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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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Mississippian Culture Effigy Pot, 900 - 1500

Value (2018) | $4,000 Retail – $6,000 Retail
Watch  

GUEST:
It's a mound builder pot.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.

GUEST:
I inherited it from my father. I think he got it around... in the 1980s, out in Santa Fe, from an art dealer or an antiques dealer out there while he was working there at the Institute of American Indian Arts.

APPRAISER:
Okay, and any idea of what he paid for it?

GUEST:
I have no idea.

APPRAISER:
I know you were concerned whether it was authentic or not.

GUEST:
Yeah.

APPRAISER:
And it absolutely is.

GUEST:
Oh!

APPRAISER:
It's, it's Mississippian culture, a mound builder. It's a great clay. It's known as Belle Plaine clay, which is this polished gray. And it goes from gray to buff to orange sometimes. It's a shaman's effigy figure, and it's a wonderful figure. More often than not, they're female. But this is, I believe, a male figure, which is unusual and much more rare. This one has got wonderful detail with the shoulders. And if we turn it around, you'll see that the scapula on the back is just lightly identified, and the spine. And sometimes they are humpbacked. We don't know why they are. Whether the humpback maybe had a significance in the society, or maybe they were just looking for more volume in the pot. I don't know. You can also notice someone has written "Pickman County, Kentucky," and I would imagine that is the location, the find spot of the piece, where it came from. It's in wonderful condition, and it dates between... Well, the Mississippian culture, it's between tenth and 16th century. It's really hard to pinpoint exactly. So, the piece is probably around about a thousand years old.

GUEST:
(whispers) Wow!

APPRAISER:
But it's marvelous that it's intact. They don't usually get beyond about seven inches, and quite often they're much smaller. And this one is just under seven, so it's highly significant. The Mississippian culture is from the Southeastern parts of America, and it covered a really wide area. Everywhere sort of the Mississippi touched on.

GUEST:
We're Osagean-- we're associated with the mound builders up by St. Louis. Cahokia Mounds, our tribe is.

APPRAISER:
Even though this culture spread all over the Southeast, there, there's a great similarity between the work. I mean, they were very fixed on effigy pots. We get them as effigy figures, and we also get the very famous effigy heads. I'd be very comfortable at giving a retail value between $4,000 and $6,000.

GUEST:
(whispers) Wow. Wow! (laughs) That's great!

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Anthony Slayter-Ralph
Ancient Art
Anthony Slayter-Ralph Fine Art
Santa Barbara, CA
Appraised value (2018)
$4,000 Retail – $6,000 Retail
Featured In
Philbrook Museum, Hour 3 (#2312)
Event
Tulsa, OK (April 21, 2018)
Category
Ancient Art
Period
16th Century
Form
Figure
Material
Clay

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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