Early 20th-Century Japanese Silver Horses

Early 20th-Century Japanese Silver Horses
VALUE (2015) | $4,000 Auction – $6,000 Auction

ANTIQUES ROADSHOW APPRAISAL

On this episode of Antiques Roadshow Lark E. Mason appraised a pair of Early 20th-Century Japanese Silver Horses.

APPRAISED VALUE (2015) | $4,000 Auction – $6,000 Auction

This appraisal was featured in Little Rock, Hour 2 (#2005) and was filmed in Little Rock, AR on July 25, 2015.

APPRAISAL TRANSCRIPT

GUEST:
My grandparents lived in Japan for about ten years during the Occupation. And right before they left, they traveled the world. And one of their trips while they were in Japan was to China. This is one of the things that she brought back from her travels. And I always loved horses and so she left it to me.

APPRAISER:
The horses are absolutely terrific. These are made of silver.

GUEST:
All right.

APPRAISER:
Probably a high grade of silver. The detail is really pretty wonderful. And there was a tradition in Japan of metalworking at such a high level. And that emanated from training that a lot of metal workers had with swords from the late Meiji period and following.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
And that's what we see here. So these date to the late 19th, early 20th century.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
They are Japanese. The detail extends even to the horseshoes on the feet. Right, wow. Now I'm going to take this down so we can see. The stand itself is also beautiful. And it's a type of Asian hardwood on which is a type of gilded gold lacquer that's been built up on the surface.

GUEST:
Okay.

APPRAISER:
Which is a very difficult technique to do.

GUEST:
Oh, really?

APPRAISER:
And it also is easily damaged. The fact that yours is in great shape helps the value.

GUEST:
Oh, good, good.

APPRAISER:
So I think in an auction sale today, these would make around $4,000 to $6,000.

GUEST:
Oh, wow. Wow. That's great.