#Power #Pictures #Provenance #WorthPoint
Determining the most reliable way to authenticate an antique is an extremely important question for collectors and resellers alike. How can you be certain that the pieces you buy and sell are what they appear to be? Or, how can you figure out if an innocuous knickknack at the thrift store is actually worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars? This is why provenance is prime when hunting for antique and vintage treasures.
In the world of authentication, signatures and autographs have always felt like particularly daunting challenges. I can’t think of anyone who has a truly legible signature. How’s a shopper to know if a black scrawl on an old guitar is actually the autograph of a rock ’n’ roll legend or if it’s just an imitation scribble?
If you’re lucky enough to be thrifting with antiques expert Kathleen Guzman, she’ll tell you that photographs are a great way to solve your authentication problems. That’s exactly what one smart collector did when asking the members of the band Bon Jovi to autograph a guitar. Not only did this superfan snap photos of the autographing process, but they also preserved their photos in a frame for display. This lucky encounter with the band produced not just one but two exciting collectibles! To learn more about these cool photographs, watch the full video with Kathleen.
Of course, the shopping trip wasn’t completely perfect. The bad news? When we went thrifting with Kathleen, we could only find the photos of the autograph session—not the guitar itself. But, this framed treasure is still a huge deal for the happy thrifter who eventually discovers the guitar someday. Until then, we’re excited about these candid, behind-the-scenes snapshots of Bon Jovi. And when one lucky rock ’n’ roll thrifter finds the signed guitar, we’ll be here with the provenance to show just how amazing the find really is.
Check out our WorthPoint® YouTube channel for more videos on buying and selling antiques and collectibles.
In addition to her role as HIP’s curator of photography, Allison Radomski is a writer and filmmaker. She spends her days hunting for analog cameras, scoring her own movies in her laundry closet, and building her collections of Polaroids and handkerchiefs. She has degrees in cinema & media studies and religious studies from the University of Chicago.
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