GUEST: They've been in my family for a number of years-- many generations I know for sure. When I first remember them when I was a small child, my aunt had them all in her house, farmhouse south of Boston. I love the blue, I loved seeing them all the time. And one day she asked me if I'd like them someday, and I said, "Oh, my goodness, yes." I've had them now for about 20 years. My two children will have them after me.
APPRAISER: Well, if your family were in New England for much of their time...
GUEST: They were, and I grew up there.
APPRAISER: That would make a lot of sense. They were made in Staffordshire in the midlands of England in about 1825 or 1835 at a time when the biggest market for this kind of ware, earthenware with transfer prints generally made relatively inexpensively, was the New World, the Americas, a rapidly expanding marketplace before the Civil War. And Staffordshire supplied a lot of that. They're made of pottery, standard Staffordshire earthenware of the day. They were made by a company called Enoch Wood & Son, and Wood was one of a large family of potters in Staffordshire active at the time. And these were fairly simply made. There wasn't a high standard of manufacturing here. You can see little defects in the transfer lining. Of the three pieces, which would you think would be the most valuable?
GUEST: If I was to pick, I'd pick this one here. Only because it's got a frigate in there, it looks like an old American frigate. It only has a handful of stars on there, so I would think that was probably in the mid-1800 or early 1800s. I would guess this is probably the oldest.
APPRAISER: You'd be half right. (chuckles)
GUEST: That's better than most things I do. (chuckles)
APPRAISER: I would say of the two plates, that would be the more valuable one, and largely for the reason you suggested. With this kind of historical Staffordshire, it's really all about the scene in the middle. The scene in the middle of the plate closest to me is a made-up scene. The decorators at the time, many of them knew little about what other countries actually looked like at all. So they would make up imaginary scenes. The one closest to you does indeed have a frigate on it, and it is flying a flag, which could certainly be interpreted as the stars and stripes.
GUEST: I did.
APPRAISER: You did. (chuckling) And the jury is out on that one with respect to if it is indeed an American flag or not. I certainly believe it is. And in the antiques trade, I think we'd say it is if you're selling it, because that's what would give it more value.
GUEST: I see.
APPRAISER: But the single most valuable piece is the teapot in the center.
GUEST: Really?
APPRAISER: And the character inside is an American, perhaps the most famous of all Americans, it's Washington. Made perhaps a quarter century after he died, but still made at a time when there was an enormous amount of support and sympathy for Washington. It's a very patriotic piece from an American point of view, despite being made in England. The teapot, had we been talking about this 20 years ago, would certainly be worth more than it is today. But I'm going to give you some values that would be suitable for replacement value today...
GUEST: Sure.
APPRAISER: Beginning with, let's say, the plate closest to me. As an individual plate, no more than perhaps $40 or $50 in value for replacement. The plate closest to you, with the ship and the American flag, let's call it, as much as $400.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: Or $450. Whereas the teapot, as a replacement piece, in that very good condition, close to double that, or perhaps as much as $1,000. I'm going to say between $800 and $1,000.
GUEST: Not too bad at all. I've never had a cup of tea out of it, but maybe I'll try it sometime. And I wouldn't trade any of them for all the tea in England, so thank you so much for your time.
