Tiffany Studios Mosaic Inkwell, ca. 1905
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GUEST:
I've brought you a Tiffany inkwell. It was part of my mom's collection. My mom was an avid antiquer and would drag my sister and myself to antique shops, secondhand shops and auctions. And I think maybe on one of those forays, she picked this up. I don't know much about it. I know it has some damage on top and otherwise I'm just all yours.
APPRAISER:
(laughing) Okay, well, it's actually quite a rare piece. What makes it rare is, it's not part of a mass-produced desk set in which there would be 40 different pieces. This is much more of an art piece. It's made by Tiffany Studios, and I can show you the mark right here. Tiffany Studios, New York, with the number. And the number corresponds to the number that you would find in the catalogue that was published around the time that this was made. This was made circa 1905. It's got the mosaic design, and this is all Tiffany favrile glass mosaic. Then it has the liner. We have the part that fits into the inkwell, and then we have the center. And if you look at it very closely, it's a poppy. This is pressed and molded glass where these are all beautiful Tiffany glass tiles that have been iridized and then cut individually. And you have this incredible bronze sculptural design of poppy leaves. Now, the fun part about this is, even though this was made at Tiffany Studios, Louis Comfort Tiffany did not design this. In 2007, there was an exhibition in New York at the New York Historical Society. The title of it was, "Clara Driscoll and the Tiffany Girls: A New Light on Tiffany." And it turns out that it's very likely that Clara Driscoll designed this inkwell. And if she didn't actually do the work on it, it's very likely that the Tiffany girls did. Do you know what your mother might have paid for this?
GUEST:
She didn't have much money in those days. I think she started collecting the '40s, the '50s. She probably paid under $50.
APPRAISER:
In the condition it's in, in a retail shop, it could sell for between $25,000 and $30,000.
GUEST:
Whoa.
APPRAISER:
Now, you could go out and find the liner. They can be priced anywhere from $2,000, $3,000. And they're fairly rare, but it can be done. And if you were to replace the liner-- and it would be perfectly fine, as long as it's original Tiffany-- the inkwell would be worth as much as $50,000 in a retail shop.
GUEST:
Oh, my goodness.
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