Royal Flemish Ewer, ca. 1895

Appraised on: June 28, 2008

Appraised in: Dallas, Texas

Appraised by: David McCarron

Category: Glass

Episode Info: Dallas, Hour 3 (#1306)

Originally Aired: February 9, 2009

IMAGE: 1 of 2  

Appraisal Video: (1:30)

GUEST: It is a pitcher that my great-grandfather purchased at an estate sale. We think it came from Persia around 1913.

APPRAISER: Okay, and how long ago did he purchase it?

GUEST: Probably in the '40s sometime.

APPRAISER: '40s? Do you know what he paid for it at that time?

GUEST: No, but he was pretty thrifty, so probably not very much.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: And the family lore was that it belonged to a sheik?

APPRAISER: Yes, that it was a sheik's water pitcher

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: is what they had told us. Okay, and, uh, it sort of has that look, doesn't it?

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Well, this was actually made in Massachusetts.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: The ware is called Royal Flemish, and it was made by the Mt. Washington Glass Works, who in the mid-1890s became part of Pairpoint. This is made in the 1890s and the imagery that they're trying to emulate is a stained glass window. When you think this is well over a hundred years old, the decoration on it is extraordinary. There's a little gilt loss and there's some very minor losses to the enameled areas. There are some very, very elaborate forms of this Royal Flemish ware, but this is a very simple and very, very pretty form and decoration. I think a fair auction estimate for this would be $5,000 to $7,000.

GUEST: Oh, wow. Okay.

APPRAISER: So it's probably more than what he paid for it in the '40s.

GUEST: Yes, yes.

APPRAISER: Especially if he was thrifty.

GUEST: Yes, yeah.

APPRAISER: Okay, very good.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Thanks for bringing it in.

GUEST: Thank you so much.