Antique and collectibles veteran appraises local treasures (From - Country Voice news room)

With: Muthoni Ismail.

 Pictured is Antiques Appraiser Robert Carruth with Jeanette Campbell and her valuable 19^th century miniatures.

 

We’ve all seen an episode of the Antiques Road Show, the very successful TV program from England and the U.S.A we’ve even got our own, albeit slightly watered-down, Canadian version. But locally, Minden’s Lawrence Place (RDLP) had its own, non-televised edition, held last Thursday and the outcomes were every bit as fascinating as those on the popular TV shows.

The event was a fundraising effort in support of RDLP. Appraisals were a mere $5 and admission was by donation so, for an insignificant fee, people could bring in their treasures to have them appraised and valued by Robert Carruth from Fenelon Falls, who has over 20 years experience in the field.

Carruth, a history teacher and football coach at Fenelon Falls Secondary School, is the father of Meg Carruth who is an intern and assistant coordinator at the RDLP. Meg’s mom Ann Marie is also passionate about antiques and collectibles, and she was present to lend hubby a helping hand.

Robert ‘Bob’ Carruth gave an informal talk before things got underway and he confessed that his wife Ann Marie had introduced him to the world of collectibles when the two were courting. Knowing that they were getting married he said that “we furnished our home at a very reasonable price.”

Those familiar with the Antiques Road Show are aware of the constantly fluctuating value of antiques, and Carruth explained that at the present time the antiques market is in a bit of a decline.

Carruth was a bit surprised therefore, when Jeanette Campbell Unwrapped two beautifully painted water color miniatures in original frames, dating from the first half of the 19^th century. Accompanying the miniatures, whose images showed a gentleman at two different stages of his life, was a letter which explained the pictures to some degree, and gave the grouping that magical word ‘provenance,’ or authenticity.

Antique shows are built around stories and Campbell didn’t disappoint as she revealed that the letter was sent to her great grandmother in Ireland who was working as a housekeeper for a local minister. The letter was from the minister who seemed to be expecting imminent danger in the time of the Irish ‘troubles.’ He was vacating his house and the letter to Campbell’s great grandmother was basically saying that she could help herself to some of the items in the household. She chose the two miniatures. Sometime later she came to Canada and eventually the letter and the miniatures passed on to Jeanette.

Carruth extolled the skill of the unknown ‘door to door’ artist and appraised the small collection at between $1,200 and $1,500, and said that at most small shows these particular items would be the stars.

Hilary Brown then presented two framed charcoal drawings from 1935 depicting the horrors of war by artist Raymond Sisley. Carruth said that they were difficult to appraise because there was really nothing to compare them to, but he said that they might have value to a military collector.

Brown’s father, in addition to being a journalist, editor and CBC scriptwriter, was also a founder of the Canadian March of Dimes, so she also displayed some March of Dimes posters and ephemera. Though they were fascinating and of great value to the family, Carruth was hesitant to put a monetary value on them.

Carruth appraised an odd metallic toy dog which also belonged to Brown at $40-60 and a doll with original clothing and moving eye lids, from the 1950s was valued at $75-100.

Later on Sharon Lawrence came by with a sulphide marble that was appraised at $50.

After the event Carruth volunteered his skills to the Minden Hills Museum and identified a very interesting King George clock in the museum collection.

 It was fascinating to watch Carruth do his appraisals and give his explanations. He also offered to help people further their investigations into their treasures, but it was even more fascinating to hear the stories behind antiquities that belonged to local residents, because by revealing information about their treasures the stories also told us much about the people themselves.

The Antiques Appraiser Robert Carruth with Jeanette Campbell and her valuable 19^th century miniatures.