Maine’s Thomason (AP) For almost 50 years, Kaja Veilleux has been searching for New England attic treasures. He made news this year when he discovered a million-dollar portrait that may have been painted by the Dutch master Rembrandt collecting dust in an ancient farmhouse in Maine, and he once discovered a copy of the Declaration of Independence resting on a heap of rubbish.
Then there was the occasion, according to Veilleux, when he saw a $50,000 gold coin kicking around in a tool drawer, only to have the well-meaning owner use a scouring pad to polish and scratch it, destroying much of its value before he could auction it.
“Every day is like a treasure hunt,” Veilleux remarked, laughing.
A lot of individuals hope to profit from an ancient, dusty heritage. Three Ohio sisters sold a rare cent for almost half a million dollars in October. A case of vintage hockey cards discovered in a Canadian residence brought over $3.7 million two years ago.
Veilleux, 73, uses his understanding of what like goods have sold for in the past to appraise furniture, antiques, and artwork, helping consumers separate treasures from trash. Art auctions, however, can be erratic. Who knew that a banana duct tied to a wall would fetch almost $6 million?
An early lesson was given by a phony.
At the age of eight, Veilleux began collecting coins and quickly discovered that he had a strong memory for visual objects. He claimed that all of his preparation for a career in antique selling has come from his work, including a lesson he learnt early on when he bid the majority of his available funds on a stunning miniature artwork.
He discovered it was a print with dabs of paint added to make it appear authentic after he returned home from the auction and examined the piece under a magnifying glass.
Veilleux remarked, “I always learned to look at things very carefully after paying $350 for a $35 object.”
He was on a house visit in South Freeport, Maine, in the late 1990s. It was a hoarder s house, he said, where piles of trash were awaiting their trip to an already-full dumpster. Veilleux saw what turned out to be a copy of the Declaration of Independence from 1776 on top of one pile.
The state of Maine successfully fought to seize the document after he sold it at auction for $99,000. As a result, neither the vendor nor the buyer gained anything.
In Maine, a potential Rembrandt is discovered.
His most valuable artwork discovery to date occurred this year. Veilleux reported that he was on a house call in Camden, Maine, with an aide.
We start going through the house and there were rare little things and big things everywhere, Veilleux said. Finally, we are on the third floor near the attic, and we find a stack of paintings, and in it is this beautiful portrait of a young woman by Rembrandt.
The painting of a teenage girl in a black dress with a white ruffled collar was sold as after Rembrandt, meaning it was in the style of the 17th Century master but wasn t proven to be by him. The artwork sold for $1.4 million, including auction fees, indicating the buyer was willing to take a significant gamble the painting was a Rembrandt although it would have likely sold for many times that price with a proven provenance.
People seek to value their heirlooms
Each Tuesday, people bring in their heirlooms and collector s items to Veilleux s office in Thomaston, Maine, to see what they might fetch at auction. The appraisal is free but Veilleux gets a commission if they end up selling the pieces at his Thomaston Place Auction Galleries.
Erika Taylor stopped by on a recent Tuesday with two artworks her father had collected in China in the 1940s, when he was living there after escaping from Nazi Germany. One depicted a blooming peony and the other a grasshopper.
She said Veilleux had given her an initial estimate of up to $30,000 for each of the artworks, based on the photographs she d shown him. But she was in for bad news.
When Veilleux inspected the artworks closely, he declared they were prints, because paint would have permeated the paper.
It s disappointing, Taylor said. But he has a lot of experience.
Still, Taylor wasn t totally convinced and said she might seek a second opinion.
Another seller, Jean Koenig, got better news. She brought in a large aquamarine ring. She said her father found the gem in a Brazilian mine and her grandmother had fashioned it into a ring, adding rubies and diamonds.
Koenig ended up agreeing to auction the ring, with an estimated sales price of between $10,000 and $15,000. She plans to split the proceeds with her seven siblings.
It s just been sitting in a box for years, she said. We decided it was time.
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