GUEST: This piece was given to my mother- and father-in-law as a wedding present, and it was given to them by my mother-in-law's uncle. He gave it to them with a plant in it. My mother-in-law really liked the plant. They say the plant was from Puerto Rico. In fact, they thought the jug was from Puerto Rico for a long time.
APPRAISER: Well, we have seen a ton of pottery today, and I expected that because North Carolina is one of the capitals of pottery making in the United States. This is not North Carolina.
GUEST: No, no.
APPRAISER: It says "Virginia" on it, Petersburg, Virginia, but this got my heart pounding.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: This one is very special. As you can see, right across the front, it says "Henry Lowndes Maker, Petersburg, Virginia, 1841."
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Until recently we didn't know very much about pottery making along the James River in Virginia, but the James River was the source of a lot of very nice stoneware. And Henry Lowndes' father, Thomas, came from Staffordshire, England, 1804-1805.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And settled in Petersburg, and he began to produce pottery and stoneware. Interestingly enough, Henry Lowndes died in 1842, so this was a piece produced... Right at the end of his life. Just before his death, the end of his career. The piece is very typical of Lowndes' work, interlaced looping decoration around the rim, the wonderful floral decoration in brushed cobalt blue on the reverse side. Recently several of these Virginia pieces have brought some rather remarkable prices.
GUEST: Is that right?
APPRAISER: We would like to be conservative in giving you an auction estimate on this piece. And so, is it any surprise if I told you this is worth, at auction, an estimate of $10,000 to $15,000?
GUEST: Oh, you're kidding! Oh, yes, that's quite a shock. Oh, my goodness. Wow.
APPRAISER: Well, it's a wonderful piece.
GUEST: Well, thank you very much. And it's not from Puerto Rico.
APPRAISER: No, it certainly isn't. Well, thank you very much.
