Roseville Experimental Line Production Vase, ca. 1925
Watch
GUEST:
Well, we have a local retirement thrift store that I like to go to a lot. And I bought that at the shop. Since I've had it, different people have asked me whether it's real or fake. They can't tell. And maybe it could be Roseville, we don't know.
APPRAISER:
A lot of fakes of Roseville are coming out of China these days. And a fairly large percentage of what I see are Chinese fakes of Roseville pottery. And because this is such an unusual piece, I can see why that might be suggested by people you've shown it to. And the reason nobody knows for sure who made this is because it's an experimental piece. It was not a piece that was ever put in production. It looks like a geranium pattern to me.
GUEST:
Yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
I grew up on a geranium-- tomato and geranium farm-- so I know a thing or two about geraniums. Because of this color in the background and this crosshatching, you can also date what era experimental this is. Because they made experimental pieces from relatively early to relatively late, and they were in business for 60 years, 70 years. Roseville pottery was one of the primary production potteries in America for the first half of the 20th century. And while they made very good art ware, up till about 1910, because of the rise of production costs of actual artist labor, they scaled back from hand-decorated pieces to molded pieces where the color would have just been brushed on an existing design, hence production ware. If this were put into production they would have made thousands of them. And Roseville became famous for the quality of their production ware. It was the most imaginative anywhere in America. I've sold production pieces of Roseville for tens of thousands of dollars, so it's quite popular, quite famous for that. Unlike their other rivals in Zanesville, like the Weller Pottery or the Owens Company-- also famous potteries-- their production lines didn't come near what Roseville was cranking out...
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
...in the first half of the 20th century. This color and this crosshatching is typical of pieces that were made in the '20s.
GUEST:
There's two different colorations on there. Is that just part of the experiment a little bit or...
APPRAISER:
I think so, because normally on the pieces that are actually produced, they may only use the brown color, or they may use the blue color as a background. But they'll be consistent on both sides. This one, because it's a trial piece, I guess they wanted to show both variations of it. And how else do we know it's Roseville? This color clay right here, this buff-colored clay, that's classic Zanesville clay. It fires this soft yellowish color. And furthermore, there's a gentle foot ring. That's classic Roseville ware from any period, but especially without being marked.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Because it would have had a silver-colored foil label at the time. This brown even is classic Roseville '20s color. Usually found on the wisteria pattern, so this looks like a wisteria variation geranium pattern trial production piece from the Roseville company. So that's a really good thing. At auction today, it's worth about $2,000 at auction.
GUEST:
Wow! Oh, that's terrific.
APPRAISER:
Here's the downside. This was worth, ten years ago, about $5,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
And what's happened is the people that were buying it aren't buying anymore so much. And new people are not coming into the market. But in spite of the price drop-off that we've seen in Roseville over the last decade, you still have a piece that should certainly bring $2,000.
GUEST:
Oh wow.
APPRAISER:
And maybe bring a little more.
GUEST:
That's marvelous. Not bad for a $40 investment.
APPRAISER:
That's excellent.
GUEST:
(laughs)
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.
