GUEST: This is a Lalique, signed Lalique vase that was originally with my grandmother, and the story is that my grandmother was decluttering the house, and decided that she didn't want this any longer, so she was going to give it to Goodwill. And my mother came to her house and said, "What do you have in this box?" And my grandmother, we called her Granny, said, you know, "These were things I'm just giving away." And Mom looked and she says, "Um... yeah, could I have that, please?" And so it went to my mom. My mom knew that it was a signed Lalique, and knew that there was value, but beyond that, that's all I really know about it.
APPRAISER: A lot of times, the names that Lalique gave his vases have nothing to do with what you're looking at.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: So it turns out, this is called “Bouchardon.” Now, as best as I can figure out, Bouchardon is referring to an 18th-century French sculptor. Edmé, E-D-M-E, Bouchardon, whose works are in the Louvre and many other museums, and he was a sculptor, he was a draftsman, he was a painter. He favored the Classical figure. So we think that it's possible that's what Lalique was thinking of when he named this vase.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: So it makes it impossible to find anything out about something like this when you don't have that reference. It was designed in 1926, and from that point on, they began to produce it. You do have two signatures on the bottom. You have a molded signature…
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: …and then there is a script signature, which I can show you. This came in three different colors. It came in a clear color, it came in opalescent, and then it came in this smoky topaz, which... Americans call it "smoky topaz" or "smoke." The French call it "fumè."
GUEST: Fumé.
APPRAISER: For "smoking."
GUEST: Yes. (laughing)
APPRAISER: I'm going with the smoky topaz.
GUEST: Sounds nicer to me.
APPRAISER: Since we are in St. Louis.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: It's really lovely, the way it was made. It was cast in the three parts, and so these would have been cast separately and then applied. Beautiful, articulated design.
GUEST: And the ladies are very Art Deco, aren't they?
APPRAISER: They are. It's Classical pose, and holding a festoon of flowers is something that you would see in the Art Deco Classical style.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: In May of 2017, one of these sold at auction, the estimate was $2,500 to $3,500.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: But it sold for $8,125.
GUEST: Wow... (laughing) Wow.
APPRAISER: So I would, because I'm conservative, I would say, I would put a retail value, because sometimes auction and retail can be very similar.
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: So I would say probably between $6,000 and $8,000 in a retail store.
GUEST: I'm upping my insurance. (laughs) That's fantastic!
