Loetz Flower Form Vase, ca. 1900
Watch
GUEST:
This is a vase of my great-aunt's from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. It was always one of my favorite things, and she wanted me to have it. Eventually, after I got out of college and my parents decided I was stable enough to keep it, they let me take it with me. It's a Tiffany vase is what I was always told, and everyone in the family knew it as a Tiffany vase.
APPRAISER:
Why did you all think that it was Tiffany?
GUEST:
She'd always told me that, and my favorite color's orange so I was always drawn to it, and then she showed me the letter of her friend that had given it to her on Christmas day in 1948. She had purchased it 50 years prior to that. It's just always been a special thing to me.
APPRAISER:
Well, I'm glad you brought it today, and actually I really enjoyed reading the letter. In the 1940s, people didn't really think all that much of Tiffany, but it seems as though that your aunt's friend was very much up on what Tiffany was trying to achieve.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And in her letter, she talks about how Tiffany was trying to recreate the ancient vessels that were dug up on the island of Cyprus and actually were then on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She talked about the surface treatment, she talked about the elegance, the lines, and it was surprising to me because really in the 1940s, people didn't really like Tiffany, but clearly your aunt's friend did. But here's the amazing thing: it's not Tiffany.
GUEST:
It's not?
APPRAISER:
It is not Tiffany. But it's what I like to call the Austrian Tiffany. It's actually a piece of Loetz, and Loetz... (laughing) This is not a bad thing, you have to hear me out.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
This is unsigned, however, I recognized it immediately because this is how a Loetz piece would look. And it dates from around the same time. I would probably say this was circa 1902, maybe 1900. It could go five years either way.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
We always say that Loetz is Austrian, but actually until 1918, it was located in the Austro-Hungarian empire. It was really being made contemporaneously with Tiffany, so we don't know who saw whose work-- whether Tiffany saw Loetz's work and was inspired by it or whether Loetz saw Tiffany's work and was inspired by it. But this is what I would call the Loetz flower form vase, and Tiffany made a lot of flower forms, but usually you would not see the green leaves. Tiffany flower form would be shown with a long stem, and within the stem, there would be some green trailings that would continue on up to the cup of the flower form, but it would not be a sculptural piece.
GUEST:
That's everything I've seen online and other pieces I've kept.
APPRAISER:
Right, and you didn't see this. This didn't look like that, did it? Also what's interesting about this is the decoration on it, which is called phanomen. P-H-A-N-O-M-E-N.
GUEST:
So this is not favrile?
APPRAISER:
It is not favrile glass. It is iridescent glass, but it's Loetz's interpretation of it.
GUEST:
Gotcha.
APPRAISER:
And in a retail shop, it would be between $8,000 and $10,000.
GUEST:
Wow, that's great.
APPRAISER:
So not a bad thing, by any means.
GUEST:
Well, good.
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.
