Delft Commemorative Plate, ca. 1695
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GUEST:
My husband and I were at the Pride of Dixie market. We saw it and we weren't quite sure what it was as the person selling it wasn't quite sure. It looked familiar because we collect royal memorabilia. So we decided to take a chance and take it home and have a look.
APPRAISER:
Have you ever had it appraised before?
GUEST:
No, I haven't.
APPRAISER:
What do you believe it is?
GUEST:
I believe it's Queen Mary II. We went to the York Castle Museum and there was like an identical one, but it was for William and it looked just the same, so we felt it was a good thing.
APPRAISER:
So William being William III, her husband. Ideally, this dish would have had a mate. And the mate would have been William III. And then you would have had Queen Mary on the other dish. The dish first is Delft. Delft is a tin-glazed earthenware, in this case made in Holland. Obviously enough with this subject matter is correct. William comes from the House of Orange. Delft is very collectible in its own right. Commemoratives are very collectible as well. So now you have the combatives in an auction setting or at an antique show buying something because of its commemorative interest and people buying things that are buying early Dutch. But the question would be when this might have been made in Holland. She died in 1694. That would be the closest commemorative date, the closest reason for them to have manufactured it.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
They got married in the 1670s. That would be too early for the dish. He died in 1702, I believe. And that would be a little bit too late to have incorporated her. But I think there was still just that sense of pride at that point in time to honor them as a couple that when she passed away in 1694, probably that was the date that these were manufactured.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
So this was made in the city of Delft or in that general region. The thing about that is there's no way to know of the specific manufacturer, unless it is signed. No signature on the back that would give us any indication of who the specific manufacturer of it was. So you've got a dish that's got some great age to it. And then you've got a dish that's got this polychrome decoration, not just monochrome decoration. Very often you'll find Dutch decorated wares in just blue and white, which certainly don't have quite the pop, the eye appeal that you would have as a color decorated piece. Now, it's got some condition issues. There's a hairline crack that runs up here down to about here. And that affects the integrity of the dish a little bit. Along the edge of the glaze you find a lot of glaze loss. That's all very acceptable to the dish. Do you have any idea of what its value is?
GUEST:
Not really. But I think a lot more than what we paid.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for it?
GUEST:
We paid $175.
APPRAISER:
How long ago was that?
GUEST:
I'm thinking about ten years ago, roughly. About ten years ago at an antique market.
APPRAISER:
I think you'd be pleased to know that it's worth considerably more.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
As it stands now, if this came up at a well-advertised auction where there's other Delft being sold, other commemoratives being sold, I would expect it to sell in the range of $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
Yes.
GUEST:
Oh, gosh.
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