Continental Silver Pheasant Table Ornament, ca. 1900

Appraised on: June 7, 2008

Appraised in: Palm Springs, California

Appraised by: Sarah Shinn Pratt

Category: Silver

Episode Info: Palm Springs, Hour 3 (#1303)

Originally Aired: January 19, 2009

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (1:41)

GUEST: That particular item has traveled to probably five cities and been on fireplaces everywhere I've been. I got it for $500 35 years ago.

APPRAISER: Where?

GUEST: In Evanston, Illinois, at a house sale. I almost got divorced over it at the time, for 500 bucks for a silver bird, but I liked it and that's why I've kept it all this time.

APPRAISER: Okay, well, first of all, it's a magnificent centerpiece. It would be a wonderful thing on anybody's dinner table. When you look for marks, first by pulling off the head, you can see some continental marks, right here.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: And these are very typical pseudo marks, probably from Germany. They don't really help us date it, but the import marks into London, which we find right here...

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER:...indicate that it was imported into London in 1904.

GUEST: 1904.

APPRAISER: And it is sterling. So, otherwise they wouldn't allow it to be carrying the import marks into London, which had very strict sterling standards. So I've seen a lot of pheasant table ornaments...

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER:...in my day, but not anything this size. If this were at a well-advertised auction, it would probably bring about $4,000 to $5,000.

GUEST: All right.

APPRAISER: It's very unusual. The size and the quality of the workmanship is exceptional.

GUEST: Well, that... I'll tell you what, it was worth $500. It's a beautiful piece, isn't it?

APPRAISER: It's gorgeous.