Léveillé & Rousseau Perfume Bottle, ca. 1890
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GUEST:
It's really funny, because I took it at the last minute because I didn't really know what it was. I thought it was a perfume bottle. I collect perfume bottles, but I thought it was a cruet when I bought it, because of the stopper, but I put it on my perfume tray.
APPRAISER:
And where did you get it? Where did...
GUEST:
I got it at a flea market, and I'm not sure-- somewhere in Virginia, because I go to so many flea markets, and I just happened to find it, and it, you know, it was very inexpensive. I didn't even really know it was silver at the time.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for it?
GUEST:
I don't think any more than $20, $25. It was really a good deal.
APPRAISER:
And you know when that was?
GUEST:
Maybe ten years ago-- I'm not sure.
APPRAISER:
Okay. Well, what we have here is a, it is a perfume bottle.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
And it's French Art Nouveau.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And it's, Leveille-Rousseau is the manufacturer of it, about 1883 to circa 1900.
GUEST:
Wonderful.
APPRAISER:
So then if you notice, you have multi-colors in here.
GUEST:
Yes, I love the art glass.
APPRAISER:
And got kind of a, a burnished red and then silver mounts. This makes it extremely rare, with silver mounts. The glass itself, it's not signed, but the silver is French and you have a wonderful flame finial, and the base is basically floral and leaf pattern with an X-border on the foot. Now, the interesting thing is that we see damaged glass, and we're always concerned when glass is damaged because it definitely affects the value. So if you look in here and you see all this crazing-- do you see that?
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Well, the great news is, this glass was made to look like that.
GUEST:
That's what I was thinking.
APPRAISER:
This is not damage.
GUEST:
That's what I was thinking.
APPRAISER:
This is perfect. And the wonderful part is, it's a perfume bottle.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
And there's perfume collectors all over the world.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Have you ever taken this anywhere to have it appraised?
GUEST:
No, no, I just... put it on my shelf with all my little bottles.
APPRAISER:
Well, it's a wonderful bottle. The value would be, for auction, $6,000 to $8,000.
GUEST (gasps): Oh, my word. (laughs) Well, I guess it'll have to go to a place of honor.
APPRAISER:
A place of honor. (laughs)
Appraisal Details
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