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KPM Porcelain Plaque, ca. 1890

Value (2013) | $3,000 Auction – $4,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
This was my grandmother's. It always hung in her living room. It was her very favorite piece. I don't know a whole lot about it, but she always called it her "lovely lady." I knew it was old, and also my grandmother always said of all of her pieces, that was the one that was worth keeping. My dad always wanted to toss it out. He thought it looked old-fashioned and not very interesting. And just because it was old and I know absolutely nothing about it, I thought, "Okay, well, let's bring it in and see if we can find anything out."

APPRAISER:
When it first came in, we were looking at it and said, "This is interesting." It was something we knew like, okay, well, how does this go together? And we see down at the bottom it says Fr. Till Dresden. In this particular case, it's the artist's signature for Franz Till, who was working in Dresden at the time. And it struck us because there's something about this image that we all remember. We said, "Where have we seen that before?" We took it out of the frame and brought it out here. If you look all the way down here, we can see a scepter mark and the letters K.P.M., the most famous of the tile makers. They're the preeminent ones. Very classic K.P.M. style. Now let's bring it back around. The style of this dictates it is very late 19th century. The whole thing's hand-painted, beautifully done. And if... we spent a little time researching, we said, "Absolutely, this in fact is Josephine, Napoleon's wife, coming down the stairs." But this face was different. And so what more than likely in this particular case happened was somebody custom-ordered their plaque from K.P.M. They said we want this particular pose.

GUEST:
Yup.

APPRAISER:
And then they had their head put on it because that's not Josephine.

GUEST:
(chuckles) That's wild.

APPRAISER:
So any idea what it might be worth?

GUEST:
I don't have a clue of what it might be worth. Couple hundred dollars, I really don't know.

APPRAISER:
Well, if you sold it at auction today, I think a conservative estimate would be between $3,000 and $4,000.

GUEST:
Really? Wow. That's great.

APPRAISER:
Because it's a nice large size, size always matters when it comes to K.P.M. tiles. Very nicely done, wouldn't surprise me if you got a little more than that, but it's a beautiful plaque and thanks for bringing it in.

GUEST:
Oh, you're very welcome. Thanks for the information. Dad would be shocked. I'm glad he didn't throw it away. (chuckling)

APPRAISER:
No, me too.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Matthew Quinn
Decorative Arts, Pottery & Porcelain
Quinn's Auction Galleries
Falls Church, VA
Appraised value (2013)
$3,000 Auction – $4,000 Auction
Featured In
Detroit, Hour 2 (#1805)
Event
Detroit, MI (June 01, 2013)
Category
Pottery & Porcelain
Period
19th Century
Form
Plaque
Material
Porcelain

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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