1887 KPM Plaque of Caravaggio's "Penitent Magdalene"

Appraised on: June 26, 2010

Appraised in: Billings, Montana

Appraised by: Stuart Slavid

Category: Pottery & Porcelain

Episode Info: Junk in the Trunk (#1519)

Originally Aired: November 7, 2011

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (1:27)

GUEST: In World War Two, a family friend of ours, Mildred, was a WAC over in Germany, and she purchased this and sent it back to the States, and my parents always admired it. And before she passed away, she gave it to them. And now it's mine.

APPRAISER: Now, it was very popular for artists in the 19th going into the 20th century to go to these early museums and to paint their rendition of early paintings. This is a wonderful rendition of Mary Magdalene called The Penitent Magdalene. So let's talk a little bit about the back and see together... I can show you what we have here. First, we have the artist's signature here. L. Stern in Dresden, 1887. More importantly, we have a mark down here in the lower corner that's an impressed mark that has a scepter over the letters KPM. KPM was the royal porcelain manufacturer in Berlin, and that's what we want to see on the plaque. There is one small flaw. That's this little scratch here. Anything, anything other than perfect makes a difference to a KPM plaque. So many markets have actually gone down. These have held their own.

GUEST: Good.

APPRAISER: There's a good strength in the market. If it were sold in an auction, I would expect an estimate to be in the range of $6,000 to $8,000.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: All right?

GUEST: Thank you.

APPRAISER: Thanks for bringing it in.