From: mouse@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: rec.antiques
Subject: Re: Flow blue "IRIS" info
Date: 12 Nov 92 10:21:44 CST
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services

Okay, I'll chew on this one...
This is Nancy back again with the Class I china valuation info, friends,
so for those who've seen it, just "fast-forward" now...

> Subject: flo-blue set
> From: rvv@world.std.com (Rosana V VanDerGrinten)
>
> I have a complete set of Flo-Blue "IRIS" pattern by Arthur Wilkinson,
> Royal Staffordshire, serving for 6. This includes a large oval
> platter, a smaller oval platter, a large tureen with cover, a small tureen
> with cover, an oval dish, 6 dinner plates, 6 cups and saucers,
> 6 large bowls, 6 small bowls, 6 medium plates, and six small plates,
> for a total of 49 pieces.
>
> Ten pieces have small chip restoration, (an excellent job of restoration)
> 2 small pieces have hairline cracks. I am a novice dealer with space
> in an upscale mall. What should I charge (retail) for this set?
> I'm told collectors don't want to pay book price but have not seen
> a price in books for a complete set.

> Thanks for any information.

Hi, Rosana...

First, I checked Warman's _English & Continental Pottery & Por-
celain_, pp. 128-137, to get a few spot-checks on Grindley pricing
for flow blue.  I only have the 1st ed. in the office; the 2nd
ed. is at home, but even so it looks like a good equivalent
to Jenkins' Class I china valuation guide, as set forth below.

Here is how I would tackle the valuation issue (but know that this 
is only one person, and that others might see things differently).  
According to Emyl Jenkins' _Appraisal Book_, there are three classes 
of china:

Class   I: Pottery, semiporcelain, and ironstone (including that
           available in department stores and some collectible 1930s
	   dinnerware patterns such as Harlequin).  Your "IRIS"
	   pattern china would fall generally into this category.
Class  II: Simply decorated English bone china, American porcelain,
           by Syracuse, Lenox, Pickard, NORITAKE, "Queens' Ware," and
           commonly found Haviland patterns.
Class III: Fine English and American porcelain, gold-decorated
	   patterns.  (It should be noted that the prices for excep-
           tional imported English, French, and Hungarian patterns
           may actually exceed "high" valuations by hundreds of 
	   dollars.)

Next, Jenkins gives a "rule of thumb" valuation for all the common 
elements found in most dinnerware sets, expressed as a "low value-
high value" range," as follows:

		Jenkins' Class I Valuation Guide

ITEM			LOW VALUE		HIGH VALUE

Dinner plate		$	 5		$	20
Salad plate			 4			15
Bread/butter plate		 3			10
Cup				2.50			10
Saucer				2.50			10
Rimmed soup plate		 5			20
Cereal bowl			 4			15
Fruit/dessert bowl		 3			10
Platters:
	Oval, small		15			35
	Oval, medium		20			45
	Oval, large		25			65
	Round, medium		20			45
	Round, large		25			65
Vegetable bowls:
	Open, round		10			35
	Open, oval		10			35
	Covered, round		30			75
	Covered, oval		35			85
Tureens:
	Covered			40			100
	Covered, w/stand	60			135
Teapot w/cover  		25			55
Coffeepot w/cover  		25			55
Sugar, w/cover			20			35
Creamer				12			25
Gravy boat			18			40
Gravy boat w/stand		25			50
Celery, butter, or pickle dish	18			25


Now the valuation procedure is this:  

Take all the pieces of china in the set which you have and put them 
out on a big table. You REMOVE from the table any china which show 
damage in any way: chips, cracks, crazing, bad stains, nasty scratches, 
etc., leaving only first-class pieces behind.  Now, count how many of 
each type of dish you have (i.e., 7 dinner plates, 8 saucers, 4 cups, 
6 berry dishes, etc.).  Then consult the above guide for the value of
that piece and multiply the value by the number of the same items to
get a total for that type of item, and add them all up for a ballpark 
grand total for the set.  I would take the high value on the numbers,
based on my spot-checks in Warman's and the fact that flow blue is
pretty popular in the United States.

As to the pieces you set aside for various reasons, if one takes the
"hard" view, they have in truth no market value.  I have found, how-
ever, that pieces with only small damage (tiny "chigger bite" chips,
for example), can become "bargaining stock" in negotiating a sale,
and can be considered either at the "low" price above, or at some %
of the price, or can be thrown in to clinch the deal.

As to how a dealer might handle the sale.  If I were such a dealer,
I probably would tag the entire set at some round number near the 
valuation I got above, but in reality I would be willing to nego-
tiate up to 20% off that price (or more, if I were eager to sell or 
I actually had very little invested in the set because I got it at 
a really cheap price originally).  In the final analysis, this becomes
the true call of each individual dealer, and only you know what your
own bottom line price really is.

Good luck.  I hope that this has been of help in some way.  Write 
and tell me how it all comes out.

Nancy

* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
|  N. L. Sliker, Director/Engineering Computing                             |
*  3043 Learned Hall                                                        *
|  University of Kansas            "Everything goes wrong all the time -    |
*  Lawrence, KS  66045                  What you do is fix it."             *
|  mouse@ukanvax.cc.ukans.edu                     -  Gus Pagonis            |
*  (913) 864-3692                                                           *
|  Disclaimer:  My opinions are my own; nobody else is even interested.     |
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* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
|  N. L. Sliker, Director/Engineering Computing                             |
*  3043 Learned Hall                                                        *
|  University of Kansas            "Everything goes wrong all the time -    |
*  Lawrence, KS  66045                  What you do is fix it."             *
|  mouse@ukanvax.cc.ukans.edu                     -  Gus Pagonis            |
*  (913) 864-3692                                                           *
|  Disclaimer:  My opinions are my own; nobody else is even interested.     |
* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
-- 

* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
|  N. L. Sliker, Director/Engineering Computing                             |
*  3043 Learned Hall                                                        *
|  University of Kansas            "Everything goes wrong all the time -    |
*  Lawrence, KS  66045                  What you do is fix it."             *
|  mouse@ukanvax.cc.ukans.edu                     -  Gus Pagonis            |
*  (913) 864-3692                                                           *
|  Disclaimer:  My opinions are my own; nobody else is even interested.     |
* - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - *
Newsgroups: rec.antiques