GUEST: The company that my mother worked for was redecorating their offices, and they had several paintings that they were throwing away, and different employees said, "No, you're not going to throw those away. We'll take them and save them." And this was one that she saved. And she told me about it, and I said I wanted to see it, and it's now hanging in my guest bedroom.
APPRAISER: Well, it's an exciting picture of Cleveland in 1851. And do you recognize any of the features of the city? Or can you give us an orientation here?
GUEST: I believe that this is what we would think of as downtown Cleveland today. And this is the bend in the Cuyahoga River. And I believe that this might be where the steel mills are today.
APPRAISER: We see a city that really is starting to grow. Lots of activities. Steamships and boats down through here, some factories and plants, probably. There is a little label that came on the back of this painting which identifies it as a view of Cleveland. And it says it was purchased from Kennedy & Company, a New York paintings gallery, in 1941, for the grand sum of $18. It is a watercolor, and I don't know of an earlier overall topographic view of Cleveland. A print of this view would probably be worth a couple of hundred dollars. I think because it's watercolor, because it is so detailed and clearly is accurate in its views, that a view like this would easily at auction bring $7,000 to $10,000. So you might think of an insurance value somewhere in the $12,000 range.
GUEST: Well, there go our insurance premiums.
APPRAISER: Well, there you go, but you got it at the right price.
GUEST: I think so.
APPRAISER: And it's a fabulous part of Cleveland history. And thank you so much for bringing it in.
GUEST: Thank you, Dean.
