chair or a table.”

Perhaps it is that I feel about books the way Jean Cocteau felt about cats.

I love books because I enjoy my home; and little by little, they become its visible soul.

In no small part my delightful experience with Trash or Treasure was due to the great people involved, both the Plains Art Museum staff and the appraisers from Ivey-Selkirk. Certainly their respect for the objects and collectors themselves was communicated to all. They genuinely appreciated hearing the stories behind the objects — often saying things like, “That’s a great story,” and making other statements about the intrinsic and personal value the objects held. And I overheard them complimenting folks on how pretty pieces were too. But what really convinced me that these events are wonderful is the opportunity to learn more about what you have.

What I’m really getting to is the intimidation factor we collectors feel. We tend to belittle our collectibles, often making self-deprecating remarks about our collections, our collecting habits, and ourselves as collectors — striking first before someone else can. We tuck ourselves safely into groups by collecting theme and club not only for the fun of trading and networking with other collectors of the same objects, but for the relief that comes with feeling understood. Less often we mingle with collectors of other items because we believe (fear) they’ll judge ours. So it’s understandable when presented with the option of having professionals who deal in such high end items look at and evaluate our considerably lower-end items we assume that they will look down upon them.

But really most collectors of objects — any objects — and those professionals who make a living off of collectors get it. They get us. Sure, the fine arts guy may not personally love my woolie, but he can appreciate my love of the woolie and the fact that there are others like me. (And let’s face it, that’s where their money comes from!) The passion is understandable because while the object changes, the love of objects doesn’t.

When we attended the MPMA conference I was told by Monta Lee Dakin, the museum professional organization’s Executive Director, that museum staff values collectors. Not just because they want us to donate our stuff for free, but because they know collectors are working towards the same goals. We all want to preserve stuff — and the stories of stuff.

Dakin said that the museum world has worked very hard to not appear as ivory tower types. They want to work with collectors; they welcome our involvement. They are not bothered by phone calls & requests for identifying items. In fact, as Steve Friesen of the Buffalo Bill Memorial Museum said, they often count on collectors for the information they possess. “We can’t know everything; we’re often generalists who rely on collectors who specialize,” he said. He told many stories of times he has worked with private collectors. Sometimes the museum is helped; other times, the collector benefits from the information and experience of the museum staff. In either case, it’s a win-win.

All of this surprised me because, like the Trash or Treasure event, I felt that unless you had purchased something at Christie’s no museum would want it — or want to help you. But collectors shouldn’t hold this opinion. We should keep in mind what we have and contact the right professional, be it a museum or an appraiser, but we shouldn’t be intimidated by the museum or the high-end auction house. While contacting either museum or auction house isn’t a guarantee that your object will fit either of their goals, not contacting them certainly brings you no closer to yours.

So don’t be intimidated by professionals. Don’t limit your collection, your collecting, out of the unnecessary anxiety that the object won’t be loved or appreciated. Like parents with children, we have to accept that not everyone will love our objects as much as we do. But information from, and contact with, the world outside our doors isn’t a bad thing.