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Gargoyle Pottery Wall Bracket, ca. 1880

Value (2018) | $2,000 Retail – $3,000 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
This gargoyle has been in my family for really about as long as I can remember. My parents always had it hanging in the corner in the living room. And as a kid I used to think it was really frightening, and I used to decorate it with balloons and things. The family history is that it came from my great-uncle in Pennsylvania. He was an attorney. And apparently he got this in lieu of payment from a client, and that's really all I know about it.

APPRAISER:
This is most likely Italian. They were many, many different Italian pottery manufacturers. And a lot of them used curious marks, which are hard to trace or to identify. But this has a letter N as part of the mark, and that might refer to Naples. But really we looked at the modeling of the clay, which is very free and very loose. We looked at the colors and the glaze and also the application of gold on it. And that's very typical of a lot of Italian pottery. Now, you said you haven't used it in a long time.

GUEST:
No, I haven't.

APPRAISER:
And this is actually quite filthy. It's really dirty. So if you carefully clean it with a cotton swab and some water it would really clean up. And the colors would be a lot brighter.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
Now, this would be a part of the Renaissance revival movement, which was very popular in the last half of the 19th century in Europe.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
In the Renaissance, they used a lot of gargoyles and monsters and other creepy critters as part of decoration. There was a revival of interest in that, so a lot of furniture, painting, ceramics were made kind of in imitation of Renaissance style. And this is an example of that.

GUEST:
Would this have been made for somebody's home?

APPRAISER:
Yes, I think so.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And there probably was once, at one time a pair. Another interesting feature of this, this was made to be hung high. And we have it hung much lower than what it's supposed to. If we had this hung up way high, we would be looking up at this monster peering down at us.

GUEST:
Right-- that's where my parents had it.

APPRAISER:
Sure, and it might even be a copy of some gargoyles in a cathedral in Italy or something like that, possibly.

GUEST:
That's what I wondered.

APPRAISER:
We don't know. But it is really a terrific piece. It's hard to put a price on it because I've never seen one, never seen anything like it. But my guess is a retail price would probably be at least $2,000 or $3,000.

GUEST:
Oh, okay. That's wonderful.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
David Lackey
Pottery & Porcelain
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Houston
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Update (2018)
$2,000 Retail – $3,000 Retail
Appraised value (2013)
$2,000 Retail – $3,000 Retail
Featured In
Jacksonville, Hour 1 (#1822)
Kooky & Spooky (#2227)
Event
Jacksonville, FL (June 08, 2013)
Category
Pottery & Porcelain
Period
19th Century
Form
Shelf
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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