Zsolnay Eosin Vase & Bowl, ca. 1900
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GUEST:
My wife's grandmother lived next door to an elderly couple. In Romania, and they received these as a wedding gift. And then unfortunately, during the communist times-- of course, she had a two-bedroom apartment-- they actually took the apartment from her, and she had to sell off all her goods. And she gave this to my wife's grandmother, who then gave it to my wife's mom, and when they came to America in 1990, she brought it with her. And then once we got married, she gave it to us. We really don't know much about it. Actually, the bowl, we used to use as our key bowl in my apartment in Brooklyn. (laughs): So we used to throw our keys in the bowl. So I don't think we should be throwing our keys in it, so...
APPRAISER:
Right, right!
GUEST:
We're here now. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
Okay. I don't think you will, all right.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So, these were made by a company, a pottery called Zsolnay. Zsolnay became a very important pottery, and a very important company in Hungary.
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
Like many other potteries around the world, you start with the industrial stuff, and then you can develop into a branch of art wares.
GUEST:
Okay, okay-- okay.
APPRAISER:
The owner was really fascinated by the beauty of some art wares...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...that were happening in Vienna, in Paris.
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
And so he worked very hard-- Mr. Zsolnay, Vilmos, worked very hard in developing many different looks and many different glazes. This particular iridescent glaze...
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
...they refer to as Eosin, after the goddess Eos. She was the goddess of dawn. It's a reduction glaze. There's a whole chemistry that goes around it, and it's hard to do. 1893 is really when they started working very much in this style, and he presented this to the world at the Chicago Columbian Exposition in 1893.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
And after that, they really hit their stride with their Art Nouveau ware. These apples and the apple trees, to me, that is very English. This pattern here is something that Tiffany used a lot. I think Tiffany probably got it from Japanese ceramics. This really tight wave, and this whole finish, this whole look of Eosin glaze, was really an homage, in a way, to what Tiffany was doing. They were trying to make ceramics look like glass. It's a gorgeous, gorgeous piece.
GUEST:
Hmm.
APPRAISER:
And it's completely decorated on the inside.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
The shape of flowers in here. This crescent is a little Ottoman Turkish. If I can show you the marks here.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This is an 1890s mark. And then this one, done perhaps a little bit later, maybe 1900 or so...
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
...has this lovely bird here, and then...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
This is a very rare one, by the way.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Not the shape so much, but the decoration.
GUEST:
Hm.
APPRAISER:
And you have pine trees...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...which look very either Chinese...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...or Japanese. Super-bright, bright, bright stripes here.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
Very striking. And this one has a different mark, which is a raised medallion and it's called a five churches mark.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And that dates it to roughly 1900.
GUEST:
Oh, okay, very interesting.
APPRAISER:
A bowl like this was sold at auction within the last five years...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
...for $16,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Probably plus premium. So at auction today, probably $12,000 to $16,000. Something like that.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So no keys here.
GUEST:
No, definitely...
APPRAISER:
Unless you put a liner!
GUEST:
No, there's no keys.
APPRAISER:
Okay, okay.
GUEST:
(laughs)
APPRAISER:
This piece here has had some damage. So we have some cracks, we have restoration, and there's quite a bit of it. In this condition, still, at auction, most likely $10,000 to $15,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
Perfect condition, maybe $20,000.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Because it is very large...
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
...and super-rare.
GUEST:
Okay, well, that's unbelievable. I'm impressed, and shocked. (laughs) That's awesome, thank you.
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