Mary Jo Case examines a pitcher
Have you ever wondered what your grandmother’s favorite Chinese vase is worth? Your Uncle Fred’s Civil War memorabilia? That oil painting that you bought at a thrift shop that seems original. Many people have inherited or purchased items that they would love to have identified and informally appraised.
The Virginia Highlands Festival sponsors an Antiques Discovery Day at which a panel of regional antiques experts will try to identify your family “treasures” and give you an informal appraisal of their worth. The appraisers will be John Case and his associates from Case Auctions of Knoxville, Tennessee, as well as his brother David and mother Mary Jo Case from Anchor Antiques in Kingsport, Tennessee.
The event is Sunday, April 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 pm., at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, Abingdon, Virginia.
The cost for the identification and appraisal of one item is $10, or three items for $25. Tickets are available at the door. However, if you wish to reserve a time slot, you can buy tickets online at www.vahighlandsfestival.org for 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m.
If you want a piece of furniture or firearm identified or appraised, take several cell phone photographs of the piece from all angles, and bring your phone to the event.
A representative from the William King Museum of Art is at the event to explore whether items are appropriate to be documented for the museum’s Cultural Heritage Project archive of Southwest Virginia and Northeast Tennessee furniture, textiles and decorative arts.
For more information, visit www.vahighlandsfestival.com.
