Loetz Decorated Vase, ca. 1900

Appraised on: July 28, 2007

Appraised in: Louisville, Kentucky

Appraised by: Reyne Haines

Category: Glass

Episode Info: Louisville, Hour 3 (#1215)

Originally Aired: May 5, 2008

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (2:05)

GUEST: Well, I bought it probably a year, a year and a half ago at a yard sale there in Corydon for a dollar.

APPRAISER: A dollar?

GUEST: Yeah. That's the reason I get up early and go out early, so that I can get good buys like this.

APPRAISER: What do you consider early?

GUEST: Oh, I usually leave home about 6:30 or quarter till 7:00.

APPRAISER: That explains why I don't get anything for a dollar. What was it that attracted you to this piece?

GUEST: Well, I love the iridescent look to it, and the color of it. It's just a beautiful piece. Uh, the only thing that I... really don't like about it, is the pinch at the bottom. I think it's a little too deep or just a little bit off some way. It doesn't seem to, to be proportioned exactly right, but...

APPRAISER: I agree with you. I think the iridescence is fabulous and I love the decoration. But what got me excited about it was the thing that you didn't seem to like: this, this kind of twisting and pinched decoration that's down at the bottom. You really don't see that very much. But it was one of the things that immediately told me who the maker was. The first place you would have looked would have been on the bottom. And yours has absolutely nothing.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: I knew looking at this piece, because of the shape and the decoration that this is a piece that was made in the art nouveau movement. You can tell that by the iridescence. It's very indicative of what they were doing at that time-- the 1890s, 1900, early 19-teens, before the art deco movement. This lovely decoration, again, is what told me that this is a piece that's made by Loetz. Loetz was a company that was making wonderful art nouveau glass during the same time period as Louis Comfort Tiffany or Frederick Carter of Steuben, that we know here in America. The Loetz market right now is a little bit soft. So right now, if this piece was to come up at auction it would probably be estimated at $1,800
to $2,000. So, I would have to say… for one dollar, is that right?

GUEST: One dollar.

APPRAISER: You did pretty good. You've got a good eye--

GUEST: Yeah,

APPRAISER: --for an ugly shape and all.

GUEST: I think so. Holds a dozen roses real nicely.

APPRAISER: A dozen roses?

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: That's okay, as long as you don't let the water sit in it for too long.