Question:
I attended the recent red wing convention on thursday only, and bought two articles from street venders at the old pottery place. One was a lily pitcher and bowl set and the other was a red wing, red color large iris pitcher. I had my friend ship the three pieces from her husband’s company, (Microparts in Eagan Minnesota) through UPS. They weighed 22 pounds and were shipped with $1500 insurance. During shipping, the bowl of the pitcher and bowl set was damaged. (crack down the side, and hairline across the bottom of the side in a T shape.) UPS is saying to ship the set to them, where they will inspect for damage and determine whether or not it can be repaired, or "reordered". I feel that the pitcher and bowl set is valueless without both pieces in mint condition, so should ship both back to them. Can you help me establish their value within the 1500 insurance framework? Thank you Pauline Roll

Answer: Pauline, I was at the convention and selling on the streets also. Next time look me up and say hi! Now to your Red Wing Lily Pitcher & Bowl pitcher set. To find these Lily Pitcher & Bowl sets in mint condition is quite hard to do and expensive. The bowl is nearly impossible to find in mint condition where as the pitcher is not. Therefore, having the bowl damaged is equal to 95% for the set being damaged. As I stated before, you can find a mint Lily pitcher, but I wish you the best of luck finding a mint bowl by itself. No collector will want to sell you just a mint bowl and leave them sitting with a pitcher that every other collector most likely has. With all this being said, I would not let UPS get away with giving you a 50% value adjustment just because the pitcher was not damaged because that is half the set. I would let them keep the pitcher and demand a full Red Wing Lily Pitcher & Bowl set refund. The value of a mint Red Wing Lily Pitcher & Bowl set is $1500 to $1700. The better the color and embossing of the decorations, the higher the value. Good luck. Al Kohlman