MIDDLEBURY — Are there treasures in your attic? Come find out at the Sheldon Museum’s Antiques Appraisal Day on Sunday, April 17, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Courtyard Marriott in Middlebury. For only $7 per item or $25 for four, visitors can receive professional information about family heirlooms and collectibles and support the museum at the same time. For large objects, photographs will be accepted.
Expert appraisers will offer verbal appraisals of antiques including furniture, art, jewelry, military items, toys and ephemera. Visitors who already know the family story of the objects they bring in can learn more about the age, style, condition and rarity of their treasures. Since all these factors ultimately contribute to the object’s monetary value, good appraisers have a deep knowledge of the areas they specialize in, as well as a hand on the pulse of the current antiques and collectibles marketplace. Every year new trends emerge in collecting, making certain objects “hot.”
The experienced appraisers who are generously donating their services to the museum’s Antiques Appraisal Day share a passion for the work they do and enjoy meeting visitors. Numerous appraisers will be putting their expertise to work that day:
• Greg Hamilton, owner of Stone Block Antiques in Vergennes. Hamilton will appraise general antiques, furniture, paintings, silver, glass and china. Photographs of large objects will be accepted.
• Joan Korda, a member of the Vermont Antiques Dealers Association and owner of an antiques shop in Bridport named the best in Addison County. She was designated a Woman of Excellence in 2008 and 2009 in the field of antiques by the National Association of Professional and Executive Women.
• Ron Marcus, a graduate gemologist trained by The Gemological Institute of America and owner of Freeman Marcus Jewelers in Rutland. Marcus will appraise jewelry of any style, material and age. He will also be happy to identify gems and diamonds and is able to separate them from synthetics.
• Ethan Merrill of Duane Merrill and Co. Merrill was raised in one of Vermont’s premiere antique families. He is a member of the National Auctioneers Association and the Vermont Auctioneers Association and is a 1998 graduate of the Missouri School of Auctioneering.
• Ralph Shepard, who has spent 55 years collecting U.S. military arms and equipment and 40-plus years dealing in antique arms and related equipment. His areas of expertise include military arms and equipment used in North America ca. 1755-1945 including firearms, swords, bayonets, uniforms and buttons, accouterments and appendages.
• Jean Tudhope, owner and proprietor of Back Door Antiques since 1970. She specializes in Vermont and Adirondack antiques and collectibles from the out-of-doors including hunting, fishing and sports memorabilia.
For more information about the Antiques Appraisal Day, visit www.henrysheldonmuseum.org or call the Henry Sheldon Museum at 802-388-2117.