1888 Mettlach Schultz Stein
Watch
GUEST:
Well, it was in my mother-in-law's family and that's all I know about it. And, uh... she was German, and the other side of the family said they were Swiss. But this is German, so... who knows?
APPRAISER:
Well, it's a nice-sized stein. This is what's called a 3.1-liter stein. They don't come much larger than this. Sometimes they did have pewter lids, and other times-- in this case-- they did not have a pewter lid. This is called an incised decorated stein, in where the artist has actually incised the work and then painted the colors over it. In this particular case, we have a gentleman on a high-wheeled bike, which is a very interesting subject. And it's been signed by the artist. Let's find the signature. There we go-- "Schultz." Schultz was one of the more famous artists that worked at the Mettlach factory and worked out of Hanau. A very, very popular artist and certainly one that would be considered collectible. Mettlach itself is a very, very collectible area in the world of steins. It tends to be, there's Mettlach and then there's everything else. Most people want Mettlach. It's very competitive. And they have a number system, which we'll take a look at on the bottom. And the number, what that does is show us by identification. Here we have the Mettlach symbol and the number 1817. Now, 1817 is identified only as this particular model with this particular subject on it. Off to the right-hand side you can barely see there's an incised number 88, and that would actually be the year that it would have been manufactured, which was 1888.
GUEST:
Oh, really?
APPRAISER:
Now Betty, do you have any idea how much this is worth?
GUEST:
Absolutely none.
APPRAISER:
No? You've had it for a long time now, and I would expect if this came up at auction now, it should sell somewhere between $2,500 and $3,500.
GUEST:
Well, that's pretty nice.
APPRAISER:
Is that good?
GUEST:
Yeah, that's great.
APPRAISER:
Terrific.
Appraisal Details
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.
