GUEST: I brought in part of a tea set, which I inherited. My mother passed away in 2006, so I've had them for the last 12 years. My father purchased it at auction in San Francisco around 1961 or '62. The one story that I gathered from speaking with my sister is that my, my dad picked this up, brought it home, and my mom was furious with him for spending the money on something non-essential.
APPRAISER: Did your mom ever grow to like this over time?
GUEST: Oh, yeah. We think it's pretty special. There are marks on the bottom, but they're either Chinese or Japanese.
APPRAISER: They are Japanese, not Chinese.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: And the mark nearest me is the Japanese mark that indicates that it's sterling silver. Then the mark next to that is essentially "made by," and then the two further marks are the mark of the maker Konoike. We have a tea and a coffee pot.
GUEST: That's amazing.
APPRAISER: The teapot is near me. They are fully decorated in the round with these dragons, whose very elongated whiskers wrap themselves back around their swirling tails and work their way into the handle. Over here, you'll see that the dragon tail wraps all the way up, and then the foot, even, is the claw that is holding this little shell that's the knob. And then the body of each is decorated in this hammered design. They're... it's fantastically decorated.
GUEST: They're beautiful.
APPRAISER: Made in Japan in the Meiji period, which is 1868 to 1912.
GUEST: Oh, my God.
APPRAISER: And I would peg these to right around 1900. Obviously made by a very talented maker. And so you said your father paid?
GUEST: Between $300 and $700.
APPRAISER: And that was for how many pieces?
GUEST: There's roughly about 18 pieces.
APPRAISER: This tea and coffee service is quite rare. They're in really good condition. The two objects you've brought here today, I would insure them, together, for $30,000.
GUEST: Okay. Wow. (laughing) That's a lot, compared... considering what else is still... unreviewed. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: Right.
GUEST: All right. I better get them insured.
