Season 28 Episode 12 | 52m 25s | Video has closed captioning.
Wrap up ROADSHOW's final hour in Raleigh, NC with finds including a Disney Carrier gouache painting, ca. 1942, a pearl, diamond, & platinum brooch, and a William H. Johnson oil, ca. 1928. Can you guess the top $80,000 to $120,000 treasure?
Aired: 04/22/24
Expires: 05/20/24
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♪ ♪ CORAL PEÑA: "Antiques Roadshow" has drawn a crowd of enthusiastic treasure hunters in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Never buy the story, buy the piece, right?
(chuckles) Well, you have found an American gem.
That's amazing.
Wow.
♪ ♪ PEÑA: Institutions like the North Carolina Museum of Art exist to exhibit and educate about cultural assets, but they must also protect, maintain, and restore the treasures in their care.
It's part of the museum's mission to preserve the state's fine arts collection, and that is done here at their 3,400 square foot conservation center.
Methodically working on artworks and frames from centuries ago, to even contemporary pieces, the conservators are specially qualified for this precision work.
Back at "Roadshow," our experts are specially qualified to inspect and appraise the treasures of thousands of guests here today-- take a look.
I brought some Frank Mann posters.
It's out of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Wright Brothers Memorial.
They're old advertisement posters, I think.
I've had them about 25 years.
I bought 'em at a flea market, actually.
I think it was $20 for the pair.
♪ ♪ This is a late 18th century processional banner from Italy.
We were in Atlanta on a road trip, and we saw it, and bought it from a dealer there.
GUEST: I bought this from a dealer, uh, years ago before the internet.
It had no mark on it, uh, so nobody knew exactly what it was.
I just thought it was beautiful, and so as time went on, I, uh, noticed an, uh, article in the "Antique Trader."
They mentioned these monumental vases made for the 1904 Louisiana Purchase World Fair.
So I contacted the museum, sent them a picture, and they said it was one of the vases that had been, uh, lost or gone.
Wow.
You know, the 1904 Louisiana Purchase exhibition was a major event in the history of American decorative arts and commercialization of American decorative art.
In Trenton, New Jersey, where this was made, there were a number of potteries, large and small, and most of them making, what we call, utilitarian wear.
They made sanitary wear, they made bathtubs and sinks and toilet bowls and such things, and some decorative wear.
Mm-hmm.
But most of the decorative wear that came into this country was made in Europe.
But Americans wanted to show the Europeans that they could do it, too.
I don't know if anything this big had been made in American ceramics, in a decorative sense, prior to the 1904 exhibition.
A group of companies got together in Trenton and called themselves the Trenton Potteries.
Mm-hmm.
And the artistic director was a gentleman called Wigley.
You can see his signature there.
He painted this, and together with other huge vases even bigger than this, five of them all together.
They sent them to the Louisiana Purchase exhibition to make a big splash.
They were really competing with the French and the Germans and the British, to a certain extent.
They couldn't quite match what, say, Minton was doing, but they painted this very much in the style of continental porcelain at the time.
It looks like French Limoges, or perhaps Bavarian porcelain, and they've done a spectacular job.
When you bought this thing, you say it was before the internet.
Are you talking 30, 40 years ago or...?
I don't think it's been that long, (stammering): but, uh, to my recollection, maybe 20 years ago or before, somethin' like that.
Do you mind if I ask what you paid for it back then?
Probably somewhere around $1,200 is, I'm guessing at that time, because it was unsigned.
Well, you have found an American gem.
I don't think it's been seen publicly?
No, no one's seen it publicly.
Wow.
I'm going to turn it around because you can see that he didn't hang around.
He painted the whole thing.
It's beautifully gilded here with this border.
Incorporating these roses.
It was called, at the time, The Rose Vase.
What I like about it is the quality of the work, but particularly, the condition.
It looks like it was put in a crate, sent to the 1904 exhibition, and it was just uncrated this week.
Mm-hmm.
I don't know how big of an impact it had.
I don't know what the Europeans thought of it... Mm-hmm.
...but a lot of people must have been impressed.
Here's a bunch of guys from Trenton making sinks and bathtubs, and bang, they can do this.
This is American optimism at its strongest.
Mm-hmm.
I spoke to several colleagues about this, and we were all back and forth because it's unique and it's never been on the market.
And what do we think it's worth?
I think a fair retail price would be $25,000, today.
Wow.
I'm very, very happy with that, uh, and I hope everyone will love it that sees it and everything's coming up roses.
(laughing) GUEST: My grandmother was an artist, and she collected all kinds of things.
I don't think there was a junk shop that she hadn't explored.
And then my mother inherited it.
And then, when my mother passed, I got it.
I know it's a Johnson, and he was a Black painter.
I don't know much more than that.
Do you know how much your grandmother paid for it when she found it or--?
No idea.
So this is a, an oil on canvas painting...
Okay.
...by William Henry Johnson.
Okay.
And he was an African American artist.
He was born in Florence, South Carolina in 1901.
He saved up enough money to go to New York City... Mm-hmm.
...and study at the National Academy of Design...
Okay.
under some pretty well-known teachers there.
One of them was Charles Hawthorne, who was an important painter at the time.
Several years later, in the '20s, he was able to go to France, and he was very influenced by the French artists that he met there...
Okay.
...particularly an artist named Chaïm Soutine, who was an expressionist painter, a modern painter.
And in 1928, he traveled to this area in Southern France called Cagnes-sur-Mer, and did a series of paintings, which is where this was painted.
Okay.
Yeah.
So this is part of that series.
Uh...
Okay.
So that would have been a, kind of, an early work or...?
Yeah, he would have been in his, uh, mid-to-late 20s then.
Okay, yeah.
So it's one of his earlier paintings.
This painting was done in Cagnes-sur-Mer, uh, probably in 1928.
He returned to the United States in late 1929, was active, uh, painting in Harlem.
He worked with the Harmon Foundation, which supported African American artists.
His wife, who was Danish, she was a textile artist...
Okay.
...and her work and the work that he saw in Denmark folk art, influenced his later style, which is very simple, bright colors, almost naïve, so very different from, from this period of his work.
Yeah.
His wife died in 1944.
He had advanced syphilis... Oh.
Mm... ...and that had caused him a lot of physical and mental problems.
And he spent the last 23 years of his life in an institution.
So his painting career was relatively short.
He stopped painting at all, uh, when he was about 46 years old.
The works from this period as well as his later period are quite rare.
So it's signed by him right here... Yeah.
...which is typical of his signature.
He always signed W.H.
Johnson.
Okay.
On the back, he has painted the title, which is "Late Spring View on the Village Mountain."
Okay.
It identifies the town as Cagnes-sur-Mer in France.
Right.
It's got some condition issues.
It's not very tight in the canvas...
Okay.
...which just happens over time.
There's some cracking that you can see here.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
But, overall, the painting is in good shape.
Okay, all right, little tune up.
It just needs a little, needs a little tune up.
His later works depicted African American subjects, scenes from African American life.
And so those have been the things that are, that are more collected and more desirable.
Sure.
In the condition that it's in now, in a retail, like, gallery setting, I think this painting would sell for $80,000 to $120,000.
(laughs) That's incredible.
(laughs) Wow, I had no idea, and that's why I brought it.
If you were to have it taken care of, you would spend a few thousand dollars... Sure.
...to have it taken care of, Well, yeah.
and then the value would increase substantially.
Oh, okay.
It would probably be worth between $150,000 and $175,000.
Right.
Okay.
GUEST: I bought it at an auction about ten years ago, I think, and honestly don't know anything about it.
I paid about $100 for it.
It is a very comfortable chair.
It's a coat rack, I believe, it's an Amish coat rack.
It was around $100, and that was like, uh, 30 years ago.
It's, I think, ma-- over 100 years old.
Just from the way it's, uh, hand-carved and everything.
GUEST: These items are items that my wife's grandfather had when he played football at Carolina in 1892, '93, '94 and '95.
I was, uh, up at my father-in-law's law office in 1995.
Looking over some of, uh, Mr. Merritt's law books up there.
(clicks teeth) And I found this old football up under one of the desk up there.
And I picked it up, and of course, it was flat as a pancake.
And, uh, my father-in-law said, "Well, if you want that football, take it on home with you."
So I said, "Wow, that's kind of cool."
And he said, "Well, while you're up here, "there's a football uniform "and a, and a photo, team photograph.
You want that too?"
And I said, "Why, sure."
And in that photo, I see in the back row, uh, on the right side, that would be your, uh, wife's grandfather.
Th-that's Mr., uh, William Merritt right there.
William D. Merritt.
The North Carolina football program, of course, it didn't start until 1888.
'88, okay.
And then he played, as you said, 1892 to 1895.
They were pretty competitive right away.
In fact, in that 1895 season, his last season, they finished with seven wins, one loss and one tie...
Okay.
...first place in their conference.
There's an interesting story about the 1895 team.
John Heisman, who the Heisman Trophy is named after.
Correct.
Yeah, in fact, he was in attendance at that game, University of North Carolina versus Georgia.
On a botched punt attempt, George Stevens catches the ball...
Right.
...on what was a forward pass-- referees didn't see it.
Scores a 70 yard touchdown for them to win that game, six to nothing.
Absolutely.
Yup.
Pop Warner, who's coaching Georgia, was livid, but the touchdown stood.
So this forward pass between University of North Carolina and Georgia that happened in 1895...
Right.
...is really considered the first forward pass in football.
It wasn't legal.
Wasn't legal.
Wasn't legal.
But the referees didn't see it.
Right.
And John Heisman witnessed that from the stands and then spent years working on getting the forward pass to be a legal play in football.
It wasn't until 1906... '06.
...that they actually then allowed the forward pass.
As we look at the large photo, I see at least one player that has one of the first pieces of equipment for facial protection in football, and that was the leather nose guard.
We also have the football, which is considered-- called a melon ball or a rugby-style ball.
And you always find these deflated.
The reason for that is these had a bladder in them.
The bladders would barely last the full game.
They're called a bladder ball.
And then we see something pretty incredible here, is that this is the jersey he apparently wore that season in this team photo, something we don't see.
So a lot of the baseball and football jerseys of the time are what's called the bib front...
Okay.
... where they're similar to this.
Right.
A lot of those were inspired by fireman's uniforms.
Okay.
Of course, the quilted pants provide a little bit more cushion to, before they had the thigh pads in football.
Also, that photo was taken by Charles Milton Bell from Washington, D.C. Charles Milton Bell was a very famous American photographer.
It's fantastic to see this archive.
We are not aware of any other examples of a 1892 to 1895 North Carolina football, game-worn uniform, or photographs.
Right.
That's great.
Let alone also a team-noted football there.
This is worth more as an archive than it would be as the sum of its parts.
You're going to want to insure this group for $25,000.
Wow.
Maybe somebody in the family will be interested now.
(chuckles) That's great.
That's great news, I had no idea.
PEÑA" Designer, illustrator, painter and sculptor Ze'ev Raban created this beautiful standing Hanukkah lamp around 1926.
This silver menorah with colored glass stones sits atop a wood base.
The word "menorah" comes from the Hebrew word meaning "lamp."
A major influence in commercial art and fine art, Raban is regarded as a leading member of the Bezalel school style and a founder of the Israeli art world.
GUEST: It came from my grandparents' farm in Northern Virginia, and I've been admiring it since I was ten.
Yes.
We have had someone look at it and said they thought it was a Japanese artist's holder of the paintbrushes that the artist might use.
Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm, yes, it's Japanese.
It's more like a flower vase.
Okay.
For just one, one flower.
One flower.
Yes.
It's from late 19th century.
Wow.
Yes.
Meiji period.
1868 to 1912.
But I, I would say it's about 1890.
This material is called "shibuichi," which in Japanese means "25%."
Because it contains 25% gold, this alloy.
Really?
On bronze, yeah, so this becomes gray except for the middle.
It's a cloisonné.
Cloisonné.
Yeah, and with a gold wire.
So the scene is two demons.
It's kind of cute demons, but they are chasing a girl.
(chuckles) Like, I think she's making a face at them.
And you saw the signature, the maker.
Yes, but I didn't... it didn't mean anything to me.
Right, because it's written in Japanese.
Yes.
And it's a very famous, very good maker called Ozeki.
It says "Ozeki Sei."
It's also signed "Katsuhiro."
And I believe it's, uh, Suzuki Katsuhiro, who is also famous.
I would say maybe, conservatively, $25,000 to $35,000.
Holy cow.
You know why?
It's because, um, the, the reason $25,000, it's just, it has this a little bit of a problem.
It's a condition issue, which is very important.
Mm-hmm.
So I'm making it very conservative.
Mm-hmm.
But if without that, I think it go for... it's going for like $40,000 or $50,000, I wouldn't be surprised.
Hm.
Thank you for bringing it.
Well, thank you.
It's beautiful.
Thank you!
I knew it was beautiful.
I just didn't know... Yeah.
...how much it was worth.
That's good.
Right.
Yes.
GUEST: These are a collection of paintings that I actually acquired from a friend and artist here in North Carolina, Ruth Russell Williams.
I met her in, probably the '90s, I would say.
She was a local artist, very community-based, grassroots in Vance County.
She was a beautiful person, and we both had a lot in common in terms of our childhood.
Grew up on a farm and worked very closely with our families.
And we both had a love for gardening, which is something that we learned, we both learned from our grandmothers.
Mm-hmm.
Ruth also had a hobby as an artist.
These are a series of paintings that she actually kind of, developed for me or provided, and I've had them for well over 30 years now.
I love them dearly and wanted to bring them out and share them.
So did she, she have a studio, or a home, or...?
She had a home salon, actually.
Cause she-- Salon?
Yes, she also was a hairstylist.
And, in fact, she started to actually place some of her artwork there.
Her name is, uh, Ruth Russell Williams.
That's right.
And she was the daughter of sharecroppers.
And these stories are really her biography in, in paint; the flowers, the... the bright palette.
She's really considered an American folk artist.
Mm-hmm.
Outsider American folk artist.
She was born in 1932.
They're oil on canvas.
They're all signed.
This piece has an inscription on the back.
"'May God bless you,' Ruth Russell Williams."
Mm-hmm.
Now, was that a special note to you or...?
Well, I think it's just a special note because you know, faith was one of the things that was, we had in common.
I think she may have drawn inspiration from different parts of kind of traditional southern living.
The one, for me, kind of reminds me of Charleston and the women at the flower market.
Oh.
I think what I like about these all is that they all have women in it.
Yes.
So even from a young girl up to a very sophisticated woman, and then you have the women here who are very close to nature with their flowers.
Locally, she was known very well, and even nationally, she was starting to get national attention.
And the Smithsonian cover was what year?
Do you remember that?
It was '93.
These pieces then would really come from her mature period in the, in the late '80s, early '90s.
That is correct.
What did you pay for them?
Collectively, I may have paid no more than $600.
I would estimate the small piece at probably $2,000 to $3,000.
Mm-hmm.
The centerpiece I would estimate at $3,000 to $4,000.
And, love this, and I would estimate this at between $4,000 and $6,000.
Okay.
Very nice.
It is a piece of Roseville pottery that I, uh, won at an auction in Haw River in the, uh, early 2000s.
I think I paid $50 for it.
Someone told me that it should not have been released because there's some flaws on it.
She was no expert.
She was not.
(chuckles) This is a copy.
Okay.
So the flaws are the least of its problems.
Okay.
The shape of the handles is good, the base is good.
It's what happens in the middle.
It has been painted-- I don't know if it's even fired.
There are paint drips all around and paint drips on the inside.
So that's why I flipped it... to look and see how it was signed.
And this is a fake Roseville mark.
(gasps) Wow.
Well, the auctioneer really didn't know anything.
He got $50 from you.
He got $50!
(laughs) Wow.
So, so, I'm sorry.
No, I think it's funny.
(laughs) But it got you a bit on "Antiques Roadshow."
There you go!
(laughs) GUEST: I was walking up the street in Manhattan... APPRAISER: Okay.
...as I passed a shop, an antique shop, this was in the window.
Cool.
And when I walked in, I talked to the gal.
She said there was 12 of them.
These are all original Walt Disney.
So she said he did one a month for a year.
And they were for the war effort.
And so I was, had been in the Navy, had been in one of these things, and I saw that and I said, "Well, I definitely want to buy that.
Well, I'd like to buy all of them."
And she said, "Two of them are already sold."
And I said-- well, I wind up buying this one.
(chuckles) Took it home, and it's been... this is probably in 1980, give or take.
My wife and I have tried to figure out what it is, who it is.
I don't have any paperwork.
I'm sure they gave it to me.
So, first of all, it's a watercolor gouache.
Gouache is a fancy name for an opaque type of water-based paint.
And Disney did a lot of things for the war effort.
They did posters, they did pamphlets, a lot of, uh, material to support the war effort.
They also designed a lot of Air Force insignia.
So you see a lot of Donald Ducks.
Mm-hmm.
Were you a pilot in the Navy?
I was.
Okay, great.
So, you know, those, those insignias were really important... Mm-hmm.
..to the, to the folks who are involved.
And Disney had a lot of the characters supporting in the, in the war effort.
This is interesting because it's got a lot of iconography going on.
We have an aircraft carrier, right?
Mm-hmm.
And then we have this animated character flying off and then we have this wonderful airplane silhouette.
This guy is Pedro.
And Pedro was featured in a 1942 film called "Saludos Amigos."
Pedro was the hero of the story, kind of like the airplane analogy of "The Little Engine That Could."
Mm-hmm.
His job in the movie was a mail carrier.
And there's his mail satchel there.
Right, so carrier, carrier... Yeah, yeah, yeah, carrier.
And this plane, it's a transport plane.
It's all connecting to the concept of carrying stuff, and most likely, about carrying mail.
Pedro appeared in this feature film, in 1942, when it was released.
He also had a cameo in "Roger Rabbit" (chuckling): later on, many years later.
It's possible that it was a calendar situation, but I don't know that for sure.
Or it's possible it was just part of some other promotion where there were 12 of these and that's how many they, they promised to do in a year.
This might have been for a series of drawings or studies that never went anywhere.
Being rare doesn't always make it more valuable.
Interesting.
Yeah.
If it was out in the public domain, it'd be, "Oh, the carrier!
You've got the carrier picture."
At this time, 19-1940s, Disney had already become a major brand.
And all the artists who worked for Disney were allowed to sign his name.
And so this is more than just a signature.
It's really, at this point, Disney's logo type, so.
Like I noticed that.
Exactly, copyright.
Mm-hmm.
So all this is telling you that this is copyright property be-- that belongs to Disney.
So this was not in Disney's-- Walt Disney's hand.
It's most certainly one of the many artists that work for Disney.
Walt Disney himself didn't do a lot at this time of making original art.
He's busy, you know, running, you know, the Disney business.
So that doesn't detract from the significance of, of the piece or the connection to Disney and the connection to the war effort.
It's still an amazing graphic.
Back when you were walking down the street, and you saw it in the window, what did you end up paying for it?
$1,100.
$1,100, okay.
Not bad.
That's a lot of money, though, back in the day, right?
Uh-huh.
The market for things Disney is, is still very strong.
It's, it's an amazing brand.
We're looking at auction, conservatively, $5,000 to $7,000.
Okay, well, now I know.
I mean I've always wondered, because they told me it was Walt Disney who did it...
Right.
...and who signed it, and I could never get an answer one way or the other from anybody.
So it's, it's at least nice to know.
Never buy the story, buy the piece, right?
(chuckling): Exactly.
PEÑA: This late 14th century painting attributed to Matteo di Pacino, depicts a pair of third century brothers, the patron saints of medicine.
Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian were known for healing people and animals and for their commitment to Christianity.
But when they refused to worship Roman deities, they were tortured and put to death.
In the lower panel, the miraculous story of how they performed a leg transplant is depicted.
GUEST: I inherited it from my mother, who received it from her grandmother.
They lived in New York City, and this was part of a... lorgnette?
I'm going to take it off so you can show everybody the way you showed me.
All right.
It was opera glasses, and it had the glasses, and then it had the piece that you held the glasses with, so that you could look at the libretto at the opera.
And they were members of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
And then eventually it was made into a pin.
One thing about jewelry is it, it's a wonderful recyclable.
(chuckles) Thousands of years it gets reused, it gets rearticulated, remade.
When I look at jewelry from somebody who sits at the bench.
When you told me that, right away I flip it over and go to the back of the jewelry.
I'm looking for evidence that it was lorgnette.
When you hit the button on the pin, the glasses, the lenses would have flipped out and unfolded.
It's a lot of hardware that has to be hidden in a small space.
Mm-hm.
We have what we call the catch pin and joint.
Right.
But, in my opinion, they've been there forever.
If it was a lorgnette, there would have been evidence of hinges and tubings and hardware that held the spring.
There's no evidence of any of that going on in the back of this.
(chuckles) Okay.
So, my opinion is, it's a great story.
(chuckles) You almost had me.
But it was never a lorgnette.
It was always a stick pin or a brooch.
Mm-hmm.
The pin would be classified as Belle Époque, which translates to "beautiful age."
This pin is probably from 1905 to 1915.
Mm-hmm.
It has no marks on it that give us a maker's mark.
Oh.
What it looks like to me is it's made in America.
You see these big diamonds on here?
These diamonds weigh half a carat each.
Whew.
Now, they're old European cuts.
We have one, two, three, four, five, six-- 12 at half a carat, some a little bigger.
Mm-hmm.
When you weigh all the diamonds up, it's ten carats total weight.
They're a very, very nice color.
Grading them in the pin, most likely somewhere in that F to G range.
And they're very, very clean.
They're at least VS or better.
What that stands for is "very slightly."
It means that you can't see, with your naked eye, any inclusions.
But I'm a pearl guy.
(chuckles) I love the diamonds.
I love that it's in platinum.
But the pearl, it's what we call button-shaped.
It is, in fact, a natural pearl.
It happens to have an exceptional size.
It's ten-millimeter.
The luster is incredible.
The nacre, which is the coating... Mm-hmm.
that grew in the pearl naturally inside the mollusk, It just has this depth and this warmth.
How do we know it's natural?
You have to have it x-rayed.
In my opinion, it's a natural pearl.
Even with all those diamonds, if you broke it down, the pearl is worth as much as the diamonds.
(chuckles) So if I put this into auction, I would put it in for $12,000 to $18,000.
All right?
I would expect it to do exceedingly well.
I don't see it selling at the low.
I would insure it for $28,000.
Thank you.
GUEST: I got it from my cousin who was in Winston-Salem, she and her husband, it was outside on their deck, exposed to all kinds of elements.
So it was the color of driftwood when I got it.
And I mixed turpentine and boiled linseed oil to counteract all that U.V.
light it got out on that deck.
We're thinking 300, 400 pounds.
Uh, it was difficult to get it out of my living room, uh, yesterday.
A cookbook?
Yes, an old cookbook that-- it was smuggled out of Nazi Germany by our grandparents.
And we're-- And do you use it?
I don't read German.
(laughing): So no.
Oh...
GUEST: These are from my great grandfather, who was a captain in-- for the Confederacy in the Civil War.
This is his sword.
Uh, this is a-- the sword of a captain from the Union side that he captured in the Battle of Petersburg in 1864.
So he was a captain, um, and he was commanding a troop of, of men from the North Carolina, the-- I think the 35th.
And he came up over the hill.
They weren't expecting to-- to engage any enemy combatants, and he surprised a number of Union soldiers, and he was shot at multiple times.
You can-- you can see there's a hole where the musket ball went through the guard and hit him in the hand.
But he was able to capture the Michi-- the force of Michigan Sharpshooters.
And he captured the captain from the Michigan Sharpshooters.
And they started talking, and the Michigan captain helped him clean his hand and that wound, they went down to the river.
The captain said, "You know, (chuckles) "I haven't taken a bath in a month.
"And I know I'm going to go to this internment camp, and you know, could I take a bath?"
He said, "Sure, go ahead."
They walked back to the lines.
They had to spend the night before they were taken to the internment camp.
And they never thought they'd see each other again.
They both survived the war.
My great grandfather lived in, um, North Carolina.
He worked for the railroad.
He had a boarding house.
He was, you know, telling the story one night with boarders there, and the boarder said, "I've heard that story, but from the other side, from the Union side."
So he wrote to the "Detroit Free Press," the paper there in Michigan, and basically said, "Dear Captain, if you are here and you read this, "I have your sword, I'd like to give it back to you."
And in 1888, many years later, he got a reply from this captain, who said, "I remember you and your courteous treatment "the night of the 17 of June, 1864.
If I am not mistaken, "you had a slight wound across the back of your hand "and I turned some water over it to cool it off.
"Am I right?
"You say you have my sword.
"Friend Johnson, keep it.
"If you have boys, let it go to them "as a trophy captured in a fair fight.
"I am teaching my boys to respect Southern men "who fought for their convictions; "that I then thought I believed-- "what time has since proved-- "that the cause for which I fought "represented the best interest of the whole country.
"They on their part, were so honest in their convictions "as I in mine.
"And more-- I tell them that it is my belief "that having trusted to the issue of war, "that you of the South have accepted the result "in good faith, and would today be as quick "to rescind an insult to our father's flag as we.
"Am I not right in this?
"If you can so teach your boys, when the next war comes, "your boys and my boys will stand shoulder to shoulder "against enemies of our common country."
And they remain friends until, until their death.
And we just always kept it because of what it signifies, as, you know, we're all Americans, we, we go through hard times, but in the end, we like to come back together.
The Civil War, it goes all the way back to that original sin of slavery... Mm-hmm.
...and the difficulties that we've had as a country coming around that, and those conflicts and those problems and the repercussions of this...
They're still here.
Some-- It's still here.
And it's nice to be able to see two individuals who, at-- in one moment are trying to kill each other.
That's right.
And the next moment, you see these tender acts of kindness.
Mm-hmm.
Your Union Army Michigan Sharpshooter Captain apparently purchased-- a private purchase... Mm-hmm.
...European-made-- German, specifically-- sword.
Mm-hmm.
His own sword that he was carrying.
It is simply a United States, a U.S. model 1850 foot officer sword, which was not unusual for Confederate officers to be carrying.
We see his sword belt here.
That particular Confederate spoon and wreath buckle... Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
...is generally thought to have been made, uh, in New Orleans.
Hm.
It's a somewhat rare example.
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Obviously, if you are the descendant of an enslaved person, those letters can-- C.S...
Right.
...mean something entirely different.
And there's a different, very understandable reaction to that, because that represents a part of their history that... was... absolutely terrible, from, from every perspective.
Completely agree.
The next perspective on this is artifacts in context, what they represent, the story that they can tell.
And in this case, the story is very beautifully documented in these letters.
Now, we don't have the original letters, unfortunately.
Mm-hmm.
Who did this transcription for you?
The transcription is my great grandfather's surviving daughter at the time.
And so this is shortly near his death, and she was putting together all his remembrances from original letters that, as you say, don't exist anymore.
They're telling a story of humanity in the middle of inhumanity and of reconciliation that we should all aspire to.
Exactly.
And, really, what it comes down to is being able to see each other as human beings.
A retail value for this group, as presented here today, would be between $20,000 and $25,000.
That's... um, surprising, but great.
(chuckles) I mean, we aren't looking, obviously, to part with it, but that's good to know.
We're calling our insurance person... (laughs) to make sure we can insure it.
GUEST: I got them at a thrift store, um, and I bought them together for $12.99 apiece... APPRAISER: How long?
Roughly five years ago.
Do they hang in your home?
Do you have them in a closet?
(laughs) Are they...
They're in a closet.
(chuckling): Okay.
They've been sitting in my husband's closet for about five years.
There is a sticker on the back...
Okay.
...that mentions an age.
Over 100 years old.
Over 100 years old.
Yes.
Qing dynasty, right?
Yes.
So what you brought with you today are two ink and gouache on silk Chinese paintings.
It's a tale of two paintings.
Okay.
Because we have one that is a little bit more valuable... Oh.
One that's a little bit less.
I thought-- One that's a little bit older.
Oh... One that's a little bit younger.
Oh, cool.
Do you want to guess which is which?
I think this one's older, just because it looks older.
Well, you are absolutely right.
Yes.
But I thought they were done by the same....
I mean, I just assumed.
Well, they're not by the same artist.
Oh.
They're very similar in the content.
Uh-huh.
The other painting closer to you was likely produced around 1900, 1890s, late 19th century, but is in the style of Huizong, who was an emperor, Song dynasty emperor in the 11th century.
That one's in great condition, right?
Right.
Has some toning to the silk, but that, that's expected.
Now, this painting has some serious condition issues.
We've got tears all throughout.
There are some areas where it's been restored... Mm-hmm.
...where color has been added to kind of make it seem as though there wasn't damage that occurred.
The tears are visible, though, and there are some other areas where it's been filled, and most likely this was just done to stabilize the piece, so that further damage didn't occur.
The inscription says "Zongyang Que Lan."
Zongyang is a, an county in Anhui province, which is where the artist Que Lan is from.
And Que Lan was an artist who lived from 1758 to 1844.
Wow.
It's pretty cool, right?
That's pretty cool.
Yes.
That's pretty great.
Uh, it's no date on the painting, but we can assume that it was painted right around 1800.
This-- kind of the insects with the flowers, may have been part of a set.
Okay.
I've seen others that were part of sets, and it represents harmony in nature, and I love the details that are in it.
Peonies, wealth.
Butterflies have importance.
It's an auspicious symbol, usually associated with marriage.
"Húdié."
And bees, of course, are propagating.
(laughing): They're pollinating and propagating.
What do you think they're worth?
I hope more than $12.99.
More than $12.99?
(laughs) Well, I will tell you they are worth more than $12.99.
This painting, on its own in today's market, at auction, is worth $4,000 to $6,000.
That's cool.
Yes.
I'm excited about that.
Oh!
The other...
I'm happy about that.
It's great!
I don't even care about this one.
(laughing) Toss it out.
(both laugh) This one can go back in the closet, this one goes on the wall.
(laughs) This painting, it's more decorative.
Okay, yes.
Worth about $100 to $200, $200 to $400.
Oh, what a difference.
I know.
So, actually, when I was in line, a woman commented that her parents were bumblebee farmers, and I almost, like, said, (laughing): "Oh, do you want to buy it?"
Good thing you didn't!
I didn't!
But then I was like, in my head, I was like, "No, they go together, keep 'em."
If this were in perfect condition, it would be $10,000 to 20,000, and I saw some that sold for $30,000 and even $50,000.
PEÑA: This fascinating statue of Bacchus, the Roman God of wine, was discovered to be an amalgamation of pieces from different sculptures in the 1960s.
The torso is from the second century and Roman.
The head is from a different ancient statue, and the hair, limbs, berries and leaves were added in the late 16th or early 17th century.
After decades of conservation work, Bacchus was put back together with one new addition: a right arm.
GUEST: So this was a doll that my mother had, and she got it from her grandfather, who was, uh, Mr. Jones, and Mr. Jones of New York.
It's a doll that, I believe, was used-- that they would take to the stores, and then you could switch out the heads... Mm-hmm.
...for the dolls, to see which type of, uh, head that they wanted for purchase of the dolls.
My grandfather was a salesman for Jones of New York, and I believe he gave it to her from his father's company.
Your doll was made by Kestner, in Germany...
Okay.
...and he was a, a self-proclaimed king of dolls.
He started making dolls early on... Mm-hmm.
...when they were still making porcelain heads, which a lot of people call china heads.
Okay.
And then he progressed into what we call the bisque dolls, like this one.
Okay.
What's wonderful about your doll is it's in its original German-labeled box.
Okay.
These dolls were directed mostly to the American market.
The Germans loved to sell things to the U.S. department stores.
Okay.
That was their bread and butter.
So most of the boxes came over with English-printed labels.
Oh, okay.
It would say Kestner and so forth.
But, as you can see, yours is not.
It's a German label.
You think it's a salesman sample?
I, I think so, because my grandfather and his stepfather would travel for many months of the year; the United States and also the world.
And so they would pick up different items, uh, from all over.
It's very likely that he purchased it over in Europe.
Okay.
But it is not a salesman sample.
Oh.
This is a deluxe toy for a young child and "wonder kind," which I'm not even going to try to pronounce with a German pronunciation... (laughs) because I'm already adding the Southern dialect to it.
Uh-huh.
But it's the "wonder child."
It was sold as a set.
Okay.
Kestner also made all of these doll heads as individual dolls, too.
What was really fun about this doll-- it was made in 1910.
Wow.
And it was made just like this for the child.
So they could have four dolls in one.
And so you would unhook this one and then hook that one on.
We don't find a lot of these on the market, first of all.
But a lot of times they come together, because the child did find it too difficult to change the heads out.
Okay.
So a lot of times they did stay this way.
A lot of other times, they found other doll bodies, because at that time, you could buy doll bodies and even doll heads at the department store.
Oh, wow.
So to find it all together is really fun.
That's awesome.
So what you have is a little Kestner 171, the one that's standing up and all dressed up.
Okay.
She's got a mohair wig.
And what's different about her than the other doll heads is her eyes actually sleep.
Yes.
And she has a little open mouth with little teeth.
Dolls with open mouths are very commonly found...
Okay.
And the ones that collectors really love right now... Uh-huh.
...are the ones that are in the box.
Oh, wow.
That have painted eyes and closed mouth.
Okay.
And the value in an auction... Uh-huh.
would be between $6,000 and $8,000.
Great.
Okay, great.
That's wonderful.
Yeah, so, you've got a very valuable little doll.
Okay, wonderful.
GUEST: I got it from my dad, who passed away about ten years ago.
And he got it when he was six years old.
On the first day of school, he broke his arm and the people of the town felt sorry for him, so they, they gave him the truck.
This is made by Buddy L, and Buddy L was one of the greatest toy makers of the 20th century.
This is one of the rarest and one of the most desirable because this was made for the International Harvester Company and, and it was used as a premium.
And this is called the Red Baby, and this is a well above average example.
We've got the original tailgate.
Last one I saw in about this condition was about $1,800.
Oh, wow.
So... (chuckling): Wow.
GUEST: I know it was a rifle of my grandfather's and I think it was his father's.
When I was a kid, he kept it under his bed.
When he passed away, I asked for that, just because that was kind of special to me.
I feel compelled to make the PSA statement right now...
Okay.
...that we do not store guns under the bed of any sort, any type, any era... (chuckles) ...where a potentially interested child or someone else could access them.
So the gun was made by the Starr Arms Company of New York, and they had gone into business in the late 1850s, initially producing revolvers for the U.S. military.
It's a cavalry carbine that was made for cavalry use for the Union Army.
It was contracted for very late in the Civil War.
During the Civil War period, self-contained metallic ammunition is starting to come to the forefront of firearms technology.
So now you have things that are much closer to what we think of as a modern cartridge with a brass case, and the primers in there, and the powder, and the bullet.
So we just open it, put it in, and-- and away you go.
Mm-hmm.
Well, this is that evolution of being a cartridge gun.
It's a breech-loading carbine, which means you load it from the breech rather than from the muzzle, like a lot of the guns during the Civil War period.
By releasing that lever and lowering it, you can place a cartridge in the breech of the mechanism... (clicking) ...close it up.
Once you cock the hammer, you're ready to go.
Starr got the order very late in the war, and they don't start delivering them until March of 1865.
Mm-hmm.
Well, of course, the war is over in April of 1865...
Right.
...so none of these ever get issued, ever get used.
Mm-hmm.
And even though they made 20,000 of the percussion guns for U.S. use, they only made 5,000 of these, and then they get sold as surplus.
A lot of these end up going through retailers like Schuyler, Hartley, & Graham of New York and to the French, and do see military service during the Franco-Prussian War.
And that's where a lot of our Civil War surplus guns ended up going.
And then, of course, after the Franco-Prussian War, the guns were semi-obsolete to begin with.
Now they're really obsolete.
It's in really nice, completely untouched condition, and it doesn't have a French arsenal inventory number on the back of the butt.
So I don't think this gun went to the Franco-Prussian war and never really saw any use.
Because they only made 5,000, survival rate's low, and finding nice ones is hard.
When you see the rough ones, they're going to bring somewhere in the $800 to $1,200 range, maybe a little bit more in an auction setting.
This is a super crisp gun.
And I think that realistically, in an auction setting, this gun is going to sell between $2,500 and $3,500.
GUEST: I brought two jade tablets and a jade seal that belonged to my great great grandmother in California.
She died in 1929, and at that point, my mother inherited them.
I have been told they are 18th century from China.
Mm.
According to my mother, she may have purchased them in San Francisco, where she lived.
Mm-hmm.
They're mottled green jade.
They're plaques or tablets.
It's likely that the two on the screen behind the seal, were in fact, out of an album.
Ooh.
So it may have been a jade-paged book.
And they're incised with official script.
And the seal, again, is green jade, surmounted with a double dragon and a, a cord.
The seals are symbol of imperial authority.
Most imperial seals that are done in this square form are surmounted with this double dragon.
It's a very common motif on imperial seals or court seals.
Ah.
And the piece of jade is lovely.
It's mottled, it's green jade.
It's consistent with what would be used in the court.
At the table, we-- we had a long discussion about these objects.
Yes.
And, firstly, we thought the plaques too were from the 18th century, but it's actually dated here... Guangxu, first year of Guangxu, which is 1875.
Oh... And these are more than likely commemorative pages.
There was an honorary mention of a previous ancestor.
These jade book pages are not uncommon.
They're more than likely two of a book of 12.
Do you have any i-idea of value on the plaques?
My mother had them appraised in 2007 for $1,400.
And so let's move to the seal that's in front of us.
There's a few characteristics that would indicate to us that it's likely not 18th century.
There's a, a weakness of carving through the side here where you have these celestial clouds.
Mm-hmm.
If we look at examples of 18th century models, there's just-- everything is highlighted.
There's a deeper lapidary carving to all aspects of the seal.
It was indicative of the, the time frame, best materials, best lapidaries, best workshop, time most spent.
And as dynastic China went into decline, so did its decorative arts.
You'll see on the underside, it has two columns of script.
One's a seal script and the other is a compressed script.
But you'll see here in the carving of the impression that there are some mis-carvings to this side where the lines continued into the border.
Yes.
So there are a little weakness in the carving that leads us down the path of, of not being 18th century.
Okay.
Its association with something dated 1875 Would indicate it's possible that it is a late 19th century imperial jade seal rather than 18th century seal.
We need to spend more time with it, we need to do, do more research.
These things are, are problematic at the very best of times.
If the jade book leaves came up at auction, I think the shared consensus is that they are imperial, or certainly very likely to be imperial.
Together, as an associated pair, they would carry an auction estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.
(laughs) Okay.
Wow.
Do you have any i-idea of value on the seal?
Again, my mother had it appraised at the same time, uh, in 2007... Mm-hmm.
...and the seal appraised for $1,400 also.
Conservatively, at auction, it would carry an auction estimate of $30,000 to $50,000.
(stammering): Uh... um, okay.
All right.
Um, and I think our takeaway was if there can be a shared consensus within the industry among peers, that it is 1875 to the, the end of Guangxu reign, that it may be a multiple of ten.
So it may carry an a-auction estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.
Oh, is-is that all?
O-Okay.
Um, well, that's a little bit different than what I was expecting today, but... Oh, my.
Oh, my.
Thank you.
That's amazing.
Wow.
PEÑA: And now, it's time for the "Roadshow" Feedback Booth.
We came today to get some, um, some art and some video games appraised.
And, um... And-- Look-- turns out...?
Turns out these are the most valuable things we've got.
(laughing): Yeah.
So, uh, yeah, made Travis pretty excited.
Mm-hmm.
Makes me pretty excited.
Not millionaires, but closer.
(chuckles) Yeah.
And it turns out my German copper plate etching from the 19-teens is worth almost $200.
Woo-hoo!
Yeah!
$200.
Thank you, "Antiques Roadshow."
Thank you.
We've had a fun time.
Yeah.
I had the best experience at "Antiques Roadshow."
A little disappointed.
I brought a print in, and I thought it was going to be worth millions, and it was worth $20.
But this one was the real winner.
I got it for $20, and it was worth $300 to $500.
Well, we didn't have any treasures, so we brought my mom's Picasso.
It may or may not be real.
But our experience was priceless.
I brought a painting that's been in my family for five generations.
We found out it's not really worth very much, but hopefully, the sixth generation will one day appreciate it.
Little Frankie definitely had the time of his life today.
He was interviewed by the crew.
He got to meet Noel.
Thank you, "Antiques Roadshow."
We really flipped out.
And I brought this because my mom likes online auctions, and we were scrolling through the auction page, and I saw this, and since I like military stuff, I asked if we could get it.
So we got it, and it had said that it was a B-17 bomber, uh, oxygen tank for the crew.
And I wanted to know what it was worth.
Um, I found out it's like 100 bucks.
Thank you, "Antiques Roadshow."
♪ I checked off one on the bucket list ♪ ♪ I'm so glad I got to go ♪ ♪ To show off all my cool old stuff ♪ ♪ On the "Antiques Roadshow."
♪ PEÑA: Thanks for watching.
See you next time on "Antiques Roadshow."
ANTIQUES ROADSHOW Appraisal
At Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, Arlie Sulka told one guest, who owned a beautiful Tiffany lamp that was purchased from Marshall Field's in Chicago, that Marshall Field's commissioned an entire store display from Tiffany, consisting of mosaic glass panels. Watch an appraisal of one of those panels!
Check it out
