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Close Up | Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's Quote

Close Up | Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's Quote

Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

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Chinese Li Tieguai Yixing Figurine, ca. 1820

Value (2016) | $1,500 Auction – $2,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
It was given to us as a wedding gift in 1982. We've never known a lot about it. It's been in our family and on our bookshelf. We've always called it "the fertility dude."

APPRAISER:
Where do you think he comes from?

GUEST:
I've always felt like it was northern Africa just because of the proximity to France, but I really don't know, and everyone seems to suggest that there may be other origins, and I have no idea.

APPRAISER:
I think based on the clues, you come up with a very interesting theory, but this fellow's actually Chinese.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
I think he's actually a very fun character. In the Daoist tradition... of course, there are three great religions/philosophies in Chinese history: Daoism, Buddhism, Confucianism. This is one of the Daoist immortals. We call him Li Tieguai, otherwise "Iron-crutch Li." Well, his crutch is missing, which is unusual, but nonetheless, this is certainly Li Tieguai, and he embodies some of the ideals of Daoism. He's very skinny and starved, as you see, because he's homeless. He also represents the very, very poor, and he's a benefactor and a protector of the poor in Chinese tradition. This comes from a part of China in the southeast called Yixing. In fact, we refer to this pottery, this very distinctive brown pottery, as yixing ware. It's a kind of clay that is native to that area. They make it into teapots very often. They believe that yixing will absorb the flavor of the tea so much that eventually, you can make tea in a yixing pot without adding any actual tea. It has that quality. It's rarer to find figures made out of yixing. Now, there would have been eight of these originally for the eight immortals. This is just one of those. But you can see the quality is just superb, especially the detailing on the sandals here. To look around and to see some of the exposed ribs, and in the chest, and even the exposed vertebrae in the back, wearing very, very minimal, kind of draped clothing as a poor beggar would. He's just extraordinary, and even his expression with these kind of bulging eyes and this very extraordinary expression, he's so appealing, and I can understand why you've loved this and why this has inspired some theories as to...

GUEST:
My whole family's enjoyed it.

APPRAISER:
As far as the date, I would attribute this to the early part of the 19th century, perhaps 1810, 1825, somewhere in that pocket. It's quite old for the type. With the glaze, again, it's a rare feature of the piece, but I think it's absolutely fabulous. Do you have any sense of its value, or was it suggested to you?

GUEST:
Not at all-- I can imagine some prices in a retail setting, but I'd be guessing.

APPRAISER:
Make a guess.

GUEST:
Oh, I would think in the hundreds.

APPRAISER:
Well, I think you're a little low on this one. If this were to come up for auction in 2016 with the market being strong, an auction estimate that would be fair would be $1,500 to $2,000.

GUEST:
Oh, excellent, excellent.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Richard Cervantes
Asian Arts, Rugs & Textiles
Heritage Auctions
New York, NY
Doyle New York
New York, NY
Appraised value (2016)
$1,500 Auction – $2,000 Auction
Featured In
Fort Worth, Hour 1 (#2101)
Event
Fort Worth, TX (July 23, 2016)
Category
Asian Arts
Period
19th Century , Qing Dynasty
Form
Figure , Figurine
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.

More on This Appraisal

Article
Who Was Iron-Crutch Li?
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