GUEST: I got it at a yard sale, and it was probably only 25 or 50 cents, so... APPRAISER: So this is a work by the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company.

It is a work of enamel on copper.

Now, Louis Comfort Tiffany first went into business in the 1870s, and he's most known for his leaded-glass windows, his stained-glass lamps, works of blown Favrile glass.

But what he's lesser known for are these works of enamel.

So the work is made using powdered glass enamels on copper that are then heated and fused to the surface of the work.

So the copper would have been repoussé-decorated to create the shapes of the mushrooms.

And then the enamellists at Tiffany would have selected the colored enamel powders that they felt best accentuated the decoration for the mushrooms.

It took Tiffany a number of years to investigate this technique.

And under the direction of his main chemist, Dr. Parker McIlhenny, and four of Tiffany's best female artisans, they were able to come up with the techniques to develop these copper pieces.

They first exhibited them at the 1900 Paris Universelle Exposition to great acclaim.

And they made them in a variety of sizes.

This is about as small as they got.

And I would call this sort of more or less of a cabinet size for a vase.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And they range upwards of 12 inches or so.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And at the period, they would cost anywhere between ten dollars and $300.

Even though it's not the largest of enamel pieces that Tiffany created...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...in its small stature, it packs a huge punch.

And when I saw you bring this out... (both laugh) ...I sort of jumped over my colleague to meet with you, because I recognized...

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: ...instantly the quality of these enamels.

So we see here, on the bottom of the pot, that it is marked "LCT."

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: For Louis Comfort Tiffany.

So an example came up in 2023, estimated at $10,000 to $15,000 at auction.

GUEST: Hm... (chuckles) Oh, my.

APPRAISER: That piece ended up selling for $34,000.

GUEST: Ooh.

(chuckles) Oh, dear, hm.

Wow.

(chuckles) I don't know what to say.

APPRAISER: I think today, conservatively, this would be expected to bring anywhere between $10,000 and $20,000 at auction.

GUEST: (laughing): Oh, my goodness.

(laughing) That's just a little more than I, uh, anticipated.

And I just use it to collect feathers in.

(chuckles)