$1200 cigar box "mandolin"?

[delsbrother]

Really?

[Jim Garber]

I suppose some folklore collector would be interested in it, tho I also highly doubt that someone would pay $1200 for it. Man, you could get something that actually plays for that kind of money. Of course, I think it would be worth much more to a collector if it had some documentation, like it was made in prison by a guy on death row or was found in a barn in West Virginia. Antiques Road Show is a little odd sometimes and I think gives people some warped views of what things are worth. Then again, it is just their opinion. I will wait to see when this guy puts it on eBay for $1200 minimum and then we can either laugh that it doesn't sell or else be amazed when it does.

[Bill Snyder]

I saw that episode this past Monday. First one I had watched in a couple of years. I thought the appraiser was ...mistaken.
I think old cigar box instruments are too common and this one too poor an example for it to have a value of anywhere near that.
Of course I am not an appraiser or dealer of such things so what do I know.

[michaelpthompson]

Does seem oddly overvalued, even to me, a newby. I've seen cigar box mandos on eBay, and this one isn't nearly as nice. The fretboard and nut are missing, there was no discussion at all of its provenance. It's only value seems to be as an example of that particular style of folk art, and not a particularly nice example either. I've seen a nicer one in my local music store, though I didn't notice what price they'd put on it.

[jim simpson]

I got excited when I saw this thread. I thought my wife might have taken my cigar box mandolin for appraisal - I guess she didn't.
Now this beauty was made in West Virginia - by me. Still working on it, I might have set the neck angle a bit too high. Folk art should be functional.

[billkilpatrick]

if it does go for big bucks it'll offer a whole new incentive for "stressed."

jim - why no sound holes? i've always been interested in the cigarbox mystique and yours is a beaut'.

[Tim2723]

It's important to remember that The Antiques Road Show and similar programs aren't really about antiquities and their value, they're about the lore of buried treasure. Getting something for nothing, finding the jewel in the ashes, all that. I've seen ridiculous prices attached to a lot of items on those programs. Take note that the appraiser never offers to buy the item.

[Jim Garber]

That is why I enjoy Pawn Stars or American Pickers. Those guys actually buy things and sell them. Check out: NY Times article.

[allenhopkins]

Remember, the mandolin was being evaluated as folk art, not as a musical instrument. No one was suggesting that it would ever be played. Whole different standard for folk art: you see paintings that look like amateurish caricatures, crudely made carvings, weird dioramas made by prisoners, all kinds of inferior-to-commercial-quality stuff being appraised for high prices. I defer to the appraiser's knowledge of the folk art market. Sometimes I wonder why the mere fact that a fairly-unskilled person spent many hours crafting a crude approximation of a mandolin, confers special value on it. But I'm not a collector, or "into" folk art, so I can just say, "I think the original $50 was too much for it."

[delsbrother]

Well, that's why I found it interesting.. The appraiser was very careful to say it actually was at one time a playable instrument (talking about the nut, the fingerboard, the bridge, etc.). I think it's pretty clear this thing was never used to make music.

[F-2 Dave]

It's doubtful that it was ever even a good cigar box.

[Tom Mylet]

Ken Farmer, the appraiser played guitar in a bluegrass band around Southwest VA in the late 70's/early 80's. If I'm not mistaken the band included Rickie and Ronnie Simpkins and maybe even Sammy Shelor. He also had a day job and an antique store that later became his full time job.

As someone already pointed out, the "mandolin" was appraised as an example of folk art, not necessarily a usable instrument.

That being said, a few years ago I saw Ken on the Roadshow way over value a tenor banjo with a mother of toilet seat fingerboard and headstock overlay.

[Charley wild]

It behooves those appraisers to quote high prices. There in the business! I, like other posters, have seen some just unbelievable prices put on items that I know because I used to deal in them and still keep an eye on the market.

[Tim2723]

Allen and the others are correct to point out that it's folk art, but guys, LOOK at it. Musical instrument or not, that's the ugliest hunk of whittling I've seen in a long time. Come on. And it's worth more because somebody spattered paint on it? I don't know art, but I know when my chain is being pulled.

[michaelpthompson]

Even as folk art, it's hard to see how it's worth $1200. There did not appear to be any mention of who the artist was, where it was made, or anything that would give an indication of what kind of art it was considered to be. I guess if you just liked the looks of it, you might pay dearly for it, but otherwise, it's not even a good example of folk art IMO. Now if you could prove it was made by Andy Warhol or something...

[jim simpson]

if it does go for big bucks it'll offer a whole new incentive for "stressed."

jim - why no sound holes? i've always been interested in the cigarbox mystique and yours is a beaut'.

I wasn't sure what to do for sound holes. I made a cigar box uke a while back that also did not have sound holes. The buyer said he was going to cut in his own. I'd like to make a fiddle cigar box once I find a trashed fiddle with a good neck.

[Bill Snyder]

If all you want is the neck you purchase them from International Violin. Prices start at $40. There are also scores of them for sale on ebay.

[Chief]

I see where Elderly has new cigar box mandolins with a pickup for under $200.