GUEST: It is a celadon bowl that was a gift to me from my uncle who brought it from Japan. He was a civilian director of the educational troops after the war. So this was one of the things that he sent back. Probably was made before the war. So it's at least, uh, probably 80, maybe even 100 years old.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: It's very possible. He obviously had planned to have a house, and put all these things in it, and then he went blind.
APPRAISER: Oh.
GUEST: As a result, this stuff sat in my grandmother's attic for a good many years. And, uh, finally he rediscovered it and gave it to me as a Christmas gift to my husband. I've actually got a picture of my cat sitting in that bowl at some point or another.
APPRAISER: (chuckling) And it would hold a large cat, at that.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: This is a, a tremendous size.
GUEST: Obviously, it's something we've just lived with. But I've always felt it was special.
APPRAISER: Celadon is a favorite of mine, as well, and it's a favorite of the Japanese, and has been for centuries. There are a number of clues that I would look to to identify this, exactly what it is and where it came from. The first is the label on this box.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: There's a label on the back of the charger, as well. I wouldn't call this a bowl. This is a charger.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So an oversized dish that they would have maybe served oranges or just a large sort of dramatic display piece. But there's a mark on the back.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: It's six characters in all. And it indicates... (speaking Chinese)
GUEST: Okay, Chinese.
APPRAISER: And it's Chinese. Now, how did a Chinese celadon charger of this type end up in Japan? Well, it turns out that for centuries, the Japanese were the world's most ardent collectors of celadon wares. There's a kind of a cliché. Good things come in small packages. Well, in the Asian art trade, good things come in Japanese boxes. The Japanese were such fine, fine connoisseurs of the absolute most beautiful, the most sublime Chinese, Japanese, and other antiques, when we see a collector's box of this type, uh, it, it excites us tremendously. Because the Japanese had such a long legacy of, of collecting, the knowledge was there, the connoisseurship was there, and this label, by the way, says exactly the contents of the package.
GUEST: I've always wondered about this.
APPRAISER: Yeah, essentially, it says "large celadon porcelain dish, Yongzheng period."
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So it's, it's good to see that the label matches the contents of the box. Sometimes boxes and ceramics are kind of put together that didn't originally go together. But this is a box clearly made to, to house this beautiful work of, of porcelain. The dragon is sublime. The glaze is impeccable. And there's very few signs of age in this. So I, I wouldn't blame you to look at it, or anyone for that matter, and, and not really see the history. You can see the quality, you can see the beauty in it. But the Yongzheng period is from 1722 to 1735.
GUEST: Mm.
APPRAISER: It's a very short period, but it's a period in Chinese history when some of the finest ceramics were made arguably of all time. This is quite a discovery. Have you ever thought about the value or do you have any idea what this would do at auction if it were sold today?
GUEST: I, I have always felt that it was probably worth something. I mean, maybe... $1,000? And that's because I collect ceramics that are contemporary.
APPRAISER: (chuckling): Sure.
GUEST: And I know if I were buying something like this... Other than that, no idea.
APPRAISER: The Chinese porcelain market is very strong right now. And it's driven by Chinese tastes. And, uh, this is something that I think would appeal to just a, a multitude of, of potential bidders and buyers. Collectors who are looking for exactly this sort of ceramic. At auction today, in 2021, I would put perhaps a conservative auction estimate of $80,000 to $120,000.
GUEST: Oh, my... You... (laughing) Really?! And it's under my bed all the time? (laughs)
APPRAISER: I think under the bed is not such a bad place to keep this. It's been kept beautifully and it's been kept safely.
GUEST: That overwhelms me.
APPRAISER: But you may wish to rethink under the bed.
APPRAISER & GUEST: (both laughing)
GUEST: I must say...
APPRAISER: It's an absolute masterpiece.
GUEST: I don't know what to say.
APPRAISER: I think you've kept it very well for so long. It's in very good hands.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: I'm so pleased you own this.
GUEST: I feel like crying. (laughs)
