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Arts & Crafts Plaques, ca. 1900

Value (2019) | $14,500 Auction – $19,500 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
I had a collection of over 600 ceramic pots. When we downsized, we went into a much more convenient and appropriate living quarters. I was talking to a gentleman. He says, "You know, you got a great collection here." He says, "Would you allow me to go out to my car, and I want to show you something?" He comes back in, stands in front of our sofa, and three out of four he dropped on that couch. And he says, "I'll trade you even, these for those."

APPRAISER:
All 600?

GUEST:
Yes. My wife was listening, and she says, "Those we can hang on the wall. The pots got to go." I'm a married... happily married 39 years to this woman, I don't argue with her. I've been taught, "Yes, dear." That was my answer. (laughs) I now have 34 of these at home, and I'm fascinated by them.

APPRAISER:
So you have two beautiful Rookwood plaques.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
Which one's your favorite? That one here.

GUEST:
That one there.

APPRAISER:
And that's also earlier. That was painted by one of their best artists, Mr.... you can call him "Valentien" or "Valentine," done in 1896. All hand-painted under this beautiful green overglaze. This could be called a sea-green plaque. It's really pretty spectacular. And this is by Fred Rothenbusch. The "F.R." right here.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
This is so unusual for him. He made many different scenic vellum plaques, but this one is so active, it's so alive. It's got all this choppy water, and it's a beautiful, probably Dutch, scene, and the clouds have so much movement and motion going. It's a very, very good plaque. Newcomb College.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
You had Newcomb pots.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
They didn't make a lot of these. Sometimes you see the little tiles that are hand-built, but these big, beautiful plaques like this-- especially the ones with the live oak trees and the Spanish moss-- that is so rare. And the last one is made by Marblehead, from Marblehead, Massachusetts.

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
Also, you may have had some of the Marblehead pots.

GUEST:
I had quite a few.

APPRAISER:
But they didn't make many tiles, and a lot of the tiles that they made weren't very interesting-- they had ships on them, they were for the tourist trade. This is a special Marblehead tile. $2,000 to $3,000 on a bad day.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
Your extremely rare Newcomb plaque, $10,000 to $15,000. This lovely sea-green... another $10,000 to $15,000.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
And probably the most valuable-- not necessarily the best or the most beautiful-- is this one at $15,000 to $20,000.

GUEST:
You're not hurting my feelings, my dear.

APPRAISER:
I wasn't, wasn't planning on it.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Suzanne Perrault
Pottery & Porcelain
Rago-Wright Auctions
Lambertville, NJ
Update (2019)
$14,500 Auction – $19,500 Auction
Appraised value (2004)
$37,000 Auction – $53,000 Auction
Featured In
Memphis, Hour 1 (#0907)
Vintage Memphis (#2322)
Event
Memphis, TN (July 31, 2004)
Category
Pottery & Porcelain
Period
Arts and Crafts
Form
Tile
Material
Ceramic

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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