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Palissy Ware Teapot, ca. 1865

Value (2012) | $1,000 Auction – $2,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
My mother bought it in Phoenix probably about 30 years ago at a yard sale.

GUEST:
Her dad was the original horse trader and he always bought and sold things, he always had an eye for value-- an uncanny eye for value-- and this was one that they simply got attached to and hung on to over the years.

APPRAISER:
Well, this is certainly a really unusual teapot. Why did you decide to keep it?

GUEST:
It was just one that caught our eye. I think it was your mom's favorite piece.

GUEST:
It was my mom's very favorite piece.

APPRAISER:
A lot of people really dislike this sort of thing because it's kind of scary with the snakes, but I myself, I love them. I have some of this sort of ware in my own collection. I'm going to take off the lid very carefully, which is really interesting how the lid is part of the overall design, which is nice. And there's a little note in here, which you've kept. And I love notes. That always makes things more interesting. The note reads: "Cabbage and snake teapot "brought to Montreux by a Swiss family "who lived in France about 1830. Age of pot: probably 1820." Little notes are great. They tend to not always be correct, though. Frequently, there's misinformation on it. I'm going to put it back in the pot and put the lid on. What this pot is, it's a type of Majolica. It's named Palissy ware, which is named after a 16th-century French potter who made pottery which was covered with snakes and lizards, grass, frogs, fish, shells, and these bright greens, browns, ambers, gold colors. It became a big fad in the 19th century. It was made in Portugal, made in France and other countries in Europe. Mostly what we see in Palissy ware are, like, plates and bowls, which are interesting, small vases and so forth. But this one, because it's a teapot, is really great. And another thing great about it, you can imagine that this is very fragile and these leaves and the head and the handles got broken off quite a bit. This one is in almost perfect condition, which is amazing that something would survive. Although the note said 1820, my guess is it's more like 1850, 1875. We don't know for sure because lots of different factories made this sort of thing. But I think the value of this is somewhere between $2,000 and $3,000.

GUEST:
Oh, my.

APPRAISER:
Thanks for coming. This is really great.

GUEST:
(both) Well thank you.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
David Lackey
Pottery & Porcelain
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Houston
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Update (2012)
$1,000 Auction – $2,000 Auction
Appraised value (1997)
$2,000 Auction – $3,000 Auction
Featured In
Phoenix, Hour 1 (#0211)
Unique Antiques (#1120)
Vintage Phoenix (#1622)
Event
Phoenix, AZ (July 19, 1997)
Category
Pottery & Porcelain
Period
19th Century
Form
Teapot
Material
Majolica , Majolica , 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.

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