1 00:00:02,033 --> 00:00:05,533 GUEST: My aunt was, started buying up these vases from Tiffany's, so I guess she ordered 2 00:00:06,266 --> 00:00:08,333 some by the crate-load. 3 00:00:08,333 --> 00:00:11,833 APPRAISER: It actually says, "Louis C. Tiffany Studios," with an address. The crate in itself, 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,033 it's something you don't see very often, with "glass" plastered all over the sides. But 5 00:00:18,033 --> 00:00:20,066 I also want to point out the straw. 6 00:00:20,066 --> 00:00:22,033 GUEST: (chuckles) 7 00:00:22,033 --> 00:00:24,466 APPRAISER: Because it's not often that people keep the shipping crates. The first piece 8 00:00:24,466 --> 00:00:28,833 of glass over here, which is what we would call pastel glass... 9 00:00:28,833 --> 00:00:30,733 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 10 00:00:30,733 --> 00:00:32,633 APPRAISER: Is later-production Tiffany-- it was made in the '20s. 11 00:00:32,633 --> 00:00:35,133 GUEST: Okay. 12 00:00:35,133 --> 00:00:37,266 APPRAISER: It was made in multiples, and it came in different colors. These are the colors 13 00:00:37,266 --> 00:00:39,566 that you see in some of the Depression glass of the era... 14 00:00:39,566 --> 00:00:41,600 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 15 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,566 APPRAISER: But this was a lot more expensive than your average piece of Depression glass. 16 00:00:44,566 --> 00:00:48,633 Now, this piece is a paperweight glass vase. 17 00:00:48,633 --> 00:00:50,733 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 18 00:00:50,733 --> 00:00:54,600 APPRAISER: Leslie Nash, who worked for Louis Comfort Tiffany, claims that while they were 19 00:00:56,533 --> 00:01:00,166 working with paperweight glass, Louis Tiffany himself, who was a painter, came into the 20 00:01:02,033 --> 00:01:05,766 glass-working shop, handed them a painting of morning glories that he had painted, and 21 00:01:06,966 --> 00:01:10,033 said, "I want you to make this in glass." 22 00:01:10,033 --> 00:01:11,500 GUEST: Wow. 23 00:01:11,500 --> 00:01:14,466 APPRAISER: Supposedly, it took $12,000 in R&D... 24 00:01:14,466 --> 00:01:16,533 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 25 00:01:16,533 --> 00:01:20,466 APPRAISER: to create this kind of glassware. 1914 is when they first introduced it. Your 26 00:01:22,500 --> 00:01:26,366 piece, on the bottom, actually says "exhibition piece" on it. I know from the date letter, 27 00:01:28,833 --> 00:01:32,833 which is a suffix L, that that would be somewhere around 1915. 28 00:01:32,833 --> 00:01:34,866 GUEST: Okay. 29 00:01:34,866 --> 00:01:38,833 APRAISER: So it's possible that this could've gone to the 1915 San Francisco International 30 00:01:40,833 --> 00:01:44,700 Exhibition. I think it came back to the studios, that's the interesting part. You may have 31 00:01:46,200 --> 00:01:49,133 seen vases like this. They're in many museums all over the world. 32 00:01:49,133 --> 00:01:51,266 GUEST: I think I saw one at the Met in New York, mm-hmm. 33 00:01:51,266 --> 00:01:55,433 APPRAISER: Yes, and the one at the Met has a number on the bottom, which is 1130-L. Yours 34 00:01:57,300 --> 00:02:02,033 is 1132-L. Oh. So this is two numbers after the Met's vase. 35 00:02:02,033 --> 00:02:04,066 GUEST: Okay. 36 00:02:04,066 --> 00:02:08,033 APPRAISER: The Met acquired it in 1924, even though it was probably made in 1915. So these 37 00:02:10,033 --> 00:02:13,966 things still were sold later. The crate, in a retail setting, this is something for Tiffany 38 00:02:15,966 --> 00:02:20,266 geeks everywhere-- collectors, museums. They would actually be very excited about this, 39 00:02:21,633 --> 00:02:23,700 and it would be worth between $5,000 and $10,000. 40 00:02:23,700 --> 00:02:25,733 GUEST: Holy cow! 41 00:02:25,733 --> 00:02:30,166 APPRAISER: This piece, which is not as sought-after as some of the other art glass... 42 00:02:31,933 --> 00:02:34,000 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 43 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:37,933 APPRAISER: would retail probably between $2,000 and $3,000. But this piece, in a retail shop, 44 00:02:39,633 --> 00:02:42,566 it could be sold for anywhere between $50,000 and $75,000. 45 00:02:42,566 --> 00:02:47,566 GUEST: No way! Oh, my gosh! I was... thinking maybe $8,000 to $10,000, I was hoping. Wow. 46 00:02:51,766 --> 00:02:56,466 APPRAISER: Well, that was a long time ago. 47 00:02:56,466 --> 00:03:01,433 GUEST: Wow, I really didn't know what the market had done, you know, if it had gone 48 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,333 sideways or up or down, but... wow. (inhales) 49 00:03:05,333 --> 00:03:10,333 APPRAISER: So there's one other thing in here that I want to talk about. This vase. This 50 00:03:15,433 --> 00:03:20,433 practically stopped my heart when I saw it in the box. (giggling) This is the piece I 51 00:03:21,433 --> 00:03:23,233 was waiting for for 20 years. 52 00:03:23,233 --> 00:03:25,700 GUEST: Oh, wow. 53 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:28,833 APPRAISER: And every night before the ROADSHOW, people would always say, "What is on your 54 00:03:28,833 --> 00:03:33,833 wish list? What would you like to come in to the show tomorrow?" And I always say, "A 55 00:03:34,566 --> 00:03:35,233 Tiffany Lava vase." 56 00:03:35,233 --> 00:03:37,866 GUEST: Wow. 57 00:03:37,866 --> 00:03:41,233 APPRAISER: And that's what this is. It's extremely special. It is meant to look like molten lava... 58 00:03:43,833 --> 00:03:45,800 GUEST: Mm-hmm. 59 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:49,600 APPRAISER: on the surface of the vase, and this one is particularly interesting because 60 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:54,600 you also have these protrusions here. It's very similar to a vase that was shown in the 61 00:03:56,900 --> 00:03:59,533 1906 Paris Salon Exhibition. 62 00:03:59,533 --> 00:04:01,633 GUEST: Oh! 63 00:04:01,633 --> 00:04:05,500 APPRAISER: A very similar example is in the collection of the Musèe des Arts Dècoratifs 64 00:04:06,633 --> 00:04:10,433 in Paris, and it's been there since 1906. 65 00:04:10,433 --> 00:04:12,133 GUEST: Gee. 66 00:04:12,133 --> 00:04:15,600 APPRAISER: So when I saw this... I was kind of excited. (laughing) 67 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:17,633 GUEST: Oh. 68 00:04:17,633 --> 00:04:21,500 APPRAISER: The thing about Lava is, it was very hard to make. They get cracked in the 69 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:22,500 making. 70 00:04:22,500 --> 00:04:24,500 GUEST: Oh. 71 00:04:24,500 --> 00:04:27,600 APPRAISER: And I did go over your Lava with my special light and a magnifying glass, and 72 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:32,600 I couldn't find any imperfections. An example like this, in a retail shop, could sell between 73 00:04:34,166 --> 00:04:36,233 $100,000 and $150,000. 74 00:04:36,233 --> 00:04:41,100 GUEST: (laughing) Where's my brother? He... (laughs) Wow. That's unbelievable. I had no 75 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:46,966 idea. 76 00:04:46,966 --> 00:04:51,000 APPRAISER: I just can't believe that your aunt bought all of this in the late '20s and 77 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:52,533 the early '30s. 78 00:04:52,533 --> 00:04:53,700 GUEST: Yeah. 79 00:04:53,700 --> 00:04:54,166 APPRAISER: It's... it's pretty remarkable.