"Isle of Wight" Sandbell, ca. 1855
Watch
GUEST:
I'm not sure where it came from. My dad got it from maybe his father.
APPRAISER:
And you've been caring for it then for the last... how long?
GUEST:
Oh, probably since the '50s.
APPRAISER:
And it's called a sand bell, of course, as you know. You have this glass vessel,which is blown glass. And they had to turn it upside down, right, and fill it somehow, right? Because there's no opening up here on the top.
GUEST:
No.
APPRAIESR: So on the bottom, and I peeked for a little while. I don't know if you've ever looked on the bottom.
GUEST:
I'm too scared to look.
APPRAISER:
I know what you mean, because the sand will jiggle, right? This is all sand here. It's a blue paper with what appears to be a plug. And can you imagine, this had to be filled and the grains of sand moved around with a fine instrument to arrange the grains of sand and have it be solid to the bell. If you look at the top, you see these flower motifs, and then these sea scrolls, and then this Gothic arch. And then we get into this seashell, and then this great picture. Do you know what that represents?
GUEST:
Is that the Isle of Wight?
APPRAISER:
That's exactly right. It's the Isle of Wight with the needles, these chalk formations, which is a really famous tourist attraction. And there's a little ship, and the castle up on top of the cliff. And you come down below, you have a figure of Britannia, the symbol of England, seated here with a trident. And then here, an oval portrait probably of Queen Victoria in profile, so the Queen at the time. And then you go around to the side, and these amazing windows with a Gothic peak on the window. And a waterfall on the back all in grisaille, which grisaille means kind of a shaded gray and black. So it was made 1850 to roughly 1865 in the south of England, probably.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
This base is marbleized, so it's kind of a trompe l'oeil marble. And there is a little damage. The crack right next to the paper label. But what happened up here?
GUEST:
I don't know.
APPRAISER:
Do you see how it got shaken up? It all got mixed together.
GUEST:
Is that from transporting it?
APPRAISER:
Yeah, and I bet you you didn't do that. There were some that are really rare that were made by a man named Andrew Clemens here in Iowa. Did you know about him? Andrew Clemens. And he made some amazing sand jars also. The thing is, if it was by Andrew Clemens, it's worth a multiple of what it's worth as an English piece. In the marketplace right now, a conservative estimate on this would be $5,000 to $8,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
Now, if this work were by Clemens of Iowa, it would be worth about $50,000.
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.
