GUEST: These are celadon bowls that my dad bought during the Korean War in 1953.
GUEST: He bought them at a store in Seoul. My dad was a physician working in a, a MASH-type unit for the Marines.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: Um, so he bought this on, I guess, R&R?
APPRAISER: Sure.
GUEST: During a break. And my mother had asked him to look for celadon. He had said that they were 800 years old, but I really don't know. My brother and I inherited them two years ago, when my dad passed. Two years ago, he was having second thoughts about having taken them from the country.
APPRAISER: Sure.
GUEST: Because he thought they may have been maybe antiquities.
APPRAISER: Celadon is a, sort of a national product of Korea, sort of a national treasure.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: The question of whether these are 800 years old, they are indeed 800 years old.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: These date from the Goryeo dynasty, which was 918 to 1392.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: In fact, the word "Korea" comes from Goryeo. Celadon wares were influenced by Chinese celadons. So this bowl, for example, is especially more of a Song Dynasty type bowl.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: This dates from the 12th century.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And it has this beautiful floral molded decoration on the inside, and it's just magnificent. It's flawless. The two smaller bowls, I wish I could say the same.
GUEST: (laughs)
APPRAISER: But unfortunately, we see the condition of the one. These have a special technique that's employed. Do you see the white decoration on the inside?
GUEST: Yes. Yeah, I did notice.
APPRAISER: That's what we call a slip inlay decoration.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: So the decoration was carved out, filled with a different kind of clay, and then decorated with a white slip. These are the genuine article and they're beautiful.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: These are wonderful artifacts from Korean history. Your father had a question about whether or not these bowls should be returned to Korea. Or whether it was right in the first place that they be brought out. I think it's fine. These are pieces that likely would have been made for an upper class, perhaps a merchant class. And as such, these were made for sale. Antique dealers had probably been selling wares like this for hundreds of years prior to your father's trip to Korea and having bought these in 1953.
GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: These are not utilitarian wares. These would have been difficult to produce. The difficulty is not in the potting as much as it is in getting the glaze right.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: So I don't think this was a daily sort of eat-your-lunch bowl. Yeah.
GUEST: (laughing): Okay.
APPRAISER: And what did your father pay for these when he acquired them in 1953?
GUEST: Well, I recently found a letter that, um, he wrote to my mom and he said that he bought these three pieces, plus a hammered uh bronze bowl, for $35.
APPRAISER: I believe that the pair of bowls, with one of them being damaged, would have modest value at auction. Maybe $2,000 or so.
GUEST: Yeah? (laughing): Okay.
APPRAISER: If this pair were in perfect condition, and that broken example were the same as this, at auction I think it would sell for $5,000 to $7,000.
GUEST: Wow. That was broken by, um, a house cleaner. So... (both laughing)
APPRAISER: This bowl is the prize, though. I think in today's market...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...a conservative auction estimate for this celadon bowl would be $15,000 to $20,000 at auction.
GUEST: No! (laughing): Oh, my gosh, my dad would be flabbergasted.
APPRAISER: (chuckling): Absolutely so. It's a magnificent example.
GUEST: Wow. Well, that's why we were never allowed to touch them when we were kids.
APPRAISER: I think that was good advice.
GUEST: But, but I didn't know if they were real, so...
APPRAISER: They're wonderful.
GUEST: That's amazing. Well, thank you so much.
APPRAISER: Thank you. You're very welcome.
GUEST: Appreciate it.
