Caroline Ashleigh Appraisers & Auctioneers

Introducing Our New Service : Caroline Ashleigh Associates, LLC is pleased to announce a much needed service to your community: www.auctionyourestate.com We believe there should be alternative methods of liquidating valuable household contents and personal property by placing it in the proper venue, to ensure that it is not undersold, whether on-site or on-line. Every estate sale conducted by www.auctionyourestate.com is done with total dedication to due diligence, scholarship and ethical practice. Our skillful team of professional researchers and specialist appraisers are USPAP certified, and members of professional appraisal organizations. As nationally recognized appraisers, with over twenty five years of experience in evaluating art, antiques, collectibles and estate jewelry, we are experts at conducting very dignified and profitable estate liquidation sales. We welcome your participation. For more details, please contact us at info@auctionyourestate.com or ...

Picture this 1930s scene. Now picture the current "Occupy Wall Street" movement. Seem familiar? Google pays tribute today to Mexican mural painter Diego Rivera, one of the great artists of the early 20th century. The search engine replaced its normal logo with an industrial landscape in honor of what would have been the artist's 125th birthday In its review of the current Rivera exhibit at the MOMA, The New York Times called the painter "one of the great artists of his time." He also shared the spotlight with his famous wife, artist Frida Kahlo. Google created a doodle celebrating Kahlo in 2010.

Debbie Reynolds The Auction Part II The Paley Center For Media 465 North Beverly Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90210 Live Auction Saturday December 3, 2011at 11:00 AM PST: Featuring over four hundred items from the golden age of Hollywood collected by my client Debbie Reynolds

In the following clip, Caroline Ashleigh appraises a vintage Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Doll Collection: Evaluating the complete set of dolls based on characters in the seminal 1938 film, Caroline Ashleigh noted that the manufacturing of products associated with films represented the foundation upon which Disney built its empire. A store owner in an antiques mall once offered the owner only $35 for one doll. Seeking information on the doll's value, the owner checked everything from the Internet to the library before appearing on Antiques Roadshow. The set, which was in very good condition, and in their original boxes, would sell for at least $2,000-$2,500, Ashleigh said. "That might give you a bit of an idea of the value of holding onto things, and keeping them in as fine condition as you did," she said.

An Armenian museum sued the lawyer for Dr. Jack Kevorkian's estate, claiming he donated his artworks to the museum, not to a niece who claims them. The disputed works include 17 paintings, "writings, some musical compositions, a sweater and a hat." The Armenian Library and Museum of America, of Watertown, Mass., sued attorney Mayer Morganroth in Middlesex County Court. Kevorkian, who died in June, became famous for his work in assisted suicide. He was prosecuted unsuccessfully four times, and his medical license was suspended, before he was convicted of second-degree homicide in 1999, in a case in which he dismissed his attorneys and represented himself. He served 8 years of a 10-to-25-year sentence and was paroled in 2007, on the condition he stop assisting in suicides. Kevorkian also was a jazz musician and painter. The Armenian Museum claims that in 1999 it approached Kevorkian's curator, the Ariana Gallery in Royal Oak, Mich., to discuss mounti...

The actual ruby slippers Judy Garland clicked together to send her character Dorothy back to Kansas in "The Wizard of Oz" are to be auctioned off in December. Replicas and stunt shoes have been sold off in the past, but now bosses at California auction house Profiles in History have acquired the most famous footwear in Hollywood. The slippers will be the highlight lot at the three-day Icons of Hollywood auction, which will take place December 15-17. A spokeswoman for the auction house says, "There are four pairs of screen-used ruby slippers known to have survived the 70 years since the making of 'The Wizard of Oz.' One pair is the center piece of the Icons of American Culture exhibition at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and is one of the most asked about artifacts at the museum. "So viewed are these slippers that the carpet in front of them has had to be replaced numerous times due to the crush of shoes t...

In this video clip, the owner of the purse approaches Caroline Ashleigh for advice on the value of the item. He describes that he bought it some 10 or 15 years ago for his wife, who liked the purse and is a Chaplin fan. Since that time, the purse had lain around their home and had not been used. Caroline Ashleigh asks the man how much he paid for it, to which he answers approximately $25. Following his disclosure, Caroline Ashleigh describes the history of the item, which was part of a limited edition set of purses, each depicting a famous celebrity. Furthermore, the purses were only available for a short time. Subsequently, Caroline Ashleigh asks the man to guess what the purse is worth today. He provides an estimate of $125. Caroline Ashleigh appraises the item conservatively at over $600.

In the following clip, Caroline Ashleigh appraises a James Dean yearbook: The yearbook is from James Dean's junior year in high school, and the owner brings the item to Caroline Ashleigh with obvious enthusiasm. Immediately, Ashleigh and the woman find the picture of James Dean in the yearbook, which is accompanied by the nickname, "Rack." More importantly, however, at the back of the book is a signature page, where James Dean's signature appears, along with his nickname. Caroline Ashleigh explains that the signatures of celebrities such as Dean can fetch between $1,500 to $2,000 on their own. Its appearance in the yearbook greatly increases the value. Had the yearbook been of his senior year, Caroline Ashleigh explains, it would have been worth over $4,000. However, she still appraises the item between $3,000 and $3,500. More information on Caroline Ashleigh and additional video clips from her television appearances can be found at www.apprai...

MARINA DEL REY, California — It was a low-tech caper involving a distraction, an accomplice or two and a small sketch. Authorities said early Tuesday they had recovered the Dutch master, Rembrandt’s, 17th century sketch at a San Fernando Valley church, about 20 miles from the luxury hotel lobby where it was snatched over the weekend from a private art display while a curator was momentarily distracted by someone who seemed interested in buying another piece. Detectives got a tip from an anonymous caller on Monday evening that the sketch was in the suburban Encino church. A curator confirmed the artwork's authenticity on Tuesday, Aug. 16 th . At a news conference held at dawn Tuesday, authorities said nobody had been arrested. The Rembrandt drawing, swiped Saturday night, was valued at $250,000 and was being exhibited as part of a private display in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the upscale seaside community of Marina del Rey. The theft as well-executed, but not executed ...

Marina del Ray, CA. — Investigators were examining hotel surveillance video on Sunday for clues to the disappearance of a drawing by Rembrandt from a private exhibit in the Ritz Carlton Hotel near Los Angeles, officials said. The pen-and-ink drawing known as "The Judgment" by the 17th century Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn, vanished on Saturday night from the exhibit while the curator was "distracted" for about 15 minutes, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office. "When he turned back, the pen-and-ink drawing was gone," Whitmore said. "We believe there was more than one person involved," he added. The drawing, which is valued at $250,000 and measures about 11 by 6 inches, was part of a weekly exhibit hosted at the exclusive hotel by the Linearis Institute, Whitmore said. Sheriff's officials were reviewing hotel surveillance tape on Sunday, he said. "We believe this to be w...

Caroline Ashleigh Featured in Women2Women Magazine Read the PDF Version Cover Story in Women 2 Women Caroline Ashleigh, Appraiser and Auctioneer, Author and HGTV & Antiques Roadshow expert appraiser, talks about her passion, living in the Sweet Spot in her profession, and building her business into one of the premier art appraisal and auction companies in the country. Excerpts from the article: "When you find your true vocation in life, you find your sweet spot. Step into that rhythm and enthusiasm flows, and gives you a higher sense of purpose in that which you do" "Each of us has unique skills to share and we are happiest and most energized when we share them"

In 2009, socialite Joanne King Herring learned from the Art Loss Register, a company that operates an international database of stolen and missing works of art that a New York man had tried to sell a painting which she purchased entitled, Portrait of a Man , by Scottish artist Sir Henry Raeburn, at Sotheby's auction house. Herring had a Christie's auction catalog and receipt showing she bought the painting in 1980 — along with a 1986 police report filed when it and several other paintings disappeared from a framing shop. The consignor, Geoffrey Rice, said he had bought the painting in 1984 or 1985 at Hart Galleries, a now-defunct Houston auction house, but produced no evidence to support his claim. Because Rice refused to cede ownership of the painting, Sotheby's, which had pulled it from a planned auction, couldn't release it to Herring without a civil court order. So her attorney filed suit in January 2010 to get one. The case remained in legal lim...

Everyday invaluable antiquities are looted all over the world and then sold on the black market robbing us of our cultural heritage. There is a 7.8 billion dollar industry in stolen and looted antiquities which represents a rape of history in the loss of archeological content, destruction of monuments and destruction of artifacts. The trade in illicit antiquities thrives in secrecy. Sadly, black market trade in antiquities destroys our most precious, non-renewable resource - the intact evidence of our undiscovered past. Each looted artifact, whether dug-up from the American Southwest, from a Mesopotamian temple site, or from a burial site in China, Afghanistan, or Peru, is like a page torn from a book. Each missing page represents a permanent hole in our understanding of our collective history. This global problem calls for global answers. First, we must raise public awareness. To learn more about what is being accomplished through lectures and educational programs...

The recent theft of a Picasso pencil drawing underscores the true "cost" of art theft. The work, recently stolen from the Weinstein Art Gallery in San Francisco is so recognizable the it's unlikely the thief will ever be able to sell it. Art experts, including the museum's curator, are concerned that this could lead to the destruction of the drawing. Read the entire story at the Caroline Ashleigh art blog . Related Art Fraud Stories: It's The Wild, Wild West Out There...Buyer Beware! Drama, Suspense, Intrigue - Art Crime 101

As a result of more than two decades in the Fine Art and Asset Industry, Caroline Ashleigh Associates, LLC has developed a unique consultation program that educates private collectors about the importance of maintaining their high value collections with the same due diligence to which museums adhere. High net worth families, celebrities, retirees, and successful executives are among our clients who utilize our services during the creation of their wealth and planning portfolios, as well as, the trusted advisers who serve them. Insurance carriers, banks, estate attorneys, and wealth advisers look to our firm for our expertise and experience in serving this market sector. The Collection Management Services we provide are : Expert assistance with appraisal, cataloguing & inventory services Insurance Portfolio Evaluation Provenance Review and Title Investigation Conservation and Restoration Solutions Online auction system that allows estate ...

I've recently read that high-profile celebrity collectors Steve Martin, Robert De Niro, and Steven Spielberg have been victims of art fraud. These are serious collectors of art that do their due diligence, yet have still been "had" by sophisticated art fraud schemes. A colleague of mine, Robert Wittman, founder of the FBI Art Crime Team, has likened it to the wild, wild west; the art world is unregulated and art fraud runs rampant. During his 20-year FBI career, Wittman has rescued stolen Rembrandts, Rodins, and Rockwells, and investigated several major art scams - most notable, the Antiques Roadshow television scandal hatched by con artist Russell Pritchard III. Wittman recounts the full Antiques Roadshow case in a chapter of his New York Times best-selling memoir Priceless , which came out in paperback this week. For more information, read the full post at the Caroline Ashleigh Auction blog .

Now through September the Motown Museum in Detroit is featuring a Marvin Gaye retrospective. This is a great opportunity to learn about the life and career of one of Motown's great voices. This is one not to be missed. To learn more about Gaye and the exhibit, visit the Caroline Ashleigh Auction blog .

In keeping with the recent shoe theme, I will be at two events next week signing my new book Warman's ® Shoes Field Guide . Both events are women-focused and should prove to be very fun events. I hope you can make one of them. And, make sure to check out the book and maybe even get your own copy. Hope to see you there! Upcoming Events: Tuesday May 3, 2011 6:00pm Just Us Girls Book signing and talk entitled The Way We Wore, a Walk through a Century of Shoes 2030 Garland, Sylvan Lake, MI 48320 RSVP: bdaoud@jugsclub.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 866-702-6844 Thursday May 5, 2011 6:00pm Women to Women Flint Institute of Arts 1120 East Kearsley Street Flint, MI 48503

Well, like everyone else, I'm all aflutter about the upcoming royal wedding. In particular, I can't wait to see the gowns, hats and shoes. In preparation for the big day I've done some research on wedding shoes (as you know... shoes are my passion , or one of them, anyway). I've uncovered some fascinating information about wedding footwear. Read about what I discovered in the following posts at the Caroline Ashleigh Auction blog . Shoes Fit for a Royal Wedding More Wedding Shoes...

Very early on Debbie Reynolds had the foresight to collect items of movie memorabilia. As a result she has amassed an incredible collection. In fact, it's the world's largest collection of Hollywood costumes and props. This will truly be a once-in-a-lifetime event when these items go to auction beginning on June 18th, 2011. I'll be watching this one carefully and reporting back on the action. For more information, read the full story at the Caroline Ashleigh Auction Blog . Related Stories Marilyn Monroe's Iconic White Dress Marilyn Monroe Seven Year Itch Poster, 1955 Marilyn Monroe's White Dress from the Seven Year Itch, 1955

...that Howdy Doody marionettes might be put up for sale for $99,000? Recently I found an original set of the entire Howdy Doody cast for sale on eBay for just that amount. For the most part, puppets don't command this high of a price tag, so I wonder what they will actually sell for. I shall certainly keep my eye on them and let you know. For more on puppets and collecting, visit the Caroline Ashleigh Auction Blog .

Recently a see-through knit dress that allegedly helped Kate Middleton "snag" a royal proposal from Prince William recently went for £78.000 (about $126,000) at auction. Looks like royal fever is on the rise as the wedding draws closer. For the full story, visit the Caroline Ashleigh Auction Blog .

This painting-- Still Life with Carnations --has the experts at the Detroit Institute of Arts puzzled. Is it real...is it fake? Let me know what you think by casting your vote at the Caroline Ashleigh Auction Blog .

I've had the honor of working with Debbie Reynolds, star of stage and screen, on appraising items in her extensive collection of movie memorabilia. In June of 2011, Ms. Reynolds will be selling an iconic white dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch . Previously, I appraised this beautiful piece of movie history at $2 million. Read the entire story at the Caroline Ashleigh Auction Blog . Related Stories Marilyn Monroe Seven Year Itch Poster, 1955 Marilyn Monroe's White Dress from The Seven Year Itch, 1955 The Final Curtain Goes UP as the Auction Hammer Goes Down on Debbie Reynolds' Collection

I've just discovered the greatest new tool and used it to publish my capabilities presentation from PowerPoint. Take a look at the overview to see what we've been up to and let me know what you think!

In early 2010, TV talent scouts were looking for a female estate liquidator for a reality television show. One of those executives happened to land on Cari Cucksey’s website , called her, and the rest, shall we say, is Her-story … Soon to follow, producers came to Michigan and filmed twelve hours of Cari and her crew in action. The series was sold to HG-TV which premiered in January. The second season will begin filming in March, and there is talk of a third season. Some are now even predicting five to seven. Cari’s house liquidation team is comprised of approximately 25 hardworking Michiganders who’ve been thrust into the national spotlight by the magic of television, just doing what they know how to do best. Take, for instance, Haas and Moe, the muscle in the show. Haas breaks it, and Moe (aka MacGyver) fixes it. And then there are, of course, all the lovely ladies on Cari's team who work to research, refurbish and Repurpose. Having serv...

The producers of a major cable network show are seeking “pickers” with the most honed hunting skills, the sharpest eye to determine trash from treasure, and the most effective negotiating chops to seal the deal. The Untitled Antiques-Collectibles Competition is a new show that transforms the cutthroat world of antiques and collectibles picking into a competitive game. In every episode, antiques lovers compete in teams of two in a race to track down and acquire valuable items hidden along the back roads, barns, and forgotten corners of America – they even provide the shopping money. The team with the most valuable loot at the end of the day wins the competition. They get to keep their lot of items and the lots of the other teams – it's winner take al l! If you think you and your partner have what it takes to pick the most valuable treasures and get the best price, contact: info@appraiseyourart.co This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need...

After 50 years of collecting toy trains, Jerry Greene has amassed a collection of over 40,000 pieces, worth tens of millions of dollars, and has a ticket to ride…. One look at this collection would convince anyone that there is such a thing as a collecting gene, and that Jerry Green inherited it. When Green decided to sell the collection, at Sotheby’s in New York, it took his entire family three weeks to unpack and arrange what was on display at the auctioneers. David Redden, vice chairman of Sotheby's, believes it's the biggest train collection in the world. Green admits he’s an “obsessive collector.” He says he has more than 1,700 locomotives and cars, 700 stations, and thousands of accessories. "In cataloguing the collection, I came up with 27,000 different items," he said. Green decided to sell the collection because he ran out of good pieces to buy. So how much is it worth? Here's a hint . . . Green described one stati...

Laura Bell of Roscommon, Michigan used lint from her dryer to make a 14' by 4' reproduction of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. The AP reports: Bell says she needed about 800 hours to do enough laundry to get the lint, and 200 hours to recreate the mural. She bought towels of the colors she wanted and laundered them separately to get the right shades of lint. The people at Ripley's Believe It Or Not! were so impressed they bought it for their collection. According to their press release, Bell started her masterpiece in 2009 and it took some experimenting to get it just right: Bell says she spent seven months saving the lint from her own dryer, but the problem was it was usually the same color. She tried laundromat lint, but it was always shades of gray and full of dog hair. She took on this project to enter into a Grand Rapids art contest called Art Prize. The lure of the grand prize — $250,000 — kept her ...

Sometimes we at Caroline Ashleigh Associates amazed at what some people will try on their own. Do it yourself restoration of artwork is NOT something that should be undertaken by the uninitiated. In fact, simply cleaning valuable artwork should be done by a professional that understands the nature of paint, canvas and paper. As paints and inks age, they can become brittle, and the various substrate used by artists (canvas, paper, etc.) have their own characteristics. Using fluids for cleaning can adversely affect any of these materials, so it it imperative that anyone who cleans or restores artwork be experienced and qualified. For more information, read my full blog post at The Caroline Ashleigh Auction Blog . If you have a work you'd like to have cleaned and/or restored, feel free to contact me at info@appraiseyourart.com.

I'm excited that reality TV has come to Detroit in a big way. Two new shows to watch are metro Detroit-based-- truTV's Hard Core Pawn which debuted on Tuesday, December 28, and HG-TV's Cash & Cari which debuted on Monday, January 3. Both shows deal with the hunt for undiscovered treasure. In Hard Core Pawn the Gold family sees some incredibly interesting items, but there's risk. In Cash & Cari my friend Cari has the opportunity to hunt out unique and rare items. Have you watched either show yet? If you do, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts. Related Stories Welcome to Reality TV in Detroit City This Isn't Your Grandmother's Antiquing... "Cash & Cari" Premiering in January on HGTV

Caroline Ashleigh is among the Who’s Who of top professional speakers and appraisers in the art and antiques business. Caroline Ashleigh, television’s celebrity appraiser and PBS and HG-TV personality, kicked off her 2010/11 appraisal and lecture tour at the Grand Rapids Rotary Antique Show this winter at the Delta Plex Arena and Conference Center. Appraisals and book signings were provided at this popular event. Ms. Ashleigh is among the Who’s Who of top professional speakers and appraisers in the art and antiques business. She is an internationally known expert who is a proven hit behind the podium and adept at interacting with audiences of all sizes. She knows what it’s worth, and shares that knowledge on her appraisal and lecture tour, by customizing her presentation to meet each audience’s specific needs. The Michigan native is the founder of Caroline Ashleigh Appraisers and...