GUEST: I've had it about ten years. I do a lot of yard sales, estate sales. I think it's from an estate sale. And I know I didn't pay much for it, so a lot of times the estate sales have the last day, half price. So that's where I think I got it. I've always loved the piece.
APPRAISER: It's a Japanese vase. It's earthenware satsuma. It's an enameled satsuma in gilt and high-fired enamels. Satsuma was done during the Meiji period primarily, 1880 to 1920. This vase is enameled with wonderful drapery of wisteria. There's a very finely executed cobweb.
GUEST: I know, I love that.
APPRAISER: With a little dangling spider. There's songbirds. It's a profusion of wisteria to the shoulder, and then drooping down to this ovoid body. The rim is gilded. There's high points of gilding to identify each leaf. It's a beautifully hand-painted vase. Now, with earthenware satsuma there's a folklore or an urban legend that the Japanese artists who executed these vases would go blind due to the detail and intricate work.
GUEST: I could see why they would think that.
APPRAISER: At the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, I would say about 10%-20% of what we see are Japanese earthenware satsuma.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: The vast majority of that is mass-produced, quickly painted, rapidly executed, made for the mass export to the U.S. and to the Western market. This, however, resides in that very top percent.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
APPRAISER: The mark is gilded. It's overpainted on the body of the vase. And the mark is of Yabu Meizan. And Yabu Meizan had a workshop in Japan during the 1880s to 1920s. He was a Imperial Court artist. His workshop were the very, very top tier of Japanese earthenware satsuma. Japanese works of art have suffered a decline in the last 20 years. However, there has been a resurgence in the price of the cream of the crop. And he is the foremost earthenware satsuma painter, his workshop. As to value, I would say conservative auction estimate would be between $5,000 and $8,000.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness. I can't believe it. (sighs) I still love it. (laughs)
APPRAISER: Perhaps a little bit more now.
GUEST: Yeah. Now I'm a little bit more nervous about, you know, it just sits in my living room on a bookshelf, you know.
APPRAISER: Well, please don't stop enjoying it.
GUEST: No, I'm going to enjoy it.
