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Tiffany Studios Vases & Crate

Value (2017) | $157,000 Retail – $238,000 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
During the Depression, my aunt was, started buying up these vases from Tiffany's, so I guess she ordered some by the crate-load.

APPRAISER:
It actually says, "Louis C. Tiffany Studios," with an address. The crate in itself, it's something you don't see very often, with "glass" plastered all over the sides. But I also want to point out the straw.

GUEST:
(chuckles)

APPRAISER:
Because it's not often that people keep the shipping crates. The first piece of glass over here, which is what we would call pastel glass...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
Is later-production Tiffany-- it was made in the '20s.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
It was made in multiples, and it came in different colors. These are the colors that you see in some of the Depression glass of the era...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
But this was a lot more expensive than your average piece of Depression glass. Now, this piece is a paperweight glass vase.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
Leslie Nash, who worked for Louis Comfort Tiffany, claims that while they were working with paperweight glass, Louis Tiffany himself, who was a painter, came into the glass-working shop, handed them a painting of morning glories that he had painted, and said, "I want you to make this in glass."

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
Supposedly, it took $12,000 in R&D...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
to create this kind of glassware. 1914 is when they first introduced it. Your piece, on the bottom, actually says "exhibition piece" on it. I know from the date letter, which is a suffix L, that that would be somewhere around 1915.

GUEST:
Okay. APRAISER: So it's possible that this could've gone to the 1915 San Francisco International Exhibition. I think it came back to the studios, that's the interesting part. You may have seen vases like this. They're in many museums all over the world.

GUEST:
I think I saw one at the Met in New York, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
Yes, and the one at the Met has a number on the bottom, which is 1130-L. Yours is 1132-L. Oh. So this is two numbers after the Met's vase.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
The Met acquired it in 1924, even though it was probably made in 1915. So these things still were sold later. The crate, in a retail setting, this is something for Tiffany geeks everywhere-- collectors, museums. They would actually be very excited about this, and it would be worth between $5,000 and $10,000.

GUEST:
Holy cow!

APPRAISER:
This piece, which is not as sought-after as some of the other art glass...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
would retail probably between $2,000 and $3,000. But this piece, in a retail shop, it could be sold for anywhere between $50,000 and $75,000.

GUEST:
No way! Oh, my gosh! I was... thinking maybe $8,000 to $10,000, I was hoping. Wow.

APPRAISER:
Well, that was a long time ago.

GUEST:
Wow, I really didn't know what the market had done, you know, if it had gone sideways or up or down, but... wow. (inhales)

APPRAISER:
So there's one other thing in here that I want to talk about. This vase. This practically stopped my heart when I saw it in the box. (giggling) This is the piece I was waiting for for 20 years.

GUEST:
Oh, wow.

APPRAISER:
And every night before the ROADSHOW, people would always say, "What is on your wish list? What would you like to come in to the show tomorrow?" And I always say, "A Tiffany Lava vase."

GUEST:
Wow.

APPRAISER:
And that's what this is. It's extremely special. It is meant to look like molten lava...

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
on the surface of the vase, and this one is particularly interesting because you also have these protrusions here. It's very similar to a vase that was shown in the 1906 Paris Salon Exhibition.

GUEST:
Oh!

APPRAISER:
A very similar example is in the collection of the Musèe des Arts Dècoratifs in Paris, and it's been there since 1906.

GUEST:
Gee.

APPRAISER:
So when I saw this... I was kind of excited. (laughing)

GUEST:
Oh.

APPRAISER:
The thing about Lava is, it was very hard to make. They get cracked in the making.

GUEST:
Oh.

APPRAISER:
And I did go over your Lava with my special light and a magnifying glass, and I couldn't find any imperfections. An example like this, in a retail shop, could sell between $100,000 and $150,000.

GUEST:
(laughing) Where's my brother? He... (laughs) Wow. That's unbelievable. I had no idea.

APPRAISER:
I just can't believe that your aunt bought all of this in the late '20s and the early '30s.

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
It's... it's pretty remarkable.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Arlie Sulka
Glass
Lillian Nassau LLC
New York, NY
Appraised value (2017)
$157,000 Retail – $238,000 Retail
Featured In
Newport, Hour 1 (#2216)
RECUT: Newport, Part 2 (#R0104)
Event
Newport, RI (September 18, 2017)
Category
Glass
Period
1920s , 20th Century
Form
Box , Chest , Vase , Vessel
Material
Glass

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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