GUEST: It was my great-aunt's, and I played with it as a child.
APPRAISER: So where do you think this was made?
GUEST: I don't know. I thought maybe France and England. I thought maybe it was a piece that was put together, but I don't know.
APPRAISER: Well, in some ways you're right. It is a piece put together, but intentionally. The piece is made by Webb. It's a piece of English cameo glass. The silver cover on the top was made by Gorham, which is a silver company in the United States. This piece dates from the late 19th century. Sometimes the base color would be red, blue, yellow or raisin. And this is a raisin color. And I think that the reason why they made this in raisin is particularly because if you got ink on it, it wouldn't show, and if it had been yellow, it would definitely have shown. This is the kind of piece that would appeal to collectors on two levels. One: a person who might collect English cameo glass. And the other would be an inkwell collector, and this would be considered a very high-end inkwell. For a retail price, I would say between $4,000 and $6,000.
GUEST: Wow. (chuckles): Great!
