'Antiques Roadshow' guest was in disbelief after expert revealed the value of his 100-year-old vases

Usually, the guests on “Antiques Roadshow” are surprised after learning the true value of their artifacts, but are also happy with the appraisal. Although many of them are in disbelief about the valuation, few go as far as to question it. That’s exactly what happened on an earlier episode of the show when a guest brought a pair of matching Charles Clewell vases. He claimed that his daughter had bought them in an estate auction for around $300-$325 a piece.

The expert in this case was a man named David Rago, who was fascinated by the vases. He thoroughly checked them out and concluded that they were in perfect condition. When it was time to appraise them, he said that they would be worth $3,000-4,000 a piece and as a pair, they could be worth $7,000-8,000. The guest was not expecting this and questioned the expert about the value one more time.

“You said $7,000 to $8,000? For the pair?” he asked. Rago then said that it wouldn’t be surprising if they fetched even more money, matching Clewell vases are rare. “My word. We had no idea these were worth anything like that,” the guest added.

Clewell wasn’t an ordinary pottery artist. His technique was unique as he mixed metal into items to develop glazes that have never been replicated, according to a report in Canton. At the time, few people knew of his formula, and at the time of his death, he asked his heirs to burn it. Apart from the history of their maker, several other factors went into these vases becoming so valuable.

“Very seldom do you see pieces that number one, are this large. Number 2, I’ve never seen a matched pair this large, and I’ve seen hundreds of pieces of Clewell. Number three, the color combination is really good on these. You have that really nice rust color mixing with that verdigris green,” the expert added.

While these vases were great, there have been similar items on the show that are worth a lot more. On an earlier episode, a realtor had brought a vase made by Italian artist and designer Fulvio Bianconi, and was shocked to learn that it was more valuable than a condo that he had sold recently for $48,000.

Expert Arlie Sulka said that the technique used to make the vase was called 'Zenferico', in which glass canes are fused together. In the close-up shot of the vase, the long strands of the glass canes in the "Retter" configuration are clearly visible. When the time came to place a value on the item, Sulka said that the vase could sell for as much as $65,000. The guest had no idea about this and was pleasantly surprised.