At first glance, Stephen Padlo seems just like any other regular little boy. What people don’t realize, however, is that the Upper Pittsgrove, NJ boy has a hidden and unique talent.
This boy has got the eye of a very successful art dealer.
There’s no question he’s one of the youngest arts and antique collectors we’ve ever seen, but he doesn’t let that hold him back a bit.
He’s so good at it, in fact, that known appraiser David Weiss told him he’s got a sure future in it when they met on an episode of the Antiques Roadshow.
If you’re familiar with the show, you know it’s not really a show geared for kids. However, young Stephen seemed to be born with a different spirit and set of likes.
Stephen showed his picking skills at just 11-years-old.
Despite the age gap, Weiss still treated the young boy with the utmost respect, just like what he would normally do to an adult client. Stephen was equally cordial to the expert in front of him.
Before going straight to the piece the young boy brought, the two had a friendly conversation first.
“You must be the youngest collector I’ve seen,” Weiss says at one point.
To which the preteen replies,
“I must be.”
Weiss asked:
“You like buying and selling things?”
Stephen gave him a very confident answer:
“Big time.”
The young fella is definitely a collector in the making, wouldn’t you agree. He also told Weiss he’s fond of collecting glass, sterling silver, and art pieces.
A piece of art or a piece of crap?
Stephen told Weiss a short story about how he ended up taking home the piece that he brought at the auction.
“This piece was found at an auction down in South Jersey,” he explained. “It was so hot there my dad didn’t want to stay to get it, but I wanted to so we waited an hour or so and I got it for two bucks.”
This pre-teen’s way of thinking is definitely beyond his young age. What’s even more astonishing is his desire in collecting art pieces, particularly vintages just like this one.
Weiss told his young client that the piece that he brought was likely done in the late 19th century.
As the painting shows, it looks like pretty much a mother and a child sitting. The mother looks like she’s sewing or knitting something while cooking. Her daughter, on the other hand, is holding a toy and is patiently waiting for her.
It’s pretty much a household scene if I may say.
Then the boy pointed out the signature at the bottom.
Who knows? The signature might lead to the art’s origins or creator and Stephen was so eager to know. He told Weiss he can only read the first name which was “Albert”.
The appraiser revealed that the last name reads as “Neuhuys”.
Albert Neuhuys (1844-1914) was a Dutch painter, and this was one of his watercolors.
During his time, Albert Neuhuys painted interior scenes with peasants as his main art subjects. He’d often sketch families portraying the lives of local farmers and weavers.
The expert appraisal even commended the young boy from New Jersey and told him he might have a career as an art collector.
“I think you’ve got a great career going as an art dealer. You ought to keep at it.”
Time to reveal its real worth.
Albert Neuhuys made copies of his watercolor paintings, thus resulting in very few of them being “one of a kind”.
Stephen also did his homework on the piece. Whatever he discovered in his research convinced him it’s still worth something.
Steven estimated it’s possible worth at around $150.
But Weiss told him it’s worth more than that amount. Unbelievably more, in fact.
When Steven heard the amount you could see the disbelief written all over his face, and it was pretty hard for us to believe, too.
We’re not one for spoilers, though.
Find out just how off Steven was in his estimation in the short video below!
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