‘Appraisal Day’: Treasure hunting in Everett

Published 11:46 pm Friday, March 6, 2009

EVERETT — The appraiser’s eyes got huge. His face turned ashen. He stammered.

“This is something that really has to be looked at professionally,” he said. “This is way over my head… but this is a very, very important document here.”

Appraiser Gary Espinosa couldn’t believe his hands were touching the large sheets of teletype sent from the battleship USS Missouri and signed by the Japanese signaling their surrender during World War II on Sept. 2, 1945.

Few of these documents are known to exist. James Rigby, 74, of Mukilteo, said he inherited this precious piece of history from his father.

“My father was the Officer of the Day at the Pentagon when this came in on the radio telegraph from the battleship Missouri,” Rigby said. “And they sent it twice so that they’d be sure and get a clear copy. So rather than throw the second copy away, my dad saved it.”

And this is just the kind of remarkable thing that can happen on “Antiques Roadshow.” Instead, it happened Friday in Everett.

The Arts Council of Snohomish County held “Appraisal Day,” its own version of the popular “Antiques Roadshow” television show on PBS, at its downtown Everett gallery. People paid $25 to receive estimates of the fair market value of their treasures by visiting specialists from Bonhams &Butterfields auction house in San Francisco during one of its on-location appraisal events.

Though Friday’s event began at 10 a.m. and ran until 1 p.m., people started to line up at 8 a.m., clutching all sorts of treasures, paintings, ivory necklaces, ornate vases.

If items were too large to carry — such as the four-piece set of buffalo-hide chairs adorned with moose antlers — they brought photographs.

Espinosa has appeared on “Antiques Roadshow.” Being a generalist, he advised Rigby to take his rare papers to the experts in Bonhams’ document and book department.

“No, no,” Espinosa said when asked if he could put a market value on the document. “This would have to be looked at professionally.

“I believe this here could be a very important piece of history.”

Espinosa went on to say that the document should probably be in the hands of the federal government.

Rigby disagreed.

“It’s been in the family over 50 years and I think it should stay in the family,” he said. “There are some of the younger generations that are interested in our family history and I think it should go to them.”

Rigby also seemed a bit disappointed that he couldn’t get a value for the document. Still, he had his own estimate of its worth.

“As far as I’m concerned it’s priceless,” Rigby said. “I don’t know how you could put a price on something like this.”

Others who attended “Appraisal Day” were lucky enough to walk away with estimated values for their treasures. Some were delighted with the results, others, not so much.

Barbara Truax, 67, of Edmonds, brought in a “swinger,” a clock that dates back to the Victorian period and marks time with a counter balance that swings back and forth like a pendulum.

The clock part hung on the arm of a statue of the goddess Diana, and Truax always liked that about the piece.

After carefully examination, Espinosa told Truax the piece was worth between $600 and $800.

“I’ll be darned,” Truax said. “Well, it made the repair bill for this worthwhile.”

Terry Conklin and his wife, Lana, of Marysville brought in a tall 150-pound lamp that caught everyone’s eye with its beaded crystal lamp shade atop an ornate bronze stand.

Some might have described the lamp as garish. The Conklins call it beautiful.

“It’s actually gorgeous,” Terry Conklin said. “It’s really amazing. It belongs in a lot more fancy house than ours.”

Espinosa noted that with the toxic economy these days, he has to give conservative values for items. With that in mind, and adding that the Conklins’ lamp would be a hard sell at an auction, he appraised the piece at between $5,000 and $7,000.

And just like on “Antiques Roadshow,” disappointments are inevitable. Terry Conklin’s was palpable.

“I was shocked,” Conklin said of Espinosa’s appraisal. “I thought it would be way higher.”

Theresa Goffredo: 425-339-3424 goffredo@heraldnet.com.