GUEST: This is a tea set...
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: ...that my grandmother bought in Japan, I'd say probably in the '60s...
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
GUEST: ...at some point. It's been a favorite.
APPRAISER: Did you use them?
GUEST: I've never used them...
APRPAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: ...um, for tea.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: I've always kept them polished on the shelf in my living room.
APPRAISER: All right, all polished, yes.
GUEST: What I love about these in particular are the feet on the bottom.
APPRAISER: Oh, okay.
GUEST: I love these feet.
APPRAISER: Right, yes.
GUEST: And, and they're on all of them.
APPRAISER: Yes.
GUEST: Which make them really unusual, I think.
APPRAISER: It's wonderful, wonderful work.
GUEST: Because they're, they're so well-finished.
APPRAISER: You can see, yes.
GUEST: Um, on the bottom as well as the top.
APPRAISER: So you knew he was a really good art, right?
GUEST: Yes.
APPRAISER: Good artist. So this is a tea set for Western... (chuckling): Western tea set. This is for hot water and this is for cream. And this is for sugar, I would say. So, Japanese, and it was done probably around late 19th century.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: About-- up, up to maybe 1900s, yes. And the artist's name-- I know the artist.
GUEST: Oh, really?
APPRAISER: Yes. I know...
GUEST: Wow, you can tell from the hallmarks.
APPRAISER: I mean, not personally.
GUEST: Oh.
APPRAISER: He's too old, but, uh...
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER: His name is Shigemitsu.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Which is written as a hallmark.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And it's, uh, pure silver. Shigemitsu is a known Japanese artist, worked in silver all the time, and it's always wonderful work. The birds are very common in Japanese art. These are quails, usually depicted with a, with a millet. This handle is, um, a millet. You have seen, that's grain. At the auction... You probably would like to know the prices, right?
GUEST: I would love to know what you think.
APPRAISER: Yeah, okay, at the auction, I think it should go to $6,000 to $9,000.
GUEST: That's fabulous, yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER: Maybe a bit more, yes.
GUEST: Thank you.
APPRAISER: All right.
GUEST: That's really wonderful.
APPRAISER: Yeah, yeah.
GUEST: I appreciate that.
APPRAISER: Thank you.
GUEST: I don't think I want to get rid of them.
APPRAISER: (laughing): No, you shouldn't.
