PORT TOWNSEND — The value of the simple Tiffany lamp meant less to Kris Oglesby than the fact she had finally been given the lamp by her mother.
A Tiffany, of course, is a rare beauty — every piece another exploration in glass, but for her, the joy of owning the piece far eclipsed its potential value on the open market.
For Dale Moffett, seeking the value of a life’s worth of treasures could mean one final voyage to Alaska where he has sailed on a cruise shipped three times. He knows his descendants won’t value his items as a collector would.
Moffett and Oglesby were among the 85 or so people who brought their treasures to be assessed by volunteers raising $1,800 for the nonprofit Community Enrichment Alliance. The Port Ludlow-based group provides scholarships to Chimacum students and contributes to other programs for youth education and enrichment.
The “Antiques Roadshow” event, inspired by the TV show of the same name, at the Bay Club on Saturday was a new fundraiser for the organization, which organizes the Holiday Home Tour in Port Ludlow and other community activities.
Among the items informally appraised by experts in various fields were both treasured family heirlooms and museum-quality artwork.
Michael and Teresa Forrest, avid art collectors, nearly found themselves stymied in their research to give an estimate on a painting by Carel Pietersz Fabritius (1622-1654).
His oil-on-board portrait of a cavalier, if authenticated, could be worth well into six figures.
The Forrests have a database with auctions of paintings over the past 25 years, but Fabritius wasn’t there.
Michael Forrest turned to other sources, using his laptop. He uncovered that Fabritius was a gifted student of Rembrandt who died when a gunpowder explosion destroyed a quarter of the city of Delft, Holland, along with his studio and most of his paintings.
Only a dozen paintings survived.
“In examining the signature, brush strokes and composition, it’s clear the painting was by this guy,” Michael Forrest said. “With all the kinds of electronic data we have available now, it’s much easier to be a detective.”
Moffett didn’t have a Rembrandt, but his items could fetch a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, Laura Shisler told him.
The Four Corners resident had a wood suitcase marked with the name of his great-grandmother, Marie O.D. Lillevik, and the year, 1876.
He had a few items in the 2-foot-by 2-foot chest — a frozen Charlotte porcelain doll and a Meerschaum cigar holder — but also a first aid kit for the Red Cross during the Great War, complete with an opiate-mixture for diarrhea and a bottle of clearly marked “POISON.”
“I had inherited these and planned to keep them in the family, but my two sons, I don’t trust to appreciate these,” Moffett said. “I thought I may as well find out what they’re worth.”
He dealt in antiques at one point in his life and collected furniture and other items, but he knows the value of something is only as strong as a collector’s passion.
He once sold a 9-foot-tall hall mirror with marble tabletop for dirt cheap to a friend because it was so large. But he seems a man less disturbed by lost possessions than a man looking forward to whatever time he has yet to come.
The Oglesbys carried their delicate glass pieces in a simple canvas bag, belying their value or significance.
Kris Oglesby’s father collected various styles of glass, probably beginning in the 1960s, figured Jerry Oglesby. Among the pieces he bought was the amber Tiffany lamp.
“I’ve lusted after this,” Kris says about the Tiffany. “This is very special to me.”
Her dad, Ed Havel, had no particular interest in collecting certain genres of glass — only glass pieces he liked.
“Fishing was his passion,” Kris said. “He didn’t collect. He wanted a sample of everything.”
Like the Tiffany, worth a few grand, the Port Ludlow couple had other interesting pieces, including a gun collection Jerry Oglesby has put together.
He didn’t bring his guns, however, instead deciding to transport the glass lamp and other items.
The transport of the glass items gave Jerry some discomfort: “I collect guns and you can’t hurt them, but glass is so fragile.”
One reason they brought their delicate glass pieces to the fundraiser was to get a clearer sense for how much they may have to insure them for.
The volunteers who assessed various collectibles, Americana, fine art, glassware, coins and jewelry were intrigued by some of the items brought in by their owners.
One remarked she had seen two museum quality items while another helped the owner of a painting by Alphonse de Neuville (1835-1885) determine an approximate value. His oil on canvas of a battle scene may be valued in the high five figures, Teresa Forrest said.
Members of the Port Ludlow Computer Club volunteered to research items that perplexed the dozen experts.
“We get the ones nobody knows anything about,” said Mary Ronen of the Community Enrichment Alliance, who oversaw the online research.
“We’ve had a couple of doozies. We had a big, tall elaborate lamp that we couldn’t find anything it resembled.”
Jamie Bima of Port Ludlow said she examined a one-of-a-kind item she wouldn’t hazard a guess at its value because “it was a museum-quality item and way above my pay grade to give an appropriate value.”
“We’ve seen some pretty things and some nice things, but this was so valuable,” she said. “It was a shock to see it here, actually.”
________
Philip L. Watness is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. He can be reached at whatnews@olypen.com.
