WEBVTT 00:01.167 --> 00:05.505 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GUEST: Well, I am directly, uh, descended from 00:05.505 --> 00:10.443 align:left position:20% line:77% size:70% these two. They were my great-great-great- grandparents. They were painted in 1826. 00:10.443 --> 00:12.946 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: Did they descend in your family or...? 00:12.946 --> 00:14.080 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Well... 00:14.080 --> 00:15.782 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% APPRAISER: I mean, to you? 00:15.782 --> 00:18.818 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% GUEST: As you can imagine, there are a lot of branches to this tree. 00:18.818 --> 00:22.188 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: Right. GUEST: I got them about 20 years ago from a lady 00:22.188 --> 00:24.958 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% who was at the end of one of those branches, and had no descendants. 00:24.958 --> 00:26.092 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% APPRAISER: Okay. Okay. 00:26.092 --> 00:28.795 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GUEST: And she found out I was their direct, 00:28.795 --> 00:32.799 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% also their direct descendants, and so she gave them to us, as a gift, yeah. 00:32.799 --> 00:33.366 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: That's, that's very cool. 00:33.366 --> 00:34.734 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% GUEST: Yeah, it really is. 00:34.734 --> 00:35.969 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: And the name is Meb, Meb... 00:35.969 --> 00:39.773 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GUEST: Me, Mebane. Mebane. There's a town in North 00:39.773 --> 00:43.343 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Carolina by that name. Same family. I am fascinated by family history. 00:43.343 --> 00:45.545 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: Right. GUEST: And this helps a lot, so... 00:45.545 --> 00:47.547 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: And, and you've traced them back to their original ownership, right? 00:47.547 --> 00:49.315 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Right. 00:49.315 --> 00:51.584 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: In the town that your ancestors founded, which is in North Carolina. 00:51.584 --> 00:52.786 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Yeah... 00:52.786 --> 00:55.789 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: When these came up to the folk art table, my eyes got really big... 00:55.789 --> 00:57.257 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% GUEST: (chuckles) 00:57.257 --> 01:02.662 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: ...and I, my heart started pounding, and, because I love great folk art. They have 01:02.662 --> 01:07.600 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% this, this appeal to them, this... The great colors. Look at the faces staring straight at you. 01:07.600 --> 01:13.106 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% They're very direct. It's literally a record of their lives in 1826, David and Elizabeth Mebane. 01:13.106 --> 01:14.607 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Right. 01:14.607 --> 01:19.045 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: There are a group of portraits done in Guilford County, 01:19.045 --> 01:25.185 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% North Carolina. And this artist is called the, the Guilford County Limner. 01:25.185 --> 01:30.190 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% And a limner is an artist who moved around while he worked, he was... Most were itinerant artists. 01:30.190 --> 01:30.957 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Oh. Oh. 01:30.957 --> 01:33.059 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: And they traveled to different counties. 01:33.059 --> 01:35.995 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GUEST: So we, no one knows the name of the artist. 01:35.995 --> 01:40.100 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: The artist has not been identified yet. And some 01:40.100 --> 01:45.672 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% of the characteristics are the very large eyes with, literally, eyelashes. And I'll 01:45.672 --> 01:48.641 align:left position:40% line:71% size:50% say your great-great-great-grandfather looks like, rather like Paul McCartney... 01:48.641 --> 01:49.442 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% GUEST: (chuckles) 01:49.442 --> 01:51.144 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: ...even, even with the British haircut, right? 01:51.144 --> 01:52.278 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% GUEST: (laughs): Yeah, he does. 01:52.278 --> 01:56.249 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: The flowers in the background of both the male and female portraits. Also, 01:56.249 --> 01:58.818 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the architectural details that are very bright in the background. 01:58.818 --> 02:00.487 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GUEST: Hmm. APPRAISER: Those are all characteristics of 02:00.487 --> 02:04.557 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% the Guilford Limner. These are fabulous watercolors on paper. 02:04.557 --> 02:05.859 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Mm-hmm. 02:05.859 --> 02:11.264 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% APPRAISER: And they've kept their vivid color. The Guilford Limner was known for 02:11.264 --> 02:16.836 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these bright colors, this brilliant lime green, this really great red. Those colors 02:16.836 --> 02:21.040 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% are just like they were painted yesterday. Considering what a fragile medium it is, 02:21.040 --> 02:26.112 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% these works have survived extremely well. They're the essence of folk art. This 02:26.112 --> 02:30.750 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% limner only worked in Guilford County during the years of about 1826 to 1827. 02:30.750 --> 02:32.418 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% GUEST: Oh, oh. 02:32.418 --> 02:37.757 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% APPRAISER: I feel that a conservative estimate on this pair at auction would be $20,000 to $30,000. 02:37.757 --> 02:38.525 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GUEST: (gasps, chuckles) Whoa! (chuckles) 02:38.525 --> 02:45.431 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% APPRAISER: On a good day, they could get up near $40,000. 02:45.431 --> 02:52.572 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% GUEST: Whoa. So... (chuckles) I hope my family is listening. (both laughing) Well... I'll tell them. 02:52.572 --> 02:53.806 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% APPRAISER: (chuckles) I'm, I'm pretty sure you're going to keep 'em, though. You're gonna keep 'em. 02:53.806 --> 02:55.742 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% GUEST: Oh, absolutely, I treasure them. 02:55.742 --> 02:57.377 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% APPRAISER: You should insure them for $40,000. 02:57.377 --> 02:59.145 align:left position:30% line:83% size:60% GUEST: Wow. APPRAISER: At least. 02:59.145 --> 03:00.046 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% GUEST: (chuckling): Yeah, I'll be sure to do that.