 |
| Harmon Killebrew in 1962 (source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmon_Killebrew) |
On the other hand, I'm guessing not many baseball fans have heard of Killebrew's wife of 30 years, the late Elaine Killebrew. Jules and I hadn't, either, until we bought a piece of her art from a Philomath thrift store.
The artwork, a sort of shadowbox painting of an old barn in the snow, appealed to us because it reminded us of barns we'd seen around our rural neighborhood. We also liked the technique, which gives the appearance of depth as it was rendered on three successive panes of glass, and the frame, which was fashioned from old barn wood. At just $10, it seemed like a low-risk, high-reward investment.
The artwork, a sort of shadowbox painting of an old barn in the snow, appealed to us because it reminded us of barns we'd seen around our rural neighborhood. We also liked the technique, which gives the appearance of depth as it was rendered on three successive panes of glass, and the frame, which was fashioned from old barn wood. At just $10, it seemed like a low-risk, high-reward investment.
 |
| Our piece of art by Elaine Killebrew (1977) |
It wasn't until we got the piece home that we noticed that it was signed and dated. And it wasn't until a few days later that we realized that the name Killebrew was...familiar. How did we know that name?
A quick Google search gave us our answer: Elaine was the ex-wife of baseball great Harmon Killebrew. But just to be sure this was the same Elaine, we decided to do some more checking. Jules found one of the adult Killebrew children on Facebook, and I found another one on Twitter. Both confirmed that the piece was, indeed, their mother's. But just to be absolutely sure, we did some more checking online, and found a digital copy of a check written in 1981 from Harmon to Elaine and endorsed on the back by Elaine. The signature on the painting appears first below, followed by the check. Jules and I are no handwriting experts, but these signatures sure look like a match to us.
Wanting to know whether the artwork had any monetary value beyond the $10 we paid for it, Jules emailed all the information we had about it, plus the images seen here, to Antiques Roadshow sports appraiser Leila Dunbar. Dunbar replied that, because she deals primarily with sports memorabilia associated directly with the athletes themselves, not their spouses, she would feel uncomfortable offering us an appraisal.
We're fine with our little treasure having only intrinsic value to us. However, we're still interested in finding out, if possible, whose barn is depicted in the piece, and where it's located. Any guesses?
A quick Google search gave us our answer: Elaine was the ex-wife of baseball great Harmon Killebrew. But just to be sure this was the same Elaine, we decided to do some more checking. Jules found one of the adult Killebrew children on Facebook, and I found another one on Twitter. Both confirmed that the piece was, indeed, their mother's. But just to be absolutely sure, we did some more checking online, and found a digital copy of a check written in 1981 from Harmon to Elaine and endorsed on the back by Elaine. The signature on the painting appears first below, followed by the check. Jules and I are no handwriting experts, but these signatures sure look like a match to us.
Wanting to know whether the artwork had any monetary value beyond the $10 we paid for it, Jules emailed all the information we had about it, plus the images seen here, to Antiques Roadshow sports appraiser Leila Dunbar. Dunbar replied that, because she deals primarily with sports memorabilia associated directly with the athletes themselves, not their spouses, she would feel uncomfortable offering us an appraisal.
We're fine with our little treasure having only intrinsic value to us. However, we're still interested in finding out, if possible, whose barn is depicted in the piece, and where it's located. Any guesses?
No comments:
Post a Comment