APPRAISER: It's a wonderful, um, engraving by Albrecht ürer.

Um, is there any history behind the, the acquisition of the print?

GUEST: Yes-- my grandfather was a physician in New York City in, like, 1910, 1920.

And he bought it from a small shop.

I don't quite remember where it was, but a small shop somewhere in New York.

APPRAISER: Right.

Well, it's come quite a long way from where it was made.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: It was made in, in Nuremberg.

It's one of ürer's largest engravings.

And ürer, as you probably know, was the great engraver, um, of the German Renaissance.

He was the great painter of the German Renaissance, as well.

GUEST: Hm!

APPRAISER: Um, and this is called "The Great Fortune."

It's a large figure representing Fortune.

She's standing on a sphere that constantly rotates in space... GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: ...uh, symbolizing the rise and fall of man's fortunes.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: Um, she's bearing certain symbolic objects.

This wonderful Nuremberg or, or perhaps Augsburg cup, um... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: A saddle.

She has this great sweep of tr, of tr, of drapery coming out behind her, and these fantastically detailed wings.

What one has to understand about engraving is that ürer was working directly with an engraving tool onto a piece of copper to make this.

One mistake, you're in a lot of trouble.

In the, the wings, I think you can see the, the, the detailing and the way in which this is printing so very beautifully.

Um, this indicates really that it's a very early impression, probably printed by ürer and possibly sold by Mrs.

ürer... GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: ...who is the, uh, the retail agent.

GUEST: Oh!

APPRAISER: His wife would go to fairs around Germany... GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...and, and sell the prints to the general public.

Um, when we open the mat, we can see, uh, that we don't quite have the whole sheet on view.

Another way of indicating that you have an early impression is here, where, at the edges of the sheet, there, there is ink.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: It indicates that the plate was still quite rough... GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...um, when the, when the print was made.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Um, and there, there are little bits of ink being held in the odd bits of copper that are hanging around the edge.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Do you have any idea on how much you think this, this print might be worth?

GUEST: I have no idea.

Absolutely no idea.

I just don't know that much about art history.

APPRAISER: Right.

GUEST: I'm really glad we have this in our family.

(chuckles) But I have no idea.

APPRAISER: Well, the, the valuation of, of Old Master prints is always a slightly, um, sticky point.

Um, it depends very much on the earliness of impression.

With an impression such as this, I would have thought that we are talking perhaps $30,000 to $50,000.

GUEST: Oh, my God!

It was just hanging there in the hallway.

We'd just walk by it!

APPRAISER: Well, it's a very beautiful thing.