GUEST: My grandmother gave it to me probably about 15 or 20 years ago. And it was a gift to my grandfather, who was a publisher in New York. He collaborated with Mondadori Publishing and Printing in Italy. They did all of his printing. And the guy from Mondadori gave it to my grandfather as a gift.
APPRAISER: And that was about how many years ago?
GUEST: The gift was given maybe in the 50's or 60's, and then my grandmother gave it to me after my grandfather had passed away.
APPRAISER: Okay, your family received this from someone in Italy. I actually believe that this is probably French.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And this is a late 18th-,early 19th-century fan. It's about 200 years old and there's a number of things that make this really nice. One, it has 18 sticks. They're all pierce decorated with a floral decoration throughout. All of the silver that you see also has gold on it, so it's silver and gold overlay over top of the bone. Could be whale bone, more than likely, but it's hard to say exactly. You've got this guard that's absolutely wonderful. Nicely decorated, incredible to find them not broken, especially being 200 years old. Then you look at all of the painting. This is all painting on silk. And it's all hand done. And the color on it is absolutely incredible. It hasn't faded at all. Everything about it just adds up to one of the best fans I think I've ever seen.
GUEST: Wow!
APPRAISER: I would tell you to probably insure this for somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: It is absolutely beautiful and I can't thank you enough for bringing it in.
GUEST: Oh, that's so exciting, thank you. That's crazy. My grandmother would be proud.
