# Frederick Ferdinand Schafer artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/frederick-ferdinand-schafer/
Profile generated: 2026-08-24T19:40:29.599Z
Quality: medium confidence, adequate sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: German-American
- Movements: San Francisco School, Rocky Mountain School
- Common media: Painting

## About Frederick Ferdinand Schafer

Frederick Ferdinand Schafer (1839–1927) was a German-born American painter associated principally with landscape painting. Born in Braunschweig, he emigrated to the United States in 1876, established a studio on Montgomery Street in San Francisco, and later lived in Oakland. His career reportedly encompassed more than 500 paintings. A German-language biography associates him with the San Francisco School and Rocky Mountain School, although stronger institutional documentation is needed before treating those labels as definitive. Collectors encounter Schafer through Western landscape paintings and a substantial public-auction history. Reported public holdings include the British Columbia Archives, Birmingham Museum of Art, Fairfield University Art Museum, and Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture. His name also appears in records as Friedrich Ferdinand Schäfer, while Appraisily’s matched auction data includes the spelling Frederick Ferdinand Schaeffer. Those variants, together with reported signatures such as “FSchafer” and “F. Schafer,” are useful when reviewing possible works.

## Common works and media

Available biographical sources identify Schafer as a landscape painter, and Appraisily’s auction index places his work primarily within fine art and paintings. Reported signature forms include “FSchafer” and “F. Schafer.” The collected evidence does not establish prints, sculpture, ceramics, or editions as characteristic parts of his production, so objects in those categories require especially careful attribution research. For any painting, compare the specific medium, support, size, subject, date, condition, provenance, inscriptions, and signature with documented examples and relevant auction records.

## Market and appraisal context

Schafer’s public auction history is concentrated in fine art and paintings. Appraisal should begin with genuinely comparable works sharing the same medium, dimensions, subject, date, condition, and attribution strength. Surface quality, restoration, provenance, exhibition history, inscriptions, and the form and placement of a signature may also affect how a work compares with prior sales. Appraisily’s collected market excerpt reports an observed auction range of $200 to $39,000 across priced records from 1996 through 2025, but those endpoints should not be interpreted as a forecast for an individual object. Public results may omit private transactions, and reported prices may not treat buyer’s premiums consistently. The source excerpt also contains conflicting lot totals, so the underlying record count needs reconciliation.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist-identity research with matched public auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. Private sales, incomplete feeds, and later attribution changes may not be represented.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18571692
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Ferdinand_Schafer
- Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Ferdinand_Sch%C3%A4fer
- Appraisily: https://appraisily.com/artist/frederick-ferdinand-schafer/