“We start going through the house and there were rare little things and big things everywhere,” he said. “Finally, we are on the third floor near the attic, and we find a stack of paintings, and in it is this beautiful portrait of a young woman by Rembrandt.”
The painting depicts a teenage girl wearing a black dress and a white ruffled collar. It was auctioned as “after Rembrandt,” a designation indicating that the work resembled the style of the 17th-century Dutch master but had not been authenticated as his.
That distinction left the buyer with an expensive question. The portrait sold for $1.4 million including auction fees, suggesting someone was prepared to gamble that further research might connect it more firmly to Rembrandt.
A proven work by the artist would probably have commanded many times that amount. Without a documented ownership history, known as provenance, the painting remains a spectacular find accompanied by a very large asterisk.
The episode reflects the unpredictable nature of art auctions, where attribution, condition, fashion and competition among bidders can radically alter a final price. Conventional beauty is not compulsory either: a banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for more than $6 million.
The costly lessons hidden behind spectacular discoveries
Veilleux began collecting coins at eight and said he soon recognised that he had a strong visual memory. He received no formal training for the antiques trade, instead learning through decades of buying, selling and occasionally making expensive mistakes.
One of the earliest came when he spent most of the money he had on a miniature painting that appeared genuine. After returning home and examining it under a magnifying glass, he discovered that it was a print embellished with small dabs of paint.
“I paid $350 for a $35 object, which always taught me to look at things very carefully,” he said.
Other people’s mistakes can be more painful. Veilleux recalled being shown a gold coin worth about $50,000 that had been stored in a tool drawer. Before it could be auctioned, its owner tried to improve its appearance with a scouring pad, scratching the surface and destroying much of its value.
In the antiques market, cleaning can be less an act of care than an unscheduled demolition.
Condition is only one complication. During a visit to a cluttered home in South Freeport, Maine, in the late 1990s, Veilleux noticed a document resting on a pile of rubbish waiting to be moved to an already-full dumpster.
It was later confirmed as a 1776 copy of the Declaration of Independence. Veilleux auctioned it for $99,000, but the state of Maine sued for possession and won, leaving both the buyer and seller without the prize they had expected.
Why most family heirlooms do not become fortunes
The success stories are real. Three sisters from Ohio sold a rare dime for more than $500,000 in October, while a case of old hockey cards discovered in a Canadian home fetched more than $3.7 million two years earlier.
Those sales help sustain the fantasy that any neglected box might contain a retirement fund. The weekly appraisal sessions at Veilleux’s Thomaston Place Auction Galleries show the less cinematic reality.
Each Tuesday, people bring art, jewellery, furniture and collectors’ items to Veilleux’s office in Thomaston. He assesses them without charge, using his knowledge of comparable auction sales. If an owner decides to sell through his gallery, he receives a commission.
Erika Taylor arrived with two artworks collected by her father while he lived in China during the 1940s after escaping Nazi Germany. One showed a blooming peony; the other depicted a grasshopper.
Based on photographs, Veilleux had initially estimated that each could be worth as much as $30,000. A close inspection produced a different answer.
He determined that the pieces were prints, explaining that paint on an original work would have permeated the paper.
“It’s disappointing,” Taylor said. “But he has a lot of experience.”
Taylor was not entirely persuaded and said she might seek another opinion. That option matters in a field where expert judgement can shape whether an object is treated as a decorative copy or a serious work of art.
An aquamarine ring finally leaves its box
Jean Koenig received better news when she brought Veilleux a large aquamarine ring with an unusually personal history.
Koenig said her father had found the gem in a Brazilian mine. Her grandmother later turned it into a ring and added rubies and diamonds.
Veilleux estimated that the piece could sell for between $10,000 and $15,000. Koenig agreed to put it up for auction and plans to divide the proceeds among her seven siblings.
“It’s just been sitting in a box for years,” she said. “We decided it was time.”
That decision captures the quieter side of the appraisal business. Not every object is a lost masterpiece, and even valuable possessions may produce thousands rather than millions. Their worth can also lie in the family story attached to them, regardless of what bidders eventually offer.
Veilleux’s attic discoveries ensure that people will continue opening old trunks with optimism. His weekly appraisals provide the necessary counterweight: sometimes the forgotten object really is a treasure, and sometimes the treasure is a print with a persuasive family history.
