Moser Austrian Monumental Vase, ca. 1910
GUEST:
My great-great-grandfather brought it from Europe, we think Italy or Austria, and my grandmother has had it all the years until she passed away with my mother having it, and now it's mine. It was always so special. My grandmother built a special gold cabinet. In fact, she's dancing in Heaven today with us filming this, because this was a real prize for her.
APPRAISER:
A real prize, but you've never had it appraised or look at?
GUEST:
No.
APPRAISER:
Number one, it's monumental. It's 22 inches tall and about six-and-a-half inches in diameter. And this is all very heavy gilt gold, applied work with enamel flowers. You of course have seen all these flowers all the way around this piece. This is an emerald green. I'm going to refer to it as a window. And we have the emerald green windows down here so you see the light through. The interesting thing about these pieces, there's sort of three periods of this Moser or Moser-style glass. In the 1880s, you wouldn't see as much of this little tiny raised flower look. It's a flatter look. The gilt gold looks similar, and in the 1950s, they did away with a lot of the gilt gold and the flowers were just bigger, and the colors, the emerald greens are different. This one is right in between those two time periods, which we don't see very often, and so that was really exciting. So this one is circa 1910. Moser, Austria, that's correct. A similar one sold at auction in the George Klabin collection, and the Klabin collection was a major collection that came up for sale very recently at one of the major auctions. So, that even adds to the value of the piece. I would estimate this, at auction, for $3,500 to $4,500.
GUEST:
Great! That's super. It's nice to know.
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.