Doulton Burslem Vase Signed George White, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
This is a piece that I've had in my possession since early 1960s. It's something that I bought in Atlantic City, New Jersey, which is where I grew up. During the 1960s, many mid-century vacation homes and beach homes were being torn down to be replaced by new buildings, and many of their owners had been people who had traveled all over Europe and plundered Europe as they made their world tours and filled their lovely mansions with beautiful things.
APPRAISER:
So did you get this out of one of those houses?
GUEST:
I got it from someone who bought it from one of those houses.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
She was actually a dealer. My husband and I were newly married. We had very little money at the time, and I think we could not have paid more than $200, $250 for it, probably more like $150.
APPRAISER:
Okay. Well, what we have here is a Doulton vase. It is English, made at the Burslem factory, beautifully done. It is very, very typical of the late Victorian era. It's signed here by George White, an artist with the Doulton Burslem factory. What we see here is the Doulton Burslem emblem.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Okay, this mark is going to tell us that this piece was made between 1891 and 1902. Now, we know George White was working at the factory during that time period, and we know that he cared so much about it that he then signed it and he also probably titled it. So more than likely the title of this piece is indeed "Autumn." And we can also see that it is decorated all the way around. This epitomizes the Victorian style, which is not terribly valuable today, not as collectible as it used to be. There's an awful lot of Doulton stuff that's out there on the market right now. In this particular case, this does represent what is probably the top five percent of Doulton. As such, that market has not been hit as hard with regard to pricing. If you sold it at auction today, my guess is you're looking somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000. So...
GUEST:
I see... oh.
APPRAISER:
It's a very nice piece.
GUEST:
It's a piece that has been on our coffee table even as my children were growing up, and they found it as a wonderful receptacle for their Cheerios when they were little.
APPRAISER:
Well, I assume they're not doing that anymore.
GUEST:
No. (chuckling)
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