Fake Weller Vase, ca. 1940
Appraised Value:
$100 - $150
IMAGE: 1 of 1
Appraisal Video: (2:56)
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: I got this three or maybe four years ago. I was at an estate sale. And I was outside rooting around through their garage or barn and I found it on a shelf. Dusted it off, took that into the house with a bunch of other things, and they told me 300 bucks for the whole lot that I had and I thought that was okay. And that's how I got it. And, uh, before my wife put flowers in it, I wanted to bring it in here and see what... what it was. That's about all I know about it other than the stamp on the bottom of it.
APPRAISER: Okay. This is not what it appears to be.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It has a Weller mark underneath it. It is not a piece of Weller.
GUEST: Aha!
APPRAISER: So, it's very nice to let people out there know what is what and what is not what.
GUEST: Yep. Okay.
APPRAISER: Now, a piece of Weller, which this is pretending to be, would have been done with these frogs like this in the '30s. That Weller line with the frogs is referred to as coppertone. Coppertone comes from the fact that it's made to look like a piece of copper with verdigris patina on it. This, I believe, is a European piece. And they're both molded, but you can really see the mold lines on this one, which I don't believe Weller would have done.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: They were tidier than that. These frogs look different and the entire glaze of a Weller coppertone would have been matte. Not glossy like this.
GUEST: Not, okay.
APPRAISER: Not crazed like this-- this is a crackled glaze.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: So very different. Let's look at the mark. You have the mark of the actual maker of the piece. There's two of them. One is stamped right over here. And above that, you have an etched mark which may be the same as what is stamped below. And I'm not familiar with these marks at all. It looks Mediterranean to me. Somebody has placed this Weller paper label. And it says "Weller Forest Ware." The Forest Weller Ware is also from the '30s. It's very rustic-looking. You have critters climbing up pieces of wood like squirrels and such. So, this has nothing to do with this piece at all. But it was there to mislead someone into thinking that they were buying a piece of Weller. If this were Weller coppertone, it would probably be worth around $1,000 retail. As a sweet, decorative Mediterranean piece, the value of this retail, because it has frogs, which are very charming,
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: may be $100 to $150. I think it will look better with some flowers in it and some plants. So I think your wife is totally justified in putting nice flowers in it.
GUEST: Yes.
