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Who is the manufacturer of this vase? How much is it worth?

Q. I am enclosing photos of a vase that is in mint condition with no chips or scratches. The glaze is flawless. It is 6¾ inches tall and the flower is painted on only one side. Would you have any idea who the manufacturer might be and the value?

A. Yes, the major mark is hard to read, but it is “Rorstrand,” and that is the name of a prestigious pottery and porcelain company founded in 1726 in Sweden as the Swedish Porcelain Manufactory.

The location of the factory was Stora Rorstrand, part of Stockholm. Initially the company made faience, a type of earthenware with a glaze that contains tin as a whitening agent. The company acquired the porcelain factory in Marieberg in 1782, and in 1790 produced its first tableware made from earthenware.

Rorstrand became famous for fine tableware, and in 1881 started making Chinese-style feldspar (or “hard paste”) porcelain. In the 1890s, Rorstrand hired its first artists to produce art wares, and it decorated some fine pieces that were exhibited at the Stockholm Exhibition in 1897 and the Paris World’s Fair in 1900.

Today, collectors prize the eggshell porcelain wares that are decorated in the Art Nouveau style, as well as the large elaborately hand-painted pieces by Rorstrand artists. These can bring prices in the low to mid-thousands when sold at auction. They can be very beautiful, but they are also rather hard to find.

There is no question that this is a Rorstrand vase, but is it artist-signed? We looked and looked at the rather poor pictures we have, and then searched several hundred pieces that were sold at auction in recent years, and we began to feel that the work resembled that of an artist named Algot Erickson, who is famous for his eye-catching floral representations on glossy black backgrounds.

Examining the photographs of the marks once again, we finally saw tiny initials under the Rorstrand mark, and these are indeed those of Algot Erickson. The “A” looks a bit like an “R,” but it is indeed an “A” followed by an exaggerated “E.”

We could not find out much about Erickson, but his dramatic porcelain decoration really speaks for itself. As for when this vase was made, we have found dated examples of similar pieces and these suggest that your vase was made sometime after World War I — probably circa 1920.

The greatest value of this piece is in its beauty, but what about the monetary worth? Size (along with artistry and rarity) seems to be important to the worth of Rorstrand, and, recently, a small 3½-inch-tall example similar to the piece in today’s question sold at auction for just $90. However, large examples tend to sell for significantly more if their artistry is up to par. At 6½ inches tall, this piece is a good size for Erickson’s work. A 12- to 14-inch-tall example with the black background and the striking flower might sell in the $1,500-to-$2,000-plus range, but this 6½-inch example should fetch $300 to $400 if sold. This means that you should probably insure your Rorstrand porcelain vase with decoration by Algot Erickson for between $600 and $800 if it is in the absolutely perfect condition that is reported in the letter.

Ÿ Contact Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson at Treasures in Your Attic, P.O. Box 18350, Knoxville, TN 37928.

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