GUEST: Now, what made me think that this was a Shute? It was not advertised in the catalogue as a Shute, but I did some research online, and the same form of the chair appears in a couple of other portraits of children that, they are attributed to the Shutes, and the way the shoes are handled... Um, I've looked at enough of the Shutes up very close to see how they handle the eyes. The pencil work. But this was unusual, because the full-length portraits of children that I know of are done with, like, a gouache watercolor, and they're more, a little more painterly.
APPRAISER: She's not your standard formulaic Shute, as you know.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: So we're looking at it, and there's things I agree with you on, and there's things I... Oh. ...a little bit-- not disagree, but push back a little.
GUEST: All right.
APPRAISER: Because the eyes, I couldn't agree with you more. The pencil work that was done, the drawing first and then filling it in with the pastels, is something that the Shutes were known to have done.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: We're having a little difficulty with nailing it as a Shute, are the hands. They had a very delicate approach to hands.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And this, this little gal is kind of, in a way, holding the book a little bit awkward.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: And they were also known to really have wonderful lacework. And this one, the detail on the lace is missing. So, you go to the auction...
GUEST (chuckling): Yeah.
APPRAISER: And this is estimated at $4,000 to $6,000.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: And you pay...
GUEST: $30,000.
APPRAISER: What were you thinking?
GUEST: What wasn't I thinking? I don't know. Why wasn't I thinking?
APPRAISER: (laughter)
GUEST: I didn't think I would have to go that high. But there was a very insistent collector on the other end of the phone bidding against me. And I went up to my maximum amount that I changed during the bidding process. (laughs)
APPRAISER: We all do. Looking at it with no attribution, I would say in today's market, $25,000 retail.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: You can prove, we find a signed one with a similar layout, and we can really nail it as a Shute, then you're talking $125,000.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: So, big difference.
GUEST: That different, yeah?
APPRAISER: Yeah. So we need to do more research.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Hopefully, we need to find one that's signed.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And we can lead our way to saying, "Definitely by Shute."
