Will Seippel | May 8, 2025

The best part of rooting through estate sales, antique markets, and anywhere else vintage treasures can be had is the hope every fan and collector has on every picking trip: What will I find? Some days, it’s a lot of slogging through boxes and dusty attics, but now and then, a true treasure comes along.

A recent auction handled by CTBids, a valued WorthPoint Industry Partner, featured a painting by one of my favorite artists, Henry Farny. Born in France, he moved to Ohio with his parents in 1853. The Native Americans of the time fascinated him, and he was drawn to creating artwork featuring their lives. Typically, original oil paintings of his work sell for much more, so some collector got a great deal on this important piece of American art for a little over $8,000.

The piece was an early work from 1837, when Farny was just twenty. The signature was initially hidden in the canvas’s matting. The auction lot did not disclose the size of the painting, so the fact that it may have been a smaller work and in a different style than his later work might account for the price.

In 2018, another Farny painting caught the eye of the appraisers on an episode of Antiques Roadshow. A woman inherited the painting from her grandmother, and previous appraisals put it at $200-$250, thinking it was a print. To her surprise, the owner learned it was an oil on canvas original, the value of which AR put at between $200,000 and $300,000 at auction.

CTBids is an auction house that also helps families organize their homes and belongings in preparation for a move or after a family member has passed away so they know how meaningful many of their items are. They also have the expertise to inform potential buyers about the history, worth, and importance of their auction items. 

All this goes to show, you never know what you will find in a CTBids online auction. Happy hunting!