1901 Heinrich Schlitt Mettlach Charger
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GUEST:
This has been in our family for three generations now. It came down from my wife's grandmother to her mother, and to my wife.
APPRAISER:
And do you have it hanging in your home?
GUEST:
No, we haven't really found the perfect spot for it yet. So what we basically have done is just try to protect it, and keep it wrapped up in bubble wrap, and keep it safe and secure because it appears to be in decent shape.
APPRAISER:
Well, the marks on the back, there's an impress mark that's a castle, and with that castle mark is the word "Mettlach."
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Which is the name of the company that made it. And Mettlach was actually a division of another company called Villeroy & Boch, which is a very famous manufacturer of pottery and porcelain.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And this was just one of their factories. Beneath the mark, it says "V.B.," which is for Villeroy & Boch. Near that mark is an impressed "01."
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
And in this case, that means it was made in 1901.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Which is a kind of a unique marking system for this particular maker.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Mettlach was famous for making stoneware steins.
GUEST:
Beer steins.
APPRAISER:
Beer steins. That's what they're really known for.
GUEST:
Okay, okay.
APPRAISER:
But their second-biggest product was these large plaques, or chargers, that were designed to be decorative, to hang on the wall. What I like about this one is the scene. It's so bizarre and so interesting.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
First of all, we got these great, vivid colors. And here we have a gnome or a dwarf, who is sitting in a forest of toadstools, eating his porridge and looking at a fairy. Pretty odd...
GUEST:
Depiction.
APPRAISER:
...depiction of a scene.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Now, this had a companion plaque. These plaques usually came in pairs.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
And the companion plaque is another dwarf sitting in a forest of toadstools, and he's reading a book, but he doesn't have the company of the lovely fairy, unfortunately.
GUEST:
Ah, okay.
APPRAISER:
We've got this name, Heinrich Schlitt. That is the name of the man who designed the plaque. He was an artist from Munich, and he did special commission design work for Mettlach. And in terms of collectors, what they like, they like really unusual, bright scenes, and they like... particularly like the work of this artist.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
He did such great work that there's always a premium on anything that he designed.
GUEST:
Interesting.
APPRAISER:
Now, most of the plaques are things like landscapes, or... There are so many other subjects. But this is one of the most desirable subjects for these chargers. Most of these plaques sell in the range these days of between $300 and $800, depending on the scene and the rarity and the desirability.
GUEST:
Sure.
APPRAISER:
But this particular plaque would usually retail for somewhere between $3,000 and $5,000.
GUEST:
(laughs) Really?
APPRAISER:
Yeah. On the ROADSHOW, we've probably seen a hundred of these over the years, but this is the first time that I know of that we've ever seen this particular one, with such an outrageous scene.
GUEST:
Okay. Wow.
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