“Use This Number” - Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Blog – [ 847-784-8544.]

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Working together I am convinced that all the plans I had from the beginning of the Club will be fulfilled. Now and then I get impatient when there are no success stories coming my way from our members but those periods don't last long as yesterday demonstrates. I received a call from Lou Ann and she asked if I would look up an artist for her. This was what I had been waiting for.

Her first words were, “Will you look up Mae Bertoni?” to which I said "Okay". But you see there was a problem because I thought she said Mae Nertoni and as I checked Ask Art there was no one by that name listed. I repeated the name back to her, she corrected me and lo and behold there it was, Mae Bertoni. Before I could even get the information she said “I believe that I will buy the picture even if it is a print." I was scanning the listing and beginning to think that what she was looking at was a print, because from my research I found that this artist was well known for prints so I suspected that she had one.

However, to be sure, after my experience where what I thought was a print turned out to be a real watercolor that a friend of mine bought for $40 and a few months later sold for $22,000, I told Lou Ann that we should check further.

When she got home she took the piece out of the frame as I had instructed and sent me several pictures of it. Immediately, I knew she had the real thing. Your question is, how did you know? First, if a piece is behind glass it is almost impossible to tell if it is real or a print but once it is no longer behind glass you job becomes much easier. The paper usually shouldn't have a high gloss like most prints if it is truly a painting and the paper should most of the time have texture. Second, the signature will be easily identified as original to the piece. Third, the margins will show overlap of paint and not be straight like a ruler. “So what made the painting Lou Ann had tell you it was real?"

There was part of the tape used to mark the dimensions of the painting still attached to the paper, the signature was clearly the original and not a copy, the paper itself had texture and wasn't smooth like a print and the paint was overlapping the paper. With this information, it didn't take an expert to state that this was truly a watercolor and not a print.

Her price was $15 and its value, $2500 plus, was not bad for a visit to a second hand shop. This is why you need patience. Lou Ann told me she had never discovered anything in this shop of value before but she always checks. Now she can no longer say that and I am sure she had a huge smile on her face when she got the results of our research. The last watercolor by Mae Bertoni sold for over $2000 and it wasn't as nice or as large as the one Lou Ann found.

Yes you should use the number 847-784-8544 because that is my number and if it is called I will always answer it. If you need information on anything, this is the number to call and maybe your results will be the same as Lou Ann's. I hope so.

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