1818 Chester County Redware Jar
GUEST: I brought in a crock from 1818. It's been in the family. There was a farm at one point outside Philly that my grandfather had, and he rented out the barn and, and all, we had a place we could go and stay there. And whether that came from that area, I don't know.
APPRAISER: Is that in Chester County?
GUEST: I believe so, yes.
APPRAISER: Because I do think you have a Chester County piece.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: This redware jar would've been made of locally sourced clay. Potteries in Chester County in the late 18th and early 19th century, they used a lot of slip. When you add up the fact that this has this specific ovoid form with these handles, with this type of slip, and in the fact that this manganese decoration is there, it all points to Chester County, Pennsylvania. And in Chester County, because it's near Philadelphia, of course...
GUEST: Yup.
APPRAISER: ...they-- were influenced by Philadelphia pieces. So it's similar to Philadelphia, but has much more... personality.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: A little more provincial. So it has, has an accent.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: And that accent is rural Pennsylvania, specifically Chester County. So it's "L.L." in script on one side with that eight... 1818 with a serif there. And then on the other side, We had this "L.L." in block letters, and 1818 without a serif. I think that these are two different people decorating it within the pottery.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: Which is-- I've never seen before. We looked for a pottery where the L.L. initials would make sense.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: We didn't find one in Chester County, Pennsylvania. So it makes better sense, I think, that it be an owner. So you have manganese vertical little slashes...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Kind of drips that add depth to the decoration. You had this copper oxide, this greenish color in this area, which gives it great color. It adds interest to the glaze.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And redware jars like this were utilitarian. They kept liquids in them. They kept dry goods in them. This is a, a fairly large example. You have some chips on the piece, but they're small.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: You know, there's a nip over here. You do have a chip to the base.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: The damage on here, although damage is expected on a piece of redware, when you add it all up, it does affect the value of the piece. I grew up collecting, uh, red-- and dealing in redware and stoneware, so, before I found out about girls, my brother and I, after-- after dinner we'd, we'd hug our jars, you know. (laughs) That's literally, we, we... talk about our collection, hug our collection. So just to see an ovoid form like this...
GUEST: Mm.
APPRAISER: ...is pretty exciting. A piece like this, you could put at auction in the range of $6,000..
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: ...to $8,000.
GUEST: Wow. And I used to keep it at the top of the stairs. And then when I saw something on ROADSHOW, I was like, "Maybe I shouldn't leave that at the top of the stairs." (both chuckle)
$6,000 - $8,000 Auction
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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."
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