1914 Earle Staffordshire Pottery Book
GUEST:
A portion of my family came from England and they were the Earle family. And this book was written about the collection of Staffordshire pottery that they had. When the book was going to print, Mr. Earle sent a letter to Queen Victoria and asked her if she would have the book dedicated to her. A secretary wrote back in this letter and said, "No, I'm sorry, we don't do that. "That's not her policy, but we would be happy to accept the first copy of the book."
APPRAISER:
So Queen Victoria owns the first copy, and this is the second copy. And there were 250 copies of the book published. The picture was sent back with the letter as kind of a gift to make up for the fact that they weren't going to let the book be dedicated to them. And notice there that the first letter is the letter declining the dedication which is dated in 1914. And the second letter is an acceptance letter from Windsor Castle. The first is from Buckingham Palace, written by a secretary or an assistant to the queen. And that second one was accepting the book.
GUEST:
That's correct.
APPRAISER:
First of all, this book is one of the first important reference books on early English pottery. There were people that started collecting in the late 19th and early 20th century, but there were no reference books. Today we have hundreds and hundreds of books, and the Internet. We have all this access to information. And back then there was very little information. So this is considered a seminal, important book,
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
towards the scholarship of early English pottery. Here we've got this wonderful insert where it says that the queen had accepted the first numbered copy of this work. Then here we have the page that says there were 250 copies of this special subscribers' edition. This is the super deluxe edition, so to speak. And which this one is number two. So the number one copy, we assume, is still in one of the royal collections. Here is the title page about the Earle Collection, actually written by your relative-- Major Cyril Earle. It's profusely illustrated with tissue paper between the illustrations, both black and white and colored. And this one here shows some early Staffordshire toby jugs. These would be from the 18th century. Now families are so prone to get stories mixed up. And there's a major flaw in this story that probably a few of our viewers have already detected. Queen Victoria died in 1901. This is 1914, 1915. It was Queen Mary...
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
who was the wife of King George V. Now it's really appropriate that they would have asked her to let the book be dedicated to her because she was a famous collector. There's great stories about all of the things that she collected, and how serious she was, and even some really amusing stories about how she bought things and sometimes didn't pay for them. And she would go in people's homes and ask to be given things out of their homes, and they would hide them so she wouldn't see them.
GUEST:
Oh, so the picture really didn't have anything to do...?
APPRAISER:
It wasn't sent. Just somewhere in your family someone got mixed up and they framed the picture and the story got a little, told a little differently.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
But it doesn't diminish the story. And this is a great book in a special deluxe edition. Standard copies of this book usually sell for around $500. But this is the deluxe version. It has a beautiful binding. It's in perfect condition. And it's number two. So if this went to auction, it would probably be bid up to around $1,000. So we can conservatively say it's probably worth between $800 and $1,000, and who knows, it might even bring a little more. It's a great thing to have in your family.
GUEST:
Thank you very much. I'm glad to be set straight on this story. Now you can tell everyone the funny story behind the story.
APPRAISER:
Right.
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.
