Fake TECO Vase

Appraised on: July 24, 2010

Appraised in: Biloxi, Mississippi

Appraised by: Suzanne Perrault

Category: Pottery & Porcelain

Episode Info: Junk in the Trunk (#1519)

Originally Aired: November 7, 2011

IMAGE: 1 of 2  

Appraisal Video: (1:53)

GUEST: I bought it at an estate antique auction about three or four years ago. The auction consisted of this pottery and a lot of other good pottery like Newcomb College and what have you. It's the only piece of Teco I've ever had the opportunity to buy.

APPRAISER: And you paid?

GUEST: I paid $1,300 plus a buyer's premium, so it'd be $1,430. So give me the news.
APPRAISER: All right. It's not good.

GUEST: I was afraid you were going to say that, yeah.

APPRAISER: It's not good. It's a beautiful pot, and it has nice Arts and Crafts lines. Teco did things in this style, though not this exact vase. The glaze is similar. It's a nice matte green. But it's not an exact Teco matte green. The weight is different. This is heavier than a piece of Teco. But if you've not handled a lot of Teco pieces, you won't know that.

GUEST: That's right. That's why I'm here.

APPRAISER: The bottom is not a Teco bottom, either. The ridges that you have down here, you would not find that. I don't believe you'd get a red clay bottom like this. And the stamp is close to a Teco stamp, but it just has the wrong feel all around. I noticed that there's finger ridges inside, that I felt like maybe it was a hand-done piece of pottery. And most Teco that we see is cast. It is not hand-thrown. It is very good quality, there's nothing wrong with that, but it's really recent.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Last 20 years or so. So in a shop, $100, $200, that would be okay, but nowhere close, I'm sorry to say, to $1,300.

GUEST: That's part of it. That's not the first time, it won't be the last.

APPRAISER: Somebody spiked that sale, which is a shame.