News 
What's New
01/26/2010 19:05
What's New
| David C. Eldridge MRICS, ASA, AAA President Eldridge Appraisals Inc. Number of years experience: 37  Q. What is your current job role and what does this involve?Appraising antiques fine arts, silver, porcelains and other objects of vertu for estate, insurance or dissolution of marriage purposes. Q. Why did you opt to pursue a career in this industry? When asked about my profession I invariably need to point out that I am not ‘that kind’ of appraiser as my field is fine arts and antiques. Growing up in the 1950s my appreciation of history and the arts was fostered by my parents. My father was a professor and my mother a school teacher and in this academic environment I was surrounded by various professors, early-to-mid-century antiques and my mother with her DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) friends all bringing history to life. The precise moment when I realized my future was about the age of eight, when a docent at the Ninian Edwards home in Illinois, where I used to take my violin lessons, explained to me that I was sitting in the same room where Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd. I was hooked. While in high school I worked first as a volunteer and then as a paid preparator at the Illinois State Museum with the encouragement of my Boy Scout leader, who also happened to be the director of the State Museum. This work continued through college and graduate school where I worked in various university museums. Naturally my first paying job after graduate school was not at a university as planned but a museum. I enjoyed the work immensely over the years until I became an executive director and in 1982 I transitioned into the private sector. I selected Naples, Florida, for the weather and the close proximity to an international airport and formed Eldridge Appraisals Inc. (www.eldridgeappraisals.com) specializing in appraisals for insurance, estate and dissolution of marriage purposes. Because of my academic background I firmly believe in the necessity of professional testing and certifying associations to define one's skills and have been a member of the Appraisers Association of America (AAA) since 1983 appraising American and European paintings, prints, sculpture, antiques, silver, porcelain and other objects of vertu and a Senior member of the American Society of Appraisers (ASA) since 1985 where I hold a triple certification in Antiques & Decorative Arts, Fine Arts and Personal Property/Residential Contents. I also have served as an ASA Southwest Florida charter member, chapter president and as a member of the ASA Personal Property Committee. Q. What has been a career or project highlight? Over the years I have discovered numerous historical or monetary treasures and with my museum background, preservation is of paramount importance to me and often I have assisted families with donations to the appropriate institutions. On one occasion while reviewing the contents of a Florida estate I found blueprints, scale models and letters from Warren E. Hill who supervised the construction of the ironclad USS Monitor for the Continental Ironworks in Brooklyn N.Y. In 1862 the epic battle between the Monitor and the Merrimack in the Hampton Roads went down in naval history. The revolving turret of the Monitor proved very effective and as both ships were considered impregnable, the captain of the Monitor directed his fire at the rudder and propeller thus crippling the Merrimack. The battle was considered a stalemate; however it did result in the opening of the shipping lanes for the Union. The existence of these unique artifacts and historical documents was previously unknown and they are now in the collection of Mariners Museum in Newport News, Virginia. |