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English Mocha Ware Jug, ca. 1800

Value (2008) | $4,000 Auction – $6,000 Auction

GUEST:
Well, it's been in the cabinet for many years, and my mother didn't know a whole lot about it once she passed it on to me, and her mother always told her that it was great-great-grandmother's, all passed down through the, through the years to her, in her family.

APPRAISER:
It's not unusual for the family history of something to get lost. If you do know the family history of something, it's good to kind of put that inside it. Write out who owned it and when.

GUEST:
True.

APPRAISER:
What made you bring this item?

GUEST:
The colors were just beautiful and it didn't have any marks on it. We were just really curious about it.

APPRAISER:
You're right. The colors are very beautiful and very strong. What you've got is a good example of what we call mocha ware. Now, mocha ware is a uniquely English form of decorating earthenware that dates from about 200 years ago. They started making it, probably, in the 1790s.

GUEST:
Oh!

APPRAISER:
And then they made it through until about the time Queen Victoria comes to the throne in the late 1830s. And it's particularly popular in the United States and it always was. In the last, I would say, half century, it's been especially popular because people who collect American folk art are often drawn to mocha ware, and it's widely reproduced for that reason.

GUEST:
Oh.

APPRAISER:
But you don't see very many early, authentic examples. It's made of a material called creamware. You can see the natural color, even though it's stained. It's cream-colored earthenware. But this is colored slip. Now, slip is clay in liquid suspension. If you make a kind of liquid out of clay, and you... put it onto the surface and comb it around, you can make this kind of effect,

GUEST:
Oh! Okay.

APPRAISER:
which is a marbleizing, you could say. And when it was first done, it was sometimes called "surface agateware" 'cause it's kind of meant to look a little like a hard stone, like an agate, with that rich veining in it. This one was probably made about 1800.

GUEST:
Oh, okay.

APPRAISER:
It's got a lot of age to it. And by the way, this staining and all this color and all that, can be nicely restored.

GUEST:
Okay, it can? I was wondering about that.

APPRAISER:
It's mostly dirt that can be... It's a bleaching process that a professional can do, so the condition overall is pretty good. And I spoke with a couple of my colleagues who have sold mocha ware more regularly in auctions of Americana, and we came up with a value. Today, if it came to auction, it's going to bring, we think, at least $4,000.

GUEST:
Oh, four thousand...? Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER:
And maybe as much as $6,000.

GUEST:
Goodness, gracious. My mother will be shocked. She may be wanting to take it back.

APPRAISER:
Well, it's too late for that, but there it is.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Nick Dawes
Decorative Arts, Glass, Pottery & Porcelain, Silver
Heritage Auctions
Dallas, TX
Appraised value (2008)
$4,000 Auction – $6,000 Auction
Featured In
Dallas, Hour 1 (#1304)
Event
Dallas, TX (June 28, 2008)
Category
Pottery & Porcelain
Period
18th Century , 19th Century
Form
Jug
Material
Earthenware

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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