Royal Doulton Bear, ca. 1915
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GUEST:
My next-door neighbor gave this to me for my 45th birthday.
APPRAISER:
Recently.
GUEST:
Well, yes.
APPRAISER:
And did you know anything about it at the time?
GUEST:
The only thing I note is that it is Royal Doulton, and that it does have a flambé glaze.
APPRAISER:
Okay. Well, that's a good observation. Certainly the red part of it would be the flambé glaze. And it is marked "Royal Doulton," which certainly makes it easy to identify as Royal Doulton. There are some stress cracks, which seem to be in the manufacture, down here and right up here, and then one over here. But they don't affect the integrity of the piece. It's not a crack that's running through the piece that one would be concerned about it possibly breaking. The only drawback this piece has-- and I don't consider the hairlines to be a drawback-- the only drawback is that the piece is not artist-signed. That would be name recognition, and not necessarily would allow the piece to bring any more money. Most of the flambés made by Royal Doulton would have been made in the early part of the 20th century. And what's nice is the variety of glaze as we go around the piece that Doulton has incorporated, and this lovely little cub that's hiding in the rear. Certainly, one does have to see the back to be able to appreciate that. But Doulton is tremendously collectible. This is the only model of this kind that I have recalled ever seeing. And I'm sure that if you did research with other Doulton specialists and through other Doulton societies, you would find the same results. These are totally unheard of figures to come about. Do you have any particular impression as to its value?
GUEST:
The only thing is that I know that a dealer offered me about $1,500 for it at one point.
APPRAISER:
How long ago was that?
GUEST:
About three years ago.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and how would you feel about that, as a birthday present being worth $1,500?
GUEST:
That was quite a gift, I thought.
APPRAISER:
Do they think a lot of you?
GUEST:
Yes, they do. Extremely nice lady.
APPRAISER:
Well, as I say, it's very collectible. And not just collectible nationally, but internationally. If this were to come up at an auction today, I would not be surprised at all if it would bring in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $7,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
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