Royal Vienna-style Plates, ca. 1905
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GUEST:
They were in my mother's home, and my sister had them. She has now downsized, so she gave them to me. And I'm not sure where my mother got them. And unfortunately, while Mother is still with us at 103, she doesn't remember where she got them either.
APPRAISER:
We have two obviously exquisite plates. And that's the key. Now, there's a company, Royal Vienna, which the Royal Vienna Porcelain Factory actually closed in 1864, and these pieces were done a lot later, more than likely between 1900 and 1910. So they're not Royal Vienna, but they're often mistaken as such. The key thing here is that they're of exceptional quality. So- and one of the tipoffs when we get into this type of quality is that each of them, besides being hand-painted, often have a title on the back. So let's go to the first one. Let's come across here and take a quick look. And we see the classic beehive mark, sometimes referred to as a shield mark, and really has no bearing whatsoever, other than the fact that we're going to call these Vienna or Royal Vienna style plates.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Secondly, we get back to the description here, in this case written in German, "Erblüht", meaning "bloom," or "flower."
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now, if we come over to this one... we see this similar beehive mark, and we see the description, "Reflexion." Now, Royal Vienna style plates do come up frequently, and they're sold all over the country on a steady basis for all kinds of price points. We're going to call them a nine to maybe a nine and a half out of ten.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
They're in exceptional condition. You know, the gilding around the edge is just impeccable. There's one key difference between the two plates, and we're going to go to this signature right here, which is the word "Wagner." Now, the Wagner family is believed to have been a group of artisans that worked for a number of continental porcelain makers. There's some dissention among the ranks as to whether or not that's actually the case, but what is without question, and what is key here, is that the Wagner name will add value to this plate over and above the other. So today, if you sold these pieces at auction, I think it's reasonable to expect the plate on the right to be estimated for between $1,000 and $1,500.
GUEST:
Oh, my word.
APPRAISER:
And the one with the Wagner name would come in at $1,500 to $2,000.
GUEST:
Oh, my. Oh, my goodness. Okay.
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