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Appraisal Update | Cut Glass Centerpiece Base, ca. 1885

Appraisal Update | Cut Glass Centerpiece Base, ca. 1885

Extraordinary Finds | Hear More from Lowry About the Auction!

Extraordinary Finds | Hear More from Lowry About the Auction!

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Indian Silver Hunting Bowl, ca. 1900

Value (2016) | $4,000 Auction – $10,000 Insurance
Watch  

GUEST:
I know it's silver, I know it's about 50 years old, and it's from India.

APPRAISER:
And how did it make its way all the way here?

GUEST:
I believe my mom got it from India.

APPRAISER:
Right.

GUEST:
And it was in the family.

APPRAISER:
Did she use it ever?

GUEST:
I put flowers in there.

APPRAISER:
You put flowers in it.

GUEST:
But not... fake flowers, not real ones.

APPRAISER:
Sometimes, these bowls are called rose bowls. They would be filled with water and roses would be decorated on the top and they would float in them and they'd be used for ceremonies and things like that. It's a very large silver bowl. It is made in India, probably in Lucknow.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
So North India in Uttar Pradesh, near Nepal.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
The reason why we can attribute this to a Lucknow maker is because of the decorative scheme we see on it. And these are sometimes known as hunting bowls or hunting scene bowls or jungle scene bowls. And we have a great number of really wonderful, vibrant kind of images and actions that are going on, so we've got hunters and elephants and lots of tigers and leopards. It is beautifully worked all the way around. It is completely hand-made. It would have been a single sheet of silver which would have been hammered and then rolled up and then repoussèd and chased like this. So it's pushed out from the inside, and then it's chased and sort of pushed back in. And the quality of work is really, really stunning, I think. So it dates to around 1900, so I think it's a little bit older than you suggested. I mean, you said maybe it's 50 years old, but this sort of bowl was being made around 1880 to 1910 in Lucknow in India. The wonderful leaves on the underside of this bowl are quite reminiscent of kind of acanthus leaves that you might find on an English bowl. And so there were, obviously, during the Raj period, the sort of mid-19th to the mid-20th century, a number of silversmiths from England working in India, and they would have influenced Indian silver-makers and sort of they would have shared knowledge and things like that. It doesn't have a signature underneath.

GUEST:
Yeah, it doesn't, I didn't see anything.

APPRAISER:
Some makers marked their wares, others didn't. I don't think the fact that it has no mark is going to be an issue, because there was no real rigid hallmarking system in India.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
So how much do you think this is worth?

GUEST:
At least $1,000?

APPRAISER:
And what's that sort of based on, your $1,000?

GUEST:
The silver value.

APPRAISER:
My feeling is that this would be fairly high silver content, so it'd probably be at least sterling, it could even be higher than sterling silver, so... If you were to sort of melt this down, which I think would be quite tragic in a way, it would be worth maybe a bit more than $1,000, maybe something like $1,500 to $2,000.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Is it something that you would ever sell, or would you keep it in the family?

GUEST:
I would like to keep it in the family.

APPRAISER:
Okay, I think in that case, for insurance...

GUEST:
Uh-huh.

APPRAISER:
…have to put a figure of around $10,000 on it.

GUEST:
$10,000?

APPRAISER:
Yes.

GUEST:
Thank you.

APPRAISER:
If this bowl was to come up for auction, I think it would sell for between $4,000 and $6,000.

GUEST:
Okay. My mom will be very happy to know.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
David Walker
Decorative Arts, Furniture
Freeman's Auctioneers
Philadelphia
Sotheby's
New York
Update (2016)
$4,000 Auction – $10,000 Insurance
Appraised value (2014)
$4,000 Auction – $10,000 Insurance
Featured In
Charleston, Hour 1 (#1916)
Celebrating Asian-Pacific Heritage (#2028)
Event
Charleston, WV (August 16, 2014)
Category
Silver
Period
19th Century , 20th Century
Form
Bowl
Material
Silver

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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