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WOMAN: Well, it was a gift 
to my father. My father was a 
surgeon who took very good care

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of little old ladies. And 
late in his career, one of the 
little old ladies gave him this.

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And she wrote a letter, and 
in the letter, it said that 
the plaque was made in 1790 by

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Josiah Wedgwood for his personal 
friend John Wesley, the founder 
of the Methodist religion.

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And this patient told him that 
she'd spent her life looking 
for a Methodist bishop to

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whom she could gift the plaque, 
but she couldn't find one.

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APPRAISER: (chuckles)

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GUEST: And she said then in 
the letter that she found an 
angel in the cloth of a surgeon,

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and she gave it to my father.

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APPRAISER: That's wonderful. 
And so when did you get 
it? How did you get it?

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GUEST: Well, I'm the only 
Methodist of my siblings, and 
so it came to me after my father

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died.

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APPRAISER: Okay, well, great. 
Well, I, what I love is, I 
love family stories of, with

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objects that have a history 
like that, especially when 
they concern important 
and famous people.

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Certainly, Josiah Wedgwood 
was important. And John Wesley 
was, he was even very important

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and famous in his own time, and 
many different English pottery 
and porcelain manufacturers

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made figurines and depictions 
of him because he was so 
important. Now, according to the

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story, the gift was in 1790. 
Well, Josiah Wedgwood died 
in 1795, and John Wesley died

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in 1791, so that would seem 
to fit the story. But then you 
have to look at the object and

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see if the object fits 
the story. So in 1860s, 
Wedgwood started a date 
mark system. The back

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is impressed with three letters, 
and the last letter is the 
year that it was made. And so

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this piece has a date mark on 
the back, and it was made in 
1884. So this plaque was first

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made in the 18th century, but 
throughout the, the period of 
Wedgwood manufacturing, they

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remade the plaque because John 
Wesley was such an interesting 
and important figure.

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So, unfortunately, this doesn't 
fit the story exactly, because 
it was actually made in 1884.

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It was made by the Wedgwood 
company, it does depict John 
Wesley, but it was made much,

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much later. In today's market, 
this would probably be worth 
between $200 and $300. I

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still love that written 
documentation, and I 
would recommend that 
you still keep it with

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it, but now you can write 
something else about, 
you brought it to the 
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, and

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it will just be part of 
the history of the piece.

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GUEST: Thank you very much.