GUEST: Well, this is a piece of pottery that was my grandmother's. And as a little girl, I always admired it and loved it, and when she asked me if there was anything I wanted of hers before she retired, this was the one thing that I really had my eye on. So that's what I brought you today. I think it's weird and kind of wonderful, and so I hope that you guys can tell me a little bit about it.
APPRAISER: So what drew you to it that it became your favorite object?
GUEST: Well, the little top up here kind of looks like Puff the Magic Dragon to me.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: So as a child, that's kind of what I envisioned, that it was a dragon. I don't think it is, it's maybe a fish or something else. But it was just kind of an odd and unusual piece, and that's what I loved about it.
APPRAISER: Well, the animal, I'm not 100% sure what it is, either. It looks a little mythical, it does look like a, maybe, a sea creature, perhaps a dolphin, something of that nature. But it's the glazes that also drew me to the piece, particularly the yellow glaze, which sets all the other colors off. And the large piercings, it wouldn't be unusual to assume it may have been used for something like potpourri. Do you have any idea where it might be from?
GUEST: Well, it's stamped on the bottom, "made in Austria."
APPRAISER: That's a good hint.
GUEST: And so I imagine it's from Austria. Other than that, no, I don't know where she got it. I just remember her always having it.
APPRAISER: So in Austria, there was a particular workshop called the Vienna Workshop, or Wiener Werkstätte. Very famous. Basically what they would do is incorporate craftsmen, architects, artists into a colony that allowed them to think a little bit outside the box.
GUEST: Ah.
APPRAISER: And do interesting objects such as this.
GUEST: Ah.
APPRAISER: This piece was decorated by a particular artist, Vally Wieselthier. Now, Vally, as we would say, would be "Wally," if you looked at it in English, but Vally was a lady that was very highly sought-after by the Vienna Workshop, did really high-end work. And in the '20s and '30s, did some of the best work that came out, using her imagination to create these amazing pieces.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: Her most desirable pieces are pieces that are figural. And I think without the finial, the piece would be interesting, but wouldn't have the desirability as with that cover on there, with that wonderful decoration.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: I'd like to take a look at the mark on the bottom because that's really important in that it not only tells us Wiener Werkstätte, but shows us Wally's signature. So here we have the Wiener Werkstätte mark up at the top, and then underneath there you have the little bit more abstract, not quite clear mark, but that's Vally's mark right there.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: So the combination of the two—not just Wiener Werkstätte, again, but having Wally's mark on there identifies it clearly as having been from her.
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: So the decoration is very interesting. I see these sort of obscure-looking designs, which could be waves relating to the finial at the top of the piece. She eventually came over to the States, I think in the late 1920s.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And so this would have been done while she was still in Austria. There are very few specific artists that are at the higher end of the spectrum when it comes to ceramics at Wiener Werkstätte, and this certainly would be one of them. A wonderful example with a few minimal nicks here and there, but generally in excellent condition.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Do you have any idea of its value?
GUEST: I have no idea. I said, "To me it's worth a million dollars because it was my grandmother's," but I have no idea how much it would be worth.
APPRAISER: All right, the bad news: it's not worth a million dollars.
GUEST: Darn—well, that's okay.
APPRAISER: The good news: at auction, I would expect it to receive between $3,000 and $5,000.
GUEST: Wow, that's fantastic.
APPRAISER: And if you were insuring it, I would probably put the insurance value closer to maybe $6,500.
GUEST: Oh, my gosh, that's amazing.
