Antiques Roadshow guests hated vase worth a | TV Shows

On an episode of Antiques Roadshow in Los Angeles, expert David Rago was pleasantly “tickled” by a vase that had been repurposed as an umbrella stand. The owner, a retiree, had the vase for nearly two decades, which he and his wife didn’t particularly fancy.

“I’ve had it probably almost 20 years. My wife brought it home one day, she bought it from a lady she knew in town and we just use it as an umbrella stand,” the man explained. His wife wasn’t fond of the color, leading them to keep it out of sight.

Rago wasn’t a fan either, saying: “The color’s not very likeable. In fact, do you mind if I scrape away at it a bit? ” With permission granted, Rago scraped off some paint to uncover a robin’s egg blue, a hue synonymous with Van Briggle pottery. He discovered the pot’s significant markings: “Because what happens is this really nasty green that’s on it, yields to this robin’s egg blue, which is a color Van Briggle was very well known for.”

He also noted: “Furthermore, the bottom of this pot, which has his AA mark, and it also has Van Briggle.”

Rago corrected the presumed date of creation: “That looks like 1900, [but] it’s really 1906. It’d have to be, because this shape number, which is 497, he hadn’t made his 400th shape in 1900.”

“But if you can’t have something made before 1904, then you should have something made before 1912 when Anne was there.”

The expert concluded with enthusiasm: “So this is a monster, it’s a very rare form. It’s early enough so I was like, really tickled to see it.”

He then revealed a surprising appraisal: “Believe it or not, it’s a $10,000 pot.”

This revelation amused the guest who responded: “Oh that’s wonderful. That’s a lot more than we thought. And there’s so much Van Briggle that’s worth very little to nothing,” to which David Rago, the expert, added “One in 5,000 pieces is worth that kind of money, so this is really quite extraordinary.”

Rounding off the discussion with a lighthearted warning, Rago joked: “Keep the umbrellas out of it,” and the guest agreed with a laugh.