Appraisal Video:
Appraised By:
David Lackey
Pottery & Porcelain
Owner
David Lackey Antiques & Art
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: This came down from my grandmother's side of the family. I've tried to do some research to try to figure out which side of my grandmother's family it came from.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: But without a whole lot of success. My parents had it appraised in the '70s, and they appraised it as Royal Worcester and for, like, I think either $700 or $1,000. I can't really remember. But recently I had a couple pieces restored by a professional restorer and they told me it wasn't English, because it's not marked, that more likely it was early French before the French started marking their porcelain. They said this is the Chinese tobacco leaf, but they didn't think it was actually Chinese because the way the decorations were done.
APPRAISER: Well, first I looked at it and I thought "Chinese export porcelain,"
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: because it does look very similar to several variations of patterns called tobacco leaf that were made on 18th-century Chinese export porcelain. However, the colors are not quite right. So this was an interpretation by Europeans. You've heard several things, but actually this set is absolutely English.
GUEST: Oh, really?
APPRAISER: There are several ways I could tell that, but primarily, because it is soft-paste porcelain. If it had been French, it would have been hard-paste porcelain. I am fairly certain that it was made by Coalport. It dates about 1800 to 1825. And the reasons that I think that it's Coalport partially is the shapes. And if you notice, the plates have slight notches in them.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: That's typical of Coalport from that time period. Now, a lot of the other major manufacturers, by the early 19th century, were marking their wares, but Coalport was not. There is a slight chance it would be made by another English manufacturer, but most experts would attribute it to Coalport. It's possible that it was custom made. I've never seen this pattern. It is a dessert set and a dessert set was arranged around serving not only sweets, like baked goods, but also lots of fruits. This piece here is called a fruit cooler. And if we take the lid off, you've got a piece missing. There is supposed to be a liner that fits in here. So you would put a layer of ice, then the liner would fit in, and then you would put fruit or whatever food that you wanted to keep cold. The lid would be placed back on it and then the lid is shaped like this, it's very deep, so you could put ice on top of it. !
GUEST: Oh, okay. So it was to keep something cold.
APPRAISER: This piece is a sauce tureen or sometimes people would call it a gravy, but it wouldn't be a meat gravy. It would probably be used for a sweet sauce. Then you've got three shapes of dessert dishes. You've got this oval dish, you've got a pair of these shell-shaped dishes, and you actually have three of these square dishes. And then, finally, you have the dessert serving plates. The set originally would have included a pair of these. You've got one missing.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: A pair of these-- one is missing. Up to four of the serving dishes and then you've got a total, I believe, of 15.
GUEST: Fifteen.
APPRAISER: Yes. of the individual plates, and it might have had 18, it might have had 24, it could have had more of the individual plates. Okay. The value on this is not so much the age as the decoration. This is considered spectacular decoration and therefore is quite valuable. The fruit cooler is a piece that you've had restored. The handle has been replaced.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: And it's good to have a restoration done if it's broken. In this condition, it would probably be between $3,000 and $5,000.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: If it were in perfect condition, perhaps $10,000 or so. Oh. The sauce tureen with the stand would probably sell for somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000. Oh. The three different shapes of dessert dishes-- the oval, the shell, and the square-- would sell for around $1,000 to $1,500 each.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: And the individual dessert plates, $500 to $800.
GUEST: Oh, my God.
APPRAISER: So if we add together this set, a retail value, or an insurance value, would be between $20,000 and $30,000.
GUEST: Oh, my. My mom's going to see this and she's going to ask for it back probably.
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