Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: I found this in an antique store in Santa Cruz, New Mexico.

And it was right at the pandemic.

And I make ceramics myself, and I teach ceramics.

So I knew at the time that it was very hard (chuckles) and took a lot of time to make something like this.

And then when I saw a-after looking closer, that it was probably all handmade and then wasn't signed, I became really intrigued, because, usually I know a lot about these things and I had no idea where this came from.

APPRAISER: What did you pay for it?

Do you remember?

GUEST: (sighs) It was under $20.

APPRAISER: On ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, we see a lot of what we refer to as China painting.

So China painting goes like this.

Around the late 1880s until about the 1920s, people would often purchase porcelain blanks, mostly coming from France or Germany...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...and either as amateur decorators, which most of the works that we see here were done by...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...or sometimes as professional artists.

We see the work that is done and it's often signed by the artist.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: So this is a covered box done in a technique called American satsuma.

It is satsuma, like the Japanese, but it was done in this country on Japanese porcelain blanks that would have been procured from Japan at a time when it was impossible to get them from Germany...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...during the First World War and possibly from France.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: The type of decoration...is usually very elaborate.

It is, unfortunately not signed by the decorator, which is too bad, because it is such a fine example of this technique.

This is very strong Art Nouveau, and very much in the Arts and Crafts Movement.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: It is an enamel painting.

The way this is painted, all those black lines would have most likely been delineated with a mix of wax...and manganese.

GUEST: Okay.

Wow.

APPRAISER: And in the firing, the wax will burn off...and just leave that black line.

I would think that the initials in the medallion are most likely for the-the person who would be receiving this, as opposed to the artist.

It's, it would be so very elaborate.

So you paid... (places lid back) little for this lovely piece.

And I was discussing this with my colleagues at the pottery and porcelain table, and we were agreeing that at auction, probably at $400 to $600.

GUEST: Okay.

Okay.

APPRAISER: So you did well.

GUEST: Thank you.

(chuckles) I just wish the artist who made it could get the credit, because I'm always in awe of it.

(chuckles) It's just kind of amazing.