Stuarts Washington

I have this painting left behind in the basement of a house I lived in. It's a painting of George Washington, and it looks almost like it's not quite finished. It's very old. It's by an artist named Stuart and the title is simply Washington. It has a label that says it is US Print No. 670. After some research, I've found the an artist named Gilbert Stuart is famous for many paintings, especially of Washington, and that his work is featured in many museums. This resembles his work perfectly.

The question I have is... How does one go about selling something like this? Do you get it appraised at an antique store or something? Or do you bring it to a museum or something? I know very little about this sort of thing, and would hate my naievity to be taken advantage of. I figure you guys are into this stuff and can set me straight.

Any advice?

You didn't recognize this print, when you saw it? I thought one of these hung in every elementary schoolroom in the USA.

You truly have 'one in a million' (or one out of millions) of this print. They are so pervasive, that there would be little interest by a museum. You could consign it to an antique shop, but you really don't need to worry about getting 'ripped off' on this one - unless the frame is of special importance or there is some sort of provenance (history) of this particular print.

For what it's worth....I happened to see one of these appraised recently it was in very nice shape with no darkening, foxing, ect....the print itself appraised at $100, the frame it was in was worth considerably more. Like Kris said this is an extremely common print.

IMO that apprasial was on the high side...I could pick up this print any day of the week for well under that $100 figure.

JV