GUEST
I'm waiting for you to tell me what I actually brought. I'm not sure. Maybe they're silver. I've had them for decades. My husband declared a moratorium of about 15 years. I'm not
allowed to buy anything that has to be dusted. (laughing)
So I've had them for quite a while.
APPRAISER
Do you remember how much you paid for them?
GUEST
I do not. I do not think it would have been a lot of money.
APPRAISER
So what we have here are two silver animals that are purported to be by Julius Rappoport. Julius Rappoport was a silversmith. He had his own, uh, shop in St. Petersburg, in Russia.
GUEST
Oh.
APPRAISER
And then in the 1880s, around 1883 or so, he worked for Faberg. (inhales) And he was one of the main Faberg workmasters, especially who did silver, uh, items.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
You can notice a lot of differences between the bunny and the cat.
GUEST
Right.
APPRAISER
I think.
GUEST
The bunny has a lot more detail to it.
APPRAISER
That's true. And his attention to detail in all Faberg, basically, uh, was all about how incredibly detailed it could be.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
We have two pieces by Rappoport, but one of them is right, one of them is wrong.
Okay. APPRAISER
Which one do you think is right?
GUEST
I'm thinking that the bunny is correct and the cat is not.
APPRAISER
You're right. If we turn them around, this is the cat. You have "I.P." So I.P. in Cyrillic stands for Rappoport.
GUEST
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER
Then you have a oval cartouche, and in there it says "84." And there is a kokoshnik. A kokoshnik was a silversmith's mark...
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
...basically dating it. Now, when you look at the bunny, you'll notice the same "I.P." We see a lot of wear on the bottom, which is a good sign, because basically, it means that it's been moved from cabinet to cabinet. The actual hallmarks here, with the silver purity, which is 88, 88 zolotniks. Then we also have a town mark. And the town mark on the bunny is, is specifically very important because of Rappoport's history. So this was made in St. Petersburg.
GUEST
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER
St. Petersburg was where he worked originally. He was born in Lithuania, and one of the few Jewish workmasters for Faberg later. (inhales) But he got his own business in St. Petersburg until he moved to Moscow.
GUEST
Moved, okay.
APPRAISER
That helps us date the bunny to probably around the 1880s, a little bit earlier than 1883.
GUEST
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER
This one, the, the impressions are much more fresh, l, as if they don't have any wear at all. Another thing that we can look at in terms of establishing which one is right and which one is wrong, we actually have to think about the weight. This one is really, really light.
GUEST
Yes.
APPRAISER
And this one is, even though it's smaller, is a lot heavier. This one weighs about four ounces and this one weighs about two ounces. Rappoport, because he is one of the few silversmith workmasters for Faberg, and he was known for animals.
GUEST
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER
They're really quite desirable. His animals have gone for a lot of money. The bunny, I would easily put an auction estimate of $5,000 to $7,000 on it.
GUEST
Okay. All right. (laughing) That is a big surprise. Truly is. And now the bad news.
APPRAISER
The bad news, the, the cat, uh, it' s not so expensive.
GUEST
Yeah.
APPRAISER
It's probably in the hundreds.
GUEST
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER
The bunny, if I was going to insure it...
GUEST
That was, yeah... (laughs) Sounds like I need to call my insurance agent.
APPRAISER
I kind of saw... (laughing) I thought, I thought I saw that you wanted to ask. If I was going to insure it, I'd probably actually insure it for about $15,000.
GUEST
Okay.
APPRAISER
Some of his larger animals, especially, have sold for, like, $30,000, $40,000, $100,000...
Oh. APPRAISER
$150,000.
Wow. APPRAISER
The sky's the limit.
Passport
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