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Vermont native Thomas Waterman Wood (1823-1903) began his career painting portraits. He did this portrait of little Sallie Anderson in Hackensack, N.J., in 1854. Skinner sold the 17- by 14-inch oil on canvas for $1,600 in 2006. Image courtesy Skinner Inc.

Thomas W. Wood painting could be worth $1.5M

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf

Vermont native Thomas Waterman Wood (1823-1903) began his career painting portraits. He did this portrait of little Sallie Anderson in Hackensack, N.J., in 1854. Skinner sold the 17- by 14-inch oil on canvas for $1,600 in 2006. Image courtesy Skinner Inc.
Vermont native Thomas Waterman Wood (1823-1903) began his career painting portraits. He did this portrait of little Sallie Anderson in Hackensack, N.J., in 1854. Skinner sold the 17- by 14-inch oil on canvas for $1,600 in 2006. Image courtesy Skinner Inc.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Experts say a 19th century painting that once hung on a wall in a committee room of the Vermont Statehouse could be worth $1.5 million.

The painting called The Quack Doctor shows a traveling patent medicine salesman stopped with his wagon on Montpelier’s State Street. Only a line of ducks beneath the wagon and the child who notices them seem to be in on what he is up to.

The painting was done by Montpelier painter Thomas Waterman Wood. It is owned by the T.W. Wood Gallery, which loaned it to the statehouse.

The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus says the work had been hung in a committee room, but it now in the legislative lounge, where it is believed to be less likely to be damaged accidentally.

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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/

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AP-ES-03-05-10 1123EST