Bronze Brush Pot
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GUEST:
It was from my great-grandmother. She acquired it from her deceased brother from San Francisco, and he was there during the earthquake and fire. And I always liked it as a... as a young girl and was always interested in it. And no one could tell me anything about it, but I always found it very interesting.
APPRAISER:
So, this was the great earthquake of 1906. Is this right?
GUEST:
I'm assuming yes, ma'am.
APPRAISER:
That was a time when a lot of objects were coming from China into the West Coast, into America. This is a Chinese cast bronze brush pot. Okay.
GUEST:
Brush pot.
APPRAISER:
Used to contain brushes that would be used for calligraphy or painting. This is an object that was probably made in the 19th century, although it does bear a imperial mark from the Qianlong period. That is 1735 to 1795. However, it's a spurious mark, and so Chinese love to have things that looked like they were antique. This has five five-clawed dragons. Five-clawed dragons are a symbol of imperial power. And so this would have made a great gift from one sort of wealthy merchant to another in exchange for a favor. So it was probably made for domestic use in China around 1900. It's a heavy piece. It's got great weight. It looks visually very impressive. It's a symbol of wealth, of power, authority. Currently, at auction, it would bring somewhere in the vicinity, we think, of between $5,000 and $8,000.
GUEST:
(laughing) Oh, my gosh! I had no idea! Gosh! Wow!
Appraisal Details
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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."
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