1918 Sally Coyne Rookwood Plaque

Appraised on: June 25, 2005

Appraised in: Tampa, Florida

Appraised by: Suzanne Perrault

Category: Pottery & Porcelain

Episode Info: Tampa, Hour 1 (#1001)

Originally Aired: January 9, 2006

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (3:09)

GUEST: I know nothing about it. I found it in a shed. It was covered with filth. I just kind of cleaned it up a little bit and it's been hanging in my bedroom. And when we got tickets for the show, I was trying to think of what to bring and I thought, "I'll take that plaque and see if I can find out anything about it."

APPRAISER: This was made by the Rookwood pottery--

GUEST: Oh, I know Rookwood.

APPRAISER: --of Cincinnati.

GUEST: I mean, I've heard of it.

APPRAISER: And they worked in many different types of glazes and lines. And this is called a "scenic vellum plaque." It has a snowy dusk landscape, which is very desirable. The artist has signed right here. Her name was Sally Coyne. And Sally Coyne was with them from the 1890s all the way until 1936, a few years before she died. And she made some of these gorgeous snow scenes like that. Now, this is mounted in its original Arts and Crafts frame. That is the Rookwood Pottery mark-- R.P. And when it's filled with these little flames, the dates after 1900 are added in Roman numeral, so this is 1918. This is the original size of the plaque and the original price of two dollars.

GUEST: Wow!

APPRAISER: Now, you said you've cleaned some of it. Did you remove the piece?

GUEST: No, no.

APPRAISER: You can pop these little nails out and soak it in very warm water and a little bit of detergent. Soak it overnight. And that'll get into some of the crazing over here, and that should lighten all of that. You scrub it with a little plastic scrubby, you rinse it well, and it should really pop because it has a bit of a film on it. And you can also touch up this original frame. Some people are not happy with an old frame and they prefer to remove that and replace it. Should you want a glitzier frame or something else, make sure you hold onto this, because there's definitely value in the original frame.

GUEST: I like the old frame.

APPRAISER: I do, too. This glaze is very matte which was arrived at by putting an overglaze of lots of little bubbles. So it's not glossy; it's matte, because of the bubbles that refract the light. And so it gives it this real nice, soft, almost impressionistic feeling to it.

GUEST: That's what I liked about it. It's just kind of muted colors, and so soft.

APPRAISER: Would you like to know what it's worth?

GUEST: Yes. (both laugh) Two dollars.

APPRAISER: $4,000 to $5,000.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh, you're kidding! (whimpers) (voice cracks) That's amazing! (laughs) Wow, that's really something. Two dollars it sold for, huh? Wow! (voice cracks) I can't believe that!

APPRAISER: Oh!

GUEST: (sniffles) That's great.