Newcomb College Vase, ca. 1905
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GUEST:
My mother came from a long line of collectors, and it just was on the mantel, or the buffet, and she just has a house full of antiques.
APPRAISER:
And you said you were the only child, so you inherited everything?
GUEST:
I inherited everything.
APPRAISER:
So, why'd you choose to bring this piece in here today?
GUEST:
Watching the ROADSHOW, I've seen Newcomb pottery and I said, "Well, I'll just..." It surprised me to find it, because I'd never really paid any attention to it before. Then I said, "Oh, Newcomb, I'll take that."
APPRAISER:
Well, we don't do as much Newcomb on the ROADSHOW as we used to for several reasons: because we've done it so often over the years, and Newcomb has dropped in value, for the most part, a lot in the last five or six years, something that didn't happen for decades. But I think you have a rather exceptional piece in a lot of ways. First of all, this piece of Newcomb is right in their power alley of when they were making their best work.
GUEST:
Where is Newcomb College?
APPRAISER:
New Orleans.
GUEST:
New Orleans.
APPRAISER:
It's an adjunct of Tulane University. If we look on the bottom of the piece, there's several things we see. That is the Newcomb mark. Henrietta Bailey, the artist. The "Q" mark, which means it's before 1905, which is really important. That's an original price tag. That's the original Newcomb label. This is the date, and even Joseph Meyer's... His initials are on there. This thing is marked. That's all good and well. It still doesn't make for a good piece of Newcomb. What does make for a good piece of Newcomb, normally, is a piece of more size than this, and this isn't small, but it's not large, either.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
Still, it's a good piece of Newcomb. What's going on? Number one, it's an early high glaze piece, but with incising and modeling, which means it's both incised and carved through the work. The decoration as well... Poppy pods. It's a highly stylized Art Nouveau design that you very seldom see on Newcomb worked to this degree. She tooled it and then she set the yellow pods against a dark blue background to really make them jump off the vase. It has many colors, not just a soft blue and a soft green and a dark blue and a yellow and a darker green, but even this yellow border around the top... It's just, you don't see that detail very often on Newcomb. It's very sexy and very effective. This is like a six-color piece of Newcomb, it's just crazy. Henrietta Bailey took a lot of time working this piece. It has everything. So it really visually is a perfect piece of Newcomb pottery. It would look better cleaned. We have a combination of cooking grease and nicotine on there. That said, it can't stop what is a very beautiful piece from glowing through the surface. It's consistent all the way through. So, what's the value of the piece? Newcomb College, as I mentioned, is down in price for all but about one out of every 300 pieces. This is one of the 300 pieces to me. I think a good retail figure on this right now would be about $25,000.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
Auction, I would say $20,000 to $25,000, but I wouldn't sell it privately for less than $25,000. I think it's worth all that and could bring more. It's that good a pot.
GUEST:
Whoa. I never dreamed. I figured maybe $500, $600.
Appraisal Details
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