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Related | Playboy "Womb Chair" Spread

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Majolica Fish Tureen attributed to George Jones & Sons, ca. 1870

Value (2019) | $1,500 Retail – $2,500 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
I inherited it from my father's cousin's wife. She apparently had it from my father's grandmother. It's always been referred to as the fish dish in the family.

APPRAISER:
And what part of the country did they live in?

GUEST:
Upstate New York, in the Albany area.

APPRAISER:
This piece is pottery, and it's called majolica, which is a type of pottery that was very popular in the late 19th century. A lot of it was made in England, but it was also made in the United States, as well as France and Germany, and other places in Europe.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
For a good piece of majolica, you like it to be very crisply modeled, like this one is. You could see the scales on the fish are in the modeling.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
And then these wonderful ferns and leaves in the background. Also, the base has this basket shape, so as if the fish and the plants were in a basket. The inside has this wonderful pink lavender color. The more color, the better it is for collectors. Now, there is a faint mark here, which you had asked me about earlier. And you said that you thought it was the manufacturer's mark. And that is the logical thing to think.

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
The mark is right here, and when it was fired, the glaze ran into the mark and kind of filled it up. So it's completely illegible. It's a vertical mark. This is the top here. It's an English registration mark. Within this diamond are little sections. And if we could read it properly, there would be numbers and letters of the alphabet in those sections, and we could look it up on a chart and see exactly what year this particular piece was registered. It dates from about 1870.

GUEST:
Oh, really.

APPRAISER:
The manufacturer's mark is not here. I've looked very carefully with magnification, and I could not find it. But I'm almost certain that this piece was made by a company called George Jones and Sons, and they were well-known for making really wonderful majolica.

GUEST:
I always found it interesting that the bottom, the base, had been glazed, on the underside.

APPRAISER:
Right, and that's just the way they made it.

GUEST:
The side it sat.

APPRAISER:
This is a very popular piece with majolica collectors, and it is a known piece. A retail price in an antique shop, or antique show, something like that...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
Would probably sell for somewhere between $2,500 and $3,500.

GUEST:
Oh, really?

APPRAISER:
And in some cases, it might sell for a bit more.

GUEST:
That's wonderful.

APPRAISER:
Thanks very much for coming in. It was a treat to see, and I'm glad you brought it in.

GUEST:
Thank you.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
David Lackey
Pottery & Porcelain
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Houston
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Update (2019)
$1,500 Retail – $2,500 Retail
Appraised value (2006)
$2,500 Retail – $3,500 Retail
Featured In
Honolulu, Hour 1 (#1101)
Vintage Honolulu (#2416)
Event
Honolulu, HI (August 26, 2006)
Category
Pottery & Porcelain
Period
Victorian
Form
Terrine
Material
Pottery

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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