APPRAISER: I understand you're a denizen of the thrift stores, is that right?
GUEST: I am, I am.
APPRAISER: And are these some of your finds?
GUEST: They are. I don't know much about them. This one nearest you, I paid $14.
APPRAISER: Fourteen dollars?
GUEST: Yes, and these three, eight dollars each.
APPRAISER: And do you know anything about this artist, or do you know who it's by?
GUEST: No, I couldn't figure out the signature and I was hoping that maybe you guys could.
APPRAISER: Right, well, I struggled a little bit with it to begin with, to be honest. When I flipped it round and I saw that it was framed in Scottsdale, Arizona, that rather piqued my interest. It's a part of the world that I actually spend a bit of time in, and I thought, "Well, maybe it's an Arizona artist." So I did a little more delving, and I believe it's a work by Jessie Benton Evans, who was actually one of the best known Arizona artists of the early 20th century. She moved there for her health around about, I think, 1912, 1913, early part of the 20th century. So this is one of her works, a typical desert scene. You paid $14 for this one?
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: So this at auction should comfortably be $1,200 to $1,800.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: So $1,200 to $1,800.
GUEST: Awesome.
APPRAISER: And these ones over here, very different paintings, but obviously they appeal to you too. And do you know anything about these?
GUEST: I don't, and they weren't signed.
APPRAISER: Well, when you brought them out, I thought, "These are very reminiscent of an Italian artist who lived in the 18th, early 19th century, Michelangelo Maestri." And he did paintings of young muses, nymphets, in diaphanous gowns against a black background, so these are very typical. Now, I don't think they are by him, but I think they're followers of, or they're in the circle of, and as such, they should be worth, I would think, probably $400 to $600 each. So then $1,200 to $1,800 for these, $1,200 to $1,800 for this. So you paid, what, $24 for that, $14 for that, so I would say keep going to the thrift stores.
GUEST: Not bad.
