GUEST: My mother was an artist.

She studied at the School of Craft in Penland, and it was a, a summer kind of retreat... APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: ...for artists to go and study under other artisans.

And she was fortunate to get to study under this artist, Toshiko, who, they developed a friendship and relationship, and she gifted my mother this piece at the end of their time together.

APPRAISER: Well, your mother must have been skilled, because Penland is one of the big art schools.

GUEST: (laughs) APPRAISER: Toshiko Takaezu, the maker of this pot, famous, uh, Japanese American potter from Hawaii.

She started studying ceramics in Hawaii, came to the mainland, went to Cranbrook, another one of the major art schools.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Then went to Japan and studied Japanese ceramic making and Zen Buddhism.

GUEST : Okay.

APPRAISER: And she studied tea ceremony, which is an adjunct of Zen.

And, and so she was deeply steeped in the culture.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And the idea for her was, there's only one space, whether it's inside a pot or out of it, but it's all connected.

So there's a certain, uh, spiritual basis to the work that Toshiko was doing.

She was born in 1922, she died in 2011, so she had a fairly long life and career.

But she really hit her stride in the late '50s, early '60s, after Cranbrook, and became a, a potter, but working in the Abstract Expressionist style.

This probably dates to about 1970, 1975.

Just a guess, because she very seldom, if ever, dated her pieces.

The glazing on these pieces are viewed as Abstract Expressionist in their influence.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And you can see, this is a pretty good glaze on one of her pieces.

But on top of that, this is larger than most.

This is a moon pot.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Which is a classic form of Toshiko's.

They tend to be globular in form, but they have a nipple opening.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Tiny, so she probably had a matchstick or a small tool when she threw this pot to have just such a small opening at the top like that.

GUEST: Oh!

APPRAISER: They don't always have a rattle.

(piece rattling) GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: I think they were all meant to have a rattle, but the way you put a rattle inside of a pot is, you get a ball of clay and you wrap it in paper, you put it in the pot, you close it, and then when you fire it, the paper burns away and it leaves the ball free-rolling.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: But sometimes, it adheres to it, and so you won't get the rattle.

So, signed on the bottom... (piece rattles) ...with, uh, the double T mark.

GUEST: Mm, mm.

APPRAISER: Toshiko Takaezu.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: She then later taught in Princeton.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: At Princeton University.

There are record prices being paid for Toshiko's work these days.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: If I was going to put an estimate on this at auction, I would say between $8,000 and $12,000.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: But this wouldn't bring less than $10,000, 'cause my estimates tend to be a little conservative.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And it could bring as much as $20,000, easily.

That's not a stretch.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Now, so, why would I have an $8,000 to $12,000 estimate if it's worth $10,000 to $20,000?

Because you want people to bid.

GUEST: Right, right.

APPRAISER: If I put $10,000 to $15,000 or $12,000 to $16,000, that would be accurate, at auction, but then people would say, "Meh, it's worth that, but I, I, I don't need it."

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: $8,000 to $12,000, you have people saying, "I'd pay that."

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Estimates are a secret part of the auction game.

GUEST: Okay.