Tiffany Glass Vases
GUEST:
My grandfather gave them to me about 20 years ago. He had had them in his family a long time. His parents bought them. I remember them being in my grandparents' house when I was growing up, and now they're in my house.
APPRAISER:
And you know that they're Tiffany.
GUEST:
Yes, I was always told they were Tiffany.
APPRAISER:
What we have here today are two vases that represent the beginning and the end.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
The beginning of Tiffany glassmaking, and the end of Tiffany glassmaking.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Tiffany opened his furnaces for glass blowing in 1893. Almost six months into that there was a terrible fire in October of 1893, destroying the factory.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
But he was able to rebuild it in six months, and they were going full steam ahead in 1894. This piece dates probably from 1895.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
And this piece dates from the 1920s, when they were moving towards closing down. And it's a more commercial piece.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And what's interesting about both of these pieces is that they both have something wrong with them.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now, this piece, the way it's signed on the bottom, it has a number without a prefix letter and without a suffix letter. That's okay, because that just indicates that this was probably made around 1895. Below that, though, is the signature, which says, "L.C. Tiffany Favrile." And if you look really closely, part of that signature is an original signature. The other part is not. It's the "LCT" that's original. So someone decided they had to gild the lily on this.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
Now, what is wrong with this? Someone cleaned it way too much.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
You didn't do that?
GUEST:
No, I did not.
APPRAISER:
This is the way you got it.
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
I always wondered what this engraving was.
APPRAISER:
Well, that's an original monogram, so this was made for whomever bought it. But the color on this, we're down to the copper that you can see through here.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And then also it's still a little gold through here. But I believe that the original color was more of the brown or a statuary bronze color. So that does affect the value. But the good news is, it didn't affect the value on this. I don't like to make a big deal about signatures, because when I look at the piece I always say the piece is the signature. But after I've done that, I always turn the piece over to look. I would put a retail price of $3,000 to $4,000 on it. And then this one, were it in good shape, I would have said maybe $1,500-$2,000. But because of the condition, I would say more $500-$800.
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.
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