Durand Art Glass Vase, ca. 1925

Appraised on: June 26, 2004

Appraised in: St. Paul, Minnesota

Appraised by: Louise Luther

Category: Glass

Episode Info: St. Paul, Hour 2 (#902)

Originally Aired: January 10, 2005

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (2:39)

GUEST: This was given to me by my husband's grandmother as a birthday present. It was something that I had always admired. She said that she had obtained it from her mother-in-law, and she thinks it's from around 1920, but we've not been able to do any research on it.

APPRAISER: I see. Well, it's a vase that was made in about the 1920s. As a matter of fact, the company that made it is from New Jersey, the Victor Durand Company, and they didn't come into business until 1924. And so it's a glass that is very similar to other American art glass that we've seen-- Tiffany, for example, and Quezal and Steuben. But this one has characteristics about it that are specific to the Durand Company. The color is wonderful and very unusual. They made this particular pattern in red and in amber and the cobalt blue was extremely popular.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: We especially notice the pulled feather design. This is a tricky business to get these pulled feathers all around the vase with the blue and white alternating colors.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: It's symmetrically perfect.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And then, after they finished the whole thing, they sent it to the engraving shop and did engravings on the glass, which cuts through the blue to the white glass underneath. In the light, I'm sure this vase sparkles.

GUEST: Yes, it really does.

APPRAISER: It's interesting that this particular kind of glass was made during the Art Deco period, but it has much more relationship to the earlier Art Nouveau designs. The base has a polished pontil across the bottom, but there's no signature--

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: --which is not unusual for Durand. Lot of the glass that they made was not signed, and as I always say, the signature is in the glass itself.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: We recognize it because Durand made this kind of glass and called it "Peacock Feather." So it's a very nice piece.

GUEST: Oh, I love it. It's beautiful.

APPRAISER: I think if this glass came on the market in an auction situation, we'd have it estimated about $3,500 to $5,000.

GUEST: Wow! That is wonderful. That's exciting, but it's going to stay in the dining room.