GUEST: It's a vase that has been in my family at least since my grandfather. When he passed, it went to my mother. She had it always in a place of prominence in her house. She loved it. So I always remember it growing up as a kid. It just has a lot of sentimental value to me, and I think it's beautiful. I know there's a mark at the bottom, but I don't know anything about it. I think we had it appraised probably in the early '70s.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: Probably about $1,000, but I don't know.
APPRAISER: Okay, okay.
GUEST: That's probably... But I don't have anything written about it, so...
APPRAISER: Okay, well, we're really thrilled that you brought it to "Roadshow" today. This is a flower basket made by the Whiting silver company.
GUEST: Whiting, okay.
APPRAISER: And Whiting silver was originally started in Massachusetts around 1840, and then it transplanted to New York City, and continued to make silver all the way through till 1924, when it was absorbed by the Gorham silver company.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: They made many, many wonderful things, including flatware and hollowware, but this represents one of the finest examples of what they made. And the decoration is really beautiful. We've got these wonderful entwined leaves all the way down. And then as we get down there, you've got one blossom here, but I want to spin forward here. You have these fabulous chrysanthemums. The decoration is really wonderful. And then as we continue around, it actually moves down the handle all the way down to the leaves here.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: Then you have this pierced latticework base, as well, at the bottom. It's a really beautiful example of Whiting's work. We know it's made by Whiting because it has their mark on there, and it's got a couple of other stamps we can talk about, as well. Starting at the top, it says, "Spaulding & Co." And, actually, Spaulding was a very high-end retailer in Chicago. So it was actually made by Whiting and retailed by Spaulding in Chicago.
GUEST: Interesting.
APPRAISER: Then below that, we have the Whiting mark, which is this wonderful little figural stamp. Then it says "sterling," and four numbers, which would have been the model number.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And then right below that, there's this very interesting little triad sign. It's a little trefoil sign, which is actually the date mark for 1910.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: So we know all about it.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: It's a really, really lovely example of their work. Now we get to value.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It's a really wonderful example. The silver market in some ways is tied to its weight. This exceeds that head and shoulders.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And, interestingly, in doing some research, we were able to find some similar examples. So we can really nail down a value on it.
GUEST: Oh, good.
APPRAISER: If I were to see this to come up today for auction, in 2017, I would recommend an auction estimate of around about $5,000 to $7,000.
GUEST: Okay. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: A little more than I thought it was going to be.
GUEST: That's... that's exciting, actually.
APPRAISER: Wow. If you chose to insure it, I would recommend an insurance value of somewhere between about $10,000 and $12,000, to replace it.
GUEST: Okay. It's not going anywhere, it's staying at my house, right where... Actually, on the same piece of furniture my mother kept it on is where it stays.
