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Newcomb College Pottery, ca. 1928

Value (2012) | $5,000 Auction – $7,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
Well, I attended Sophie Newcomb College for two years.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.

GUEST:
'27-'28, and '28-'29, and I was in the art school. And they offered an elective course called Decorative Pottery.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh

GUEST:
And you may have heard of Newcomb pottery.

APPRAISER:
Absolutely, I'm a big fan of it.

GUEST:
So we had the pottery right there on the campus. So we were allowed to select our own green ware. And then we had to draw the designs.

APPRAISER:
Uh-huh.

GUEST:
We selected something that was indigenous to the Newcomb campus.

APPRAISER:
Right, you brought your college annual from 1928 here. And we've even got your picture here when you attended Sophie Newcomb College. I've been a big fan of Newcomb College pottery for a long time, and I've never had the pleasure of actually meeting one of the artists. How many pieces of pottery did you make while you were there?

GUEST:
I would say five or six altogether.

APPRAISER:
Well, you've got these two coasters here that you made. And then we can turn it on the back, and there's some marks here. There's a J.H, and what does that stand for?

GUEST:
That stands for Mr. Hutt, who was the potter at that time.

APPRAISER:
And then we've got initials here, and those are your initials. These vases here are also marked. This one says "N.C." for Newcomb College.

GUEST:
It meant that it was good enough to be sold in the Newcomb College gift shop.

APPRAISER:
And you never actually sold any of your pieces though, you said.

GUEST:
No, I kept them.

APPRAISER:
You said these were your $5,000 vases. Is that right? Because that's how much your college education cost was $5,000.

GUEST:
That's correct. Yes.

APPRAISER:
Well, normally, coasters like this would sell for between $500 and $700 each. But with the provenance that you made them and the history of you the artist, they might bring as much as $1,000 each. These vases would normally sell maybe in the $1,000 to $1,200 range, but again, with the provenance, they may be worth as much as $1,500 each. So really here we're looking at about $4,000 or $5,000 worth of Newcomb Pottery, and you're getting all your money back from your education.

GUEST:
(laughs)

APPRAISER:
I think that's really great.

GUEST:
That's amazing. This represents many wonderful memories. Those are times gone by.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
David Lackey
Pottery & Porcelain
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Houston
David Lackey Antiques & Jewelry
Update (2012)
$5,000 Auction – $7,000 Auction
Appraised value (1998)
$4,000 Retail – $5,000 Retail
Featured In
Roadshow Remembers (#1017)
Vintage Louisville (#1725)
Event
Louisville, KY (July 11, 1998)
Category
Pottery & Porcelain
Period
20th Century
Form
Vase
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.

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