GUEST: I'm a collector, so I, uh, look for odd and end pieces.

I went into this, uh, flea mall.

This piece caught my eye, and it had flowers in it, and I was like, "Wow.

I like that vase."

I'm like, "How much?"

She said, "$25."

And I was like, "Okay, would you take $20?"

And she said, "It's pretty old."

And I was like, "How about you keep the flowers, and I'll take the vase for $20?"

APPRAISER: Now, when was that?

GUEST: It's been over a year ago.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: Almost two years.

APPRAISER: And where was that?

GUEST: In Columbus, Georgia.

APPRAISER: This is a unique form that is drawn from ancient Chinese bronzes.

This shape is called a hu.

H-U.

This shape is also an ancient Chinese shape, typically found in jade.

This shape is called a "cong."

C-O-N-G.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And it was something that was part of an ancient Chinese burial.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: And then you have a covered vessel, which is an ancient Chinese bronze cooking vessel.

And we have another small vessel here.

And these are not exact representations because it was meant to convey a sense of antiquity.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: So, this kind of color palette is usually associated with the Gong Shi period.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Which is late-17th, early-18th century.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

APPRAISER: So, the flowers at the bottom with the aubergine color on the vines, the black ground is what's dominant with this green and the yellow palette.

During Chinese turbulent history, there were several times when the dynasties would fall, and a new dynasty would arise.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And that would be called "losing the mandate of heaven."

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: So, they lost the right to rule, and a new dynasty would come.

So, in order to forestall that, there was often an effort to try to use art objects and propaganda to associate a current period with an earlier period of great stability and success.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Although, it looks like it was the-- from the Gong Shi period, which was a period of great Chinese success, this was made toward the end of the Qing dynasty, when there was political turmoil, 1880 to 1900 or so.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: So, I think, realistically, this is worth somewhere between $1,200 and $1,800 at auction.

GUEST: Okay.

Wow.

APPRAISER: I think that's a realistic value.

GUEST: Wow, okay, that's great.

I've been watching the "ROADSHOW" for many, many years, so I was just so excited.

We couldn't wait to get here.

So, this is a dream come true for me.