Maria & Popovi Pottery, ca. 1965
GUEST:
My sister and I
inherited them
when our brother left everything
that he had to the both of us.
He did a lot
of traveling.
Over the years
he brought back a lot
of beautiful
Southwestern pottery.
I've got you.
And the little bit I know about
it is just from the books
that we kept when he passed away
and started reading on Maria.
But we knew that was
his favorite potterer.
APPRAISER:
So these are
Maria pots?
GUEST:
Yes.
I saw the receipts.
I've got two receipts,
that's all I could find.
APPRAISER:
And he had paid, like,
$110 or something?
GUEST:
$110, $90, $125,
something like that.
APPRAISER:
Okay, there's two signatures on these pots.
Do you know who the
other signature is?
GUEST:
The Popovi is her son.
APPRAISER:
Right.
Her son didn't live a long time,
so they didn't make a lot
of pots together.
He was an excellent potter.
All of these pots are dual
signed Maria and Popovi,
and he was...
Popovi Da was his name.
GUEST:
Da, right.
APPRAISER:
And I just wanted
to turn this over,
because you can see
there's the Maria signature,
and the Popovi,
and the number.
And I believe this would
be fifth month of 1965.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
I'm pretty sure
that it's the date.
The first pot over there,
it's a feather design.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And the plate is
the same thing.
These are called an avanyu.
It's a water serpent.
It's almost like a dragon
in Japan or China.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
He bought the right pots,
and he bought them at the right
time for the right price.
They're burnished blackware.
She learned to do this in
the early '20s, late teens.
It's called reduction firing,
and that's what turns
them black like this.
Condition is a huge thing
with Maria pots.
There's a lot of them out there.
She made her living doing this.
Her whole family did.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
So there's hundreds.
We see no less than
a half a dozen a show.
The half a dozen we see
are usually worth anywhere
from $400 to $1,200
because they've got nicks and
scratches and little dents.
These are really pristine
examples of her work.
The feather jar over there,
$8,000 to $12,000 in a retail
situation, conservatively.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
The plate,
$8,000 to $12,000.
This little avanyu bowl,
$4,000 to $6,000,
and $4,000 to $6,000 for this.
So these four pots,
which were just sort of
Art Deco style tourist pieces
from the 1960s are worth
$24,000 on the low end,
$36,000 on the high end,
and possibly more.
GUEST:
More, okay.
APPRAISER:
Again, it's about collectors
wanting pristine examples,
and you've got them.
GUEST:
Right.
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.
