Weller Pottery Dickensware II Vase, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
This is a depiction of the prologue of The Canterbury Tales, which was supposedly the first great masterpiece of English literature. It came through my maternal grandmother. She got it as a wedding gift around 1910. She was born in 1896, so... 1910, wait, that would make her 14, say 1914 perhaps.
APPRAISER:
Okay, let me tell you about what this is.
GUEST:
Yes, please.
APPRAISER:
Okay, so you thought this may have been English because of the subject matter. It's actually... it was made in Zanesville, Ohio by the Weller Pottery company, and it's decorated by Cecil B. Upjohn.
GUEST:
Oh, get out.
APPRAISER:
And done in 1900. It's an example of Weller Dickensware II line. It's marked underneath—
GUEST:
it's heavy.
APPRAISER:
It says, "sgraffito," which is a style of decoration, and it's marked Weller as for the Weller Pottery company.
GUEST:
Ah!
APPRAISER:
So, it wouldn't need the mark, it's a distinctive form and a distinctive technique. In terms of value, there's a crack in the top, you should be very careful picking it up this way, always pick it up by the throat, but... I, without a doubt, on today's market, a retail figure would be $25,000, even with the crack.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
It's a real masterpiece of Zanesville, Ohio, pottery at the peak of their creative powers.
GUEST:
Oh wow, I hope my greedy sister isn't watching. (laughs)
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