GUEST: Well, we were on vacation in South Carolina and saw this in an antique shop, and I just loved it. But we didn't buy it. And when we came home, my husband, unbeknownst to me, made a telephone call and ordered it for a Christmas present.
APPRAISER: Isn't that nice?
GUEST: Very nice.
APPRAISER: This is a beautiful early Lenox china demitasse or espresso set dating to about 1910. They did a fair amount of silver overlay, but I like this one because of the background color. Sometimes it's just cream, sometimes it's blue. But this soft green is very rare. I've only seen it a few times.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: And I think it's the prettiest color they made.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: This is the Lenox mark. The green wreath mark where it says Lenox without U.S.A., that's how you know it's an earlier mark.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: But also what I like is this "D" mark, which is DePasse, which was the firm that put the silver overlay on these pieces. It's not the company you normally see. I've never seen this mark before on a piece of Lenox china, early Lenox china.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Also, it's worth noting that the medallion on all three pieces was never engraved with an initial, which is most unusual, and I think adds a little bit of value to it.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: The irony is that as rare and beautiful as this is-- and it's very rare and very beautiful-- the market for these is actually less than it was. It would have been worth more about 20, 25 years ago. Today, maybe between $500 and $750. About 20, 25 years ago, about double that.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: Yes.
GUEST: Well, maybe it will come back up. Who knows? (both laughing)
