GUEST: Well, this piece is in the family and it was inherited down. We don't know much about it, we just know it's very unique. It sits on a table in my aunt's house and we all admire it just because of the uniqueness of it. We've never seen nothing like it.
APPRAISER: Okay, and so you take pretty good care of it, then?
GUEST: Well, we make sure no kids hit it or nothing but we've been scared to kind of clean it because we don't know what to clean without getting in trouble.
APPRAISER: And have you heard theories about cleaning things, or...?
GUEST: Oh, yes. We watch this ANTIQUES ROADSHOW all the time. And so we know not to take the special patina off of the item, so...
APPRAISER: So, you're very careful.
GUEST: Very careful.
APPRAISER: Well, what you have here is a 19th century epergne, and that's a little bit fancy name for a flower vase and sweetmeat container. This lifts out and the flowers go in the top. And then some type of sweetmeat in the center part of the piece. This piece, in the condition it's in, has much lesser value than if you do clean this piece. This is a piece you would take to a professional silversmith and have them work on it, and it isn't a lot of work. It's basically a good cleaning.
GUEST: Yes, ma'am.
APPRAISER: They are very careful with the patina, so you wouldn't lose the natural patina. You also noticed on here a certain mark?
GUEST: Yes, ma'am. On the swan and underneath the swan.
APPRAISER: And under the swan. And because we haven't taken this apart, we did try with a magnifying glass, but couldn't exactly see it all. So that mark will show up when you take it in for the cleaning process. The swans on the bottom are extremely rare. Has a little bit of damage around the top, which hurts it a little bit, but given that, in good condition, which, again, would not be a big project. I presume there's a silversmith in the area.
GUEST: Well, probably near us. We live in a little small town.
APPRAISER: Well, definitely take it to a silversmith and then you would have a piece that's in the $2,000 range.
GUEST: Oh, no kidding! Oh, man!
APPRAISER: So, a nice present, and I do thank you very much.
GUEST: Thank you! I'm having a blast.
APPRAISER: Oh, great.
GUEST: Are you serious about that?
APPRAISER: Yes, I sure am. I sure am.
GUEST: It's that old?
APPRAISER: Yes, it's a wonderful piece.
