Chinese Porcelain Rouleau Vase Fragment, ca. 1710
GUEST: There was a box at the auction that I wanted some items out of, and this pendant was in that box.
APPRAISER: And what did you pay for the box?
GUEST: Around $15.
APPRAISER: And when was that?
GUEST: About two years ago.
APPRAISER: It's porcelain. And I can tell you it came from something else. It was broken and then shaped and fashioned and put within a silver frame, made into a pendant in the 20th century. The important part is that this curve here helps us better understand the shape of the object this came from. That curvature typically one only finds on vases that are of cylindrical shape. So it would have been part of the cylinder shape of a vase that would have been approximately eight inches in diameter. And there's a special kind of vase that's called a rouleau vase that was made in China, because this is Chinese.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: And I knew that from the colors of the enamel decoration and the subject matter. So the vase is probably about this tall. And it would have been a cylindrical, slightly swelled shape. Then at the neck, it would have been pinched a little bit, with another cylindrical short section, and then the lip would have been spread out a little bit to match the lower body. That's called a rouleau vase.
And that rouleau shape was a shape that was prominent, and you find in porcelain made in the late 17th and early 18th century.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: So we're going back to somewhere around 1700 to 1720 or so. She was likely accompanied by other female figures and other figures in this luxuriant, expansive kind of setting that was probably on balconies, with a landscape in the distance, and other beautifully painted figures. So we can surmise that the quality we see here was extended to the overall object. And I can also tell, from the quality of the porcelain itself, there are very few imperfections. So that this came from the very finest of the porcelain kilns...
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER: ...in the city of Jingdezhen, which is where this porcelain was made for the emperor of China and members of his court.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER: So there are two kinds of qualities. One would be beautifully painted, but not necessarily with the official mark underneath...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...that would indicate this was made for the court.
GUEST: Hm.
APPRAISER: We call that a reign mark, and that would have been written on the bottom. And then there's those that have the reign mark. This could have been either one, based on what I can see from this, this part of it. But what we have is one small piece of something that is now gone. I'm gonna give you an idea for insurance value.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Retail replacement value. And I would say that somewhere in the neighborhood of about $500 would be appropriate.
GUEST: Oh, that's...
APPRAISER: For this little piece.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness. (chuckling) (laughing): Oh, my goodness, I had no idea. That's wonderful.
APPRAISER: Had we the entirety of this, if this had a reign mark on the bottom, it would have been over $100,000.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER: So you have a treasure.
GUEST: Well, I'm happy with it. (laughing) (chuckling) Oh, my goodness-- thank you so much.
$500 - $500 Insurance
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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."
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.
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