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KINGFIELD – Some carried big boxes of treasured items, others clutched family heirlooms in their arms while waiting in line for an appraisal by the Thomaston Place Auction Galleries on Friday. The day’s benefit for the Kingfield POPS Festival of Arts also included a line-up of antique cars, the Karma Fair Trade craft fair and a super lunch hosted by the Kingfield Elementary School’s eighth grade to help with class trip expenses.
Cool and breezy, the sun and clouds mattered little when there were so many interesting items to look at while waiting in line for an appraisal by John Bottero. A washing machine built of wooden moving parts that must’ve scrubbed that dirt away pretty hard awaited inspection, as did ornate clocks, chairs, a chest and two crystal punch bowls.
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“It’s always fun to see what other people bring,” said Barbara Hinkley of Wilton. Barbara and Kendall Hinkley brought Julius and the Galloping Engine, an antique hook-together book for children in its original box. Anybody who’s watched the PBS program Antiques Roadshow knows that keeping the box on these old toys is really important. They also had Tootsie toy cars Kendall got when he was a kid and a Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer book in “like-new” condition.
“I love books and I was just curious,” Barbara Hinkley said of the pending appraisals. The couple also brought a car windshield heater that once was suction cupped to the old cars like the Model A to prevent ice build up. The Hinkleys brought it for their neighbor who was also curious what it could be worth.
“We all like the Antiques Roadshow,” a woman in line said with a ladder back chair and other items in a bag.
This, the third year of the appraisal benefit, is Cecelia Stanley’s second time. Last year she brought two family heirloom paintings on glass in gold-trimmed frames, but was disappointed when she was told they were worth $40 each.
“I thought they would be worth more than that,” Stanley of Kingfield said.
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Today, she brought a friend’s small ceramic pitcher painted with dainty flowers for appraisal. She also had an antique intricately-designed, silver vessel, miniscule in size, for holding a drop or two of perfume. It came with a super tiny funnel with which to add the perfume to the vessel. Apparently, ladies back in the day carried these so they could add a little perfume in times of need. A friend had given it to her years ago after his mother died.
After Bottero examined both pieces, he told Stanley the pitcher was worth $40 to $50. “My friend will be pleased,” she said. Her miniature perfume jug and cute little funnel were indeed sterling silver and worth between $50 and $70, Stanley said grinning.
The Hinkley’s Rudolph book was appraised at $10 to $15, Julius and the Galloping Engine for $30 to $40, Toosie toys, $8 to $12 each and the old windshield defroster from $85 to $100.
The highest price of the afternoon with two more hours of treasures to appraise was a silver-and-crystal punch bowl that included silver cherub handles, topped with Bacchus himself, receiving a value of between $1,500 and $2,500.
“Even Kool-aid would taste good from this thing,” Bottero said. Overall he said coming to the different parts of Maine, particularly rural Maine, is always interesting.
“People in rural Maine often didn’t have a lot, but what they had they took care of for generations,” he said.
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