Blue Opaline Snake Paperweight, ca. 1850
Watch
GUEST:
All I know is that my brother owned it. He loved art glass, and my mother now has it in her collection of paperweights.
APPRAISER:
It's interesting, because it would really fall more into the category of, of paperweights than art glass. It is French, and the blue glass is called opaline. Now, the French did lots of opaline. You find blue opaline, and green and pink and white. The three major French crystal houses-- Baccarat, Saint-Louis, and Clichy, who worked in the 19th century-- all produced this type of glass. This would have been made during the classic period that the French did paperweights, which is the 1840s to '60s. Normally, you would find a white goblet or decanter, and they would take the blue glass and coil it around as a snake and do it on the outside of a form.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
But here, they actually coiled the glass and made a three-dimensional snake paperweight as an individual object. Now that's very unusual. And the top of it is, is beautifully gilded. And if you look from the bottom, what you have is just the, the opaline. So it's a blue glass with a nice shine, and it's a great color.
GUEST:
I think that's why we all love it, is the color.
APPRAISER:
There is one example of a salamander done by Pantin that isn't free-forming. Otherwise, I haven't seen an opaline animal.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
In this timeframe, you would not expect it to be marked. If it was marked, you'd be suspicious. It was not something that the French did. But it is a most unusual item. If it was a nice coiled snake on a goblet, it would be a few hundred dollars. But just the coiled snake, gilded, as a paperweight itself, I would put a value of about $2,500 to $3,500 on it right now.
GUEST:
Oh! How exciting. (laughs)
APPRAISER:
It's a great thing, and it's really a marvelous piece of French 19th-century glass. And I want to thank you for bringing it in.
GUEST:
Well, thank you very much, and now we're all going to be fighting over the snake, so thank you.
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.
