Pottery & Porcelain

Austrian Majolica Jardinière on Pedestal, ca. 1895

Appraisal: Austrian Majolica Jardinière on Pedestal, ca. 18

Transcript

GUEST: I live in New Orleans and I go to thrift stores pretty frequently, and I saw this behind the counter and thought, "Oh, it's pretty." (chuckles) So, bought it.

APPRAISER: And tell me about how much you had to pay for it.

GUEST: $80.

APPRAISER: I love the fact that it's a thistle decorated with thistles. It's beautifully colored. You couldn't make this without a very high quality kiln, what we call a majolica glaze kiln. And these majolica glaze kilns were active throughout Europe and England from certainly from the 1880s and into the early 20th century. This one was made in Austria probably about 1890 or 1900. Now, it's got some damage. There's a little piece here missing, although you have that piece. You have that thistle flower. And you can see a few more little bits where leaves are missing. Have you thought about having it fixed?

GUEST: Yes, that's what I was wondering, if it would be worth investing in having it restored.

APPRAISER: First of all, you have very little investment in it, and there's no question that the value will increase if you restore it beyond the cost of restoration. It's probably going to be $400 or $500. If it was fixed, in a good antique shop, a jardinière and pedestal like this, the price would have to be at least $3,500. I think even as is, most antiques dealers would price it at around $2,000.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Yeah.