Daily_Shows Movie
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00:00I found this pig about 25 years ago. I had to have it.
00:06To a non-folk art person, this is probably ugly as a mud fence.
00:10I just can't believe it.
00:11Believe it!
00:31All bets are off as we return to the boardwalk to see treasures from all around the Jersey shore.
00:37Because I'm trying not to do house sales anymore. I've been trying to get my addiction under control.
00:42I have goose bumps. They're going up my legs. Oh my gosh.
00:45You don't mind. I'm going to cry.
00:47How do you use the chair?
00:48Fifteen years later, is it win, lose or draw for these guests and their prized possessions?
00:54Let's find out in this look back at Atlantic City.
00:58I found this pig about 25 years ago.
01:02And I found it in an antique junk shop in collectibles.
01:06And I had to have it. Just couldn't resist.
01:09And what did you pay for it?
01:10It was around $200.
01:12$200.
01:13Which was a lot of money for me 25 years ago.
01:15But I thought to myself it's a really unique object and I had never seen anything like it.
01:20Well, nothing is unique in our business.
01:24But sometimes you see something you've never seen before.
01:27Right.
01:28And I must say I've never seen this before.
01:31It's generically a pull toy.
01:33Right.
01:34Cast iron wheels and probably made in Germany.
01:36Probably made around 1895 to 1910.
01:40Most pull toys you see from Germany are like horses.
01:44They're about this big, little wooden platforms.
01:47Sometimes a lamb.
01:48Lambs are very popular.
01:49Right.
01:50Goats are very, very popular.
01:52You seldom see pigs.
01:54And you seldom see platform toys this big.
01:57Right.
01:58So, I mean, this is really exciting.
02:00Plus, you seldom find them so cute and so animated.
02:04So, push him over here.
02:08Listen to him.
02:09And you see his mouth go.
02:11I mean, this guy is really a little charmer.
02:14Glass eyes, painted papier-mâché, snout and teeth.
02:18It's got this incredible action and just absolute charm.
02:25My hunch is at auction this could easily bring $2,000 to $2,500.
02:30Perfect.
02:31So, I mean, I think he's just a winner.
02:35Thanks for bringing him in.
02:37I really appreciate it.
02:45$2,000
02:51They are a pair of silhouettes that I bought.
02:54I call them my girls or my sisters, and they hang in my bedroom.
02:58I purchased them at an antique shop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
03:02There's something that makes me smile, and I love looking at them every day.
03:06What struck me right away was their incredible beauty.
03:09They probably date to around 1825 and 1830.
03:13And the way that we date these is by fashion.
03:16Their hairstyle, the style of their jewelry, and the style of their dress.
03:20That's one clue.
03:22Another clue is looking at the medium.
03:24Pastel on paper.
03:26And what's interesting to me is that they're large cut work and then laid down on another piece of paper.
03:32If you look at this picture, it's this sort of very plain background.
03:37And then we looked at the other picture now, which has shifted slightly in its frame to reveal some blue behind it.
03:44And what we discovered under the backboards of the picture was that it was a complete blue sheet of paper.
03:49Okay.
03:50Which all of a sudden then a light bulb went off for me.
03:52And I said, wow.
03:54Blue background, cut work, with these foil sort of embellishments on these beautiful girls.
04:00Ruth Henshaw Bascom, we believe, is the artist.
04:03And she worked in this style.
04:05She worked in New England.
04:07And these fall right within the height of the period in which she worked, in the 1820s, 30s, and 40s.
04:13Okay.
04:14So how much did you pay for them?
04:16I paid $150.
04:18When I first looked at them, I thought they were American school, 19th century, circa 1820 to 1830.
04:25And valued as such, if I were estimating them for auction today, I would say $10,000 to $15,000.
04:34All right.
04:36However, with all the forensic clues that we've amassed, if we were to price them by this artist, Ruth Henshaw Bascom, they would be worth double that.
04:48I have goosebumps.
04:50$20,000 to $30,000.
04:51No way. Oh, my God.
04:54I have goosebumps. They're going up my legs. Oh, my gosh.
04:58They're beautiful. They're amazing.
05:00I adore them.
05:04My mother-in-law was a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and she had a lot of interesting books.
05:19My husband and I were looking through her things, and we found it in the kind of bag you get when you buy a card.
05:25And she had just put it in there, had, I guess, forgotten about it.
05:28And I know enough about books to know that, gee, if it's old, it might be rare.
05:34And I knew enough about Walt Whitman to know that he self-published his own work.
05:38He had some problems with copyright law.
05:40He lived in Camden, which is where my mother-in-law's family had lived.
05:44And it's inscribed to her, I guess it's 1875, so it would be many greats' uncles.
05:50It is Walt Whitman's memoranda of the war.
05:54And when you open it to the title page, you see that it is published in Camden, 1875-76.
06:01And he was sort of a revolutionary poet in the way of the type of poetry he was writing.
06:06But, of course, why we're really looking at the book is not the title page.
06:09It's this first page here.
06:11And it's a very, very nice inscription.
06:15This is for the fireman at the house, corner of 5th and Arch Street, Camden,
06:22with best respects, W.W., which, of course, is Walt Whitman.
06:26So tell me about the fireman.
06:28The fireman would have been her, I don't know my great-greats, but several great-uncles.
06:33My husband and his brother, because they were men,
06:37never really took the D.A.R. membership or any of the antiques seriously.
06:41And my husband's family lord was this Walt Whitman book.
06:44And he always told, well, if you ever need any money, there's always the Walt Whitman book.
06:48When you get into these books, one of the things you look for is,
06:51is the gold still bright, can you still read it, are the edges worn?
06:57There's a little tiny bit of wear, but it's in very, very fine condition.
07:02The other thing about this book, though, is there was a remembrance edition of this.
07:07Now, in the remembrance edition, which was the first edition,
07:11here you would have a portrait of Walt Whitman,
07:15and you would also have a little slip saying it's that edition.
07:20So this actually is a slightly later edition of the book,
07:24but you have the great inscription.
07:26Now, what have you done on price? Have you looked it up?
07:30Well, the family lore is that it could be worth anything from $100 to $10,000.
07:34And I did look online, and I saw another Walt Whitman memorandum of the war that was going for $8,000.
07:40But it was a first edition, and since you now tell me it's not a first edition,
07:44I know that that makes a big difference.
07:46The fact that it's not a first edition is a little bit of a detraction.
07:50The fact, though, that it has a fabulous inscription just adds to it.
07:54Retail, it would be more a $10,000 to $12,000 book.
07:58Really?
07:59And that's even being a little bit on the conservative side.
08:02You don't mind. I'm going to cry.
08:04My mother-in-law's been dead for a while, and I just feel like I've justified her,
08:08and I want all the men in my family to listen to this.
08:10My mother-in-law was right. I'm going to cry.
08:13It's wonderful, and the inscription is what makes it.
08:16It's a great inscription, and thank you for bringing it.
08:19Oh, thank you.
08:20If this wasn't inscribed, it might be $800, $700, $500.
08:31Tell me, where did you get this large carpet?
08:34A demolition sale. This was in the attic.
08:37So what you have is a very colorful and decorative mille-fleur carpet from the village of Kerman,
08:43which is in northern Iran.
08:44Okay.
08:45This, you'll see, has a directional arch on the top.
08:48Yes.
08:49And that would indicate it's a prayer rug.
08:51What did you pay for it?
08:53$20.
08:54$20?
08:55$20.
08:56Would you be surprised if I told you it's worth about $3,000 today?
09:00I, yes.
09:02It is.
09:08Well, it all started when I was 8 years old.
09:11I went to try out for the Little League, and they had a Yankee Bat Boy contest.
09:16Well, girls couldn't participate, so I made up a name.
09:19I put Jimmy Lotsi.
09:21So when they called my house, my mother answered the phone.
09:24They said, oh, your son Jimmy just won the Yankee Bat Boy contest.
09:28And my mother started to laugh.
09:30She said, well, I don't have a son Jimmy, but it's my daughter Nancy.
09:34So when they found out, they were like, wow, we've got to do this.
09:38You know, make her the honorary Bat Girl.
09:40So they said to me, who's your favorite Yankee?
09:43And I said, oh, Mickey Mantle.
09:45And it just so happened that Mickey Mantle came to speak to me.
09:49And obviously you two became friends.
09:52Oh, yes, yes.
09:53You were giving him a peck on the cheek.
09:55And I had asked him, oh, Mickey, can you hit a home run for me?
09:58He said, well, I can't promise you anything.
10:00I said, that's okay.
10:02And he hit a home run, and he came over to me.
10:05He said, here, Nancy, here's my bat.
10:08And then a few weeks later, I get this autographed picture in the mail.
10:13To Nancy, the cutest Bat Boy we have ever had, your pal Mickey Mantle.
10:18It's incredible.
10:19I was so excited to see this.
10:21This is such a wonderful story.
10:23This happened in 1963.
10:25Yes.
10:26You really can't get a better bat than this.
10:28A home run bat, this kind of documentation.
10:31Here you are with the Mick.
10:32Here you are in Life Magazine.
10:34Yes.
10:35I think with all this backup documentation, this fantastic photo at auction,
10:42I would expect a bat like this to go for about $35,000.
10:46It's truly a fantastic piece.
10:49One of the best pieces I've seen on this show.
10:52Thank you, yes.
10:53I mean, my memories are awesome.
11:02I got it out of a storage building where I worked.
11:06Bought this in a lawnmower.
11:08I think it comes from Wardentown area, New Jersey.
11:12Thought it was a really neat table.
11:15I brought it here to see what it's worth.
11:17When we first saw it, we thought the same thing you did,
11:20which is this is a very exotic and wonderful table.
11:23We look at the top, and you see this wonderful Mother of Pearl
11:28We look at the top, and you see this wonderful Mother of Pearl inlay
11:32depicting butterflies and fish and birds and flowers.
11:36And we're accustomed to seeing things, designs like that.
11:41In the colonial revival period, at the end of the 19th century,
11:46it's called aesthetic movement.
11:48And you see how beautiful it is.
11:50But there's a few surprises with this table.
11:52Tell us a little bit more about your discovery.
11:54It's a tilt-top table.
11:55When you open it up, there's a nickel inlaid in the back.
11:59Let's open it up and have a look at that.
12:02There's a man's picture in there.
12:04I have no idea who he is.
12:06And we see a wonderful design here,
12:09and there's an early 1911 nickel inlaid into the center of the table.
12:15Did you do any research on that coin or on the gentleman that's depicted?
12:20I know if it was a 1913 nickel, it would have been worth a lot of money.
12:23That's right.
12:24But it isn't.
12:25It's a 1911 nickel, and its value is a little less as a nickel.
12:30But this tells us a story.
12:33We believe this gentleman here probably was the maker.
12:37A friend of mine told me that for anybody that did that
12:40back when the day the nickel was made,
12:42had to be a master craftsman to build this table.
12:45We think so too.
12:47This is a tour de force of work.
12:50He inlaid the edge with stone.
12:52He inlaid the piece with a coin probably the year he made it, 1911.
12:57So what this really is is a piece of folk art.
13:01Its value is less as a piece of early American furniture
13:05and more as an object that somebody threw their heart and soul into making.
13:12He probably was German by origin and emigrated to America.
13:17A lot of this construction that you see, this attention to detail,
13:20the diamond border here,
13:22the use of rosewood here in the center of the table,
13:25very rare, very elaborate.
13:28It was meant to be seen open.
13:30Okay.
13:31And what did you pay for the lawnmower and for the table together?
13:34$500.
13:35$500.
13:36It's probably worth at auction $5,000 to $8,000 today as a piece of folk art.
13:43Okay. That's wonderful.
13:51I was actually on vacation in the Philippines
13:54and I got it at an antique store in Manila.
13:56And this is a receipt from this Manila Antiques in Manila.
14:01And they say one piece bronze water vessel with patina,
14:05Ming Dynasty, 1368 to 1644, 19,000 pesos.
14:11Pesos, right.
14:12Philippine pesos.
14:13Which is about $400.
14:15$400.
14:16Okay.
14:17And you bought this when?
14:18Actually in January of this year, January.
14:21Okay.
14:22They said Ming Dynasty.
14:23Right.
14:24And you came up with another idea for possible dating.
14:26Well, by looking at some photographs of others,
14:29I thought that it might be much older.
14:31This form and everything about it would have nothing to do with the Ming Dynasty.
14:37Okay, good.
14:38What it does have something to do with is the Shang Dynasty.
14:42What it does have something to do with is the Shang Dynasty.
14:46Wonderful.
14:472000 B.C. to 1600 B.C.
14:49Wow.
14:50And this is very faithful to Shang pieces in many ways.
14:55Unfortunately, it was made in the early 20th century.
14:59Okay.
15:00It's a fake.
15:01Having the mark underneath the piece does not mean it's genuine.
15:04Sure.
15:05Because they fake the mark.
15:06Sure.
15:07The form is called a you, Y-O-U.
15:10When I look at it, I see things I like.
15:12It has Tao Qian masks.
15:14Okay.
15:15They copied it in every detail.
15:16It's right.
15:17That's exactly what they looked like.
15:19These confronting birds are pretty much like what they looked like.
15:23But there are problems with much of this.
15:26It has this knop, the little handle on the top.
15:29That is absolutely not Shang.
15:31They never would have produced a piece like that.
15:33Okay, sure.
15:34Then you have these flanges, which are too heavy, too crude.
15:38These handles on the lid are too heavy.
15:42Okay.
15:43They're exaggerated.
15:44Okay.
15:45The Tao Qian masks, there's one on the front and one on the back.
15:49They stick out too far.
15:51They stand way out from the body.
15:53Now, the Chinese, when they did this, these were for imperial use.
15:57They were made at such enormous expense
16:01that it would have been easier to make things out of gold.
16:04These were made with molds,
16:06and the molds were carefully, painstakingly done,
16:09but not the mold for this.
16:11It's also too heavy.
16:13Really? Okay.
16:14The real ones are not that heavy.
16:17They made these copies, and they were not great copies
16:20until about the turn of the 20th century
16:24when they found originals that they started copying from.
16:28Okay.
16:29Today, they're sending copies out of China that I can't tell are fakes.
16:34Wow.
16:35They have to be tested.
16:36When you look at them, they're absolutely true to the originals.
16:39Okay.
16:40At auction today, this is worth about $200 to $250.
16:43Is it? Okay.
16:44A real Shang bronze, $40,000 to $60,000.
16:48Wow.
16:49Wow.
17:00I got it at a house sale in the western suburbs of Philadelphia.
17:04It seems like it's arts and crafts,
17:06but I don't know from what side of the ocean,
17:09so I know nothing about it.
17:11This tile was made by the Gruby Pottery from Boston, Massachusetts.
17:16Well, I've seen their vases.
17:18They were well-known for their vases early on,
17:21and then they started making tiles.
17:23Well, why is it so thick?
17:25Because this doesn't look like it was meant to be in a wall,
17:29and the sides are finished.
17:30It is thick.
17:31A lot of arts and crafts tiles were thick.
17:34Okay.
17:35This is pressed from wet clay,
17:38and so they were done particularly thick.
17:40This is probably just about half an inch to three-quarters of an inch thick.
17:45The reason it is glazed all around is because it was probably used as a trivet.
17:50Originally, it was probably sold with some kind of green felt on the bottom.
17:55Looking at the surface of this tile,
17:57it doesn't look like it would have been used like that much at all
18:00because it's in beautiful condition.
18:01That is considered beautiful condition?
18:03Yes, ma'am.
18:04It's a little dirty, but there's no wear, really, to the top.
18:08This particular tile is one of a series of at least four.
18:14It probably dates to about 1915 to 1920.
18:19The marking on the back, those are the initials of the artist that would have colored in the tile.
18:25Okay.
18:26And it is a Cuenca tile.
18:29That is your technique.
18:30That's what keeps your beautiful flat colors separated.
18:33As I said, it's a little dirty.
18:35Jess, what is that?
18:36Schmutz.
18:39I have more of that at home.
18:41Yeah, we all do.
18:42This will come off easily.
18:44It does have, at the top here, a little bit of wear, a little hairline,
18:47and that is not good.
18:49You bought this at a house sale.
18:51Yes.
18:52You paid $1.
18:53At auction, I would put this tile at $700 to $1,000.
18:57Is that right?
18:58Yeah.
19:00Oh, my gosh.
19:04So this is very bad because I'm trying not to do house sales anymore.
19:08I've been trying to get my addiction under control.
19:12No, that was great.
19:13That's absolutely wonderful.
19:24My father presented my mother with a diamond bracelet that was yay wide,
19:30and she thanked him very much but told him she would never wear it.
19:35And so he took it back, and he had another one made for her that was narrower,
19:40and she said, I will keep it in the safe deposit box.
19:43I'm not going to wear it.
19:46Well, she didn't want to flaunt things.
19:49He then had this bracelet made for her, and he said to her when he gave it to her,
19:54this one you cannot return.
19:56I have had it made just for you.
19:59And, of course, she loved it, and why not?
20:01It's beautiful.
20:02Do you know the manufacturer that made this?
20:04He had a jeweler that he used to deal with in New York.
20:08There's not a mark on it.
20:10It's engraved on the inside with your mother's name from Morris, 1939.
20:15So this puts it in the late deco period.
20:18The bracelet is gold, and with the fluting down the side is a typical deco style bracelet.
20:26And this one is decorated with platinum, diamond, and multicolored charms.
20:33This is a basket, and then we have a man walking with a dog with a star ruby,
20:43which is a very rare stone.
20:46Then we have a clown with another star ruby,
20:52and then we have a lady with a baby carriage with movable wheels,
20:58a Viking ship with multicolored stones,
21:02and a lighthouse with a gorgeous carved ruby and a diamond tower.
21:08All your diamonds, all your sapphires, all your rubies are top quality stones.
21:15Star rubies, they don't come that red.
21:18When they're that red, they're magnificent.
21:20You have carved emeralds and carved sapphires in this.
21:24Your dad was going to add more to it?
21:26When he gave it to her, he told her that every year for their anniversary,
21:32he would take one charm off and replace it with another one.
21:36And unfortunately, he died in 1940.
21:40So the bracelet is exactly the way he gave it to her.
21:43The price on this bracelet in today's market is very strong because it's very collectible.
21:49A piece like this would sell retail somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000.
21:56This is the widest one I've ever seen.
22:00Most of them are roughly about a half inch to three quarters of an inch.
22:04This is an inch and three quarters wide.
22:06Thank you very much.
22:08You're welcome.
22:10This is a rock crystal vase or urn, or I don't know what it is.
22:15Well, you're right. It is rock crystal.
22:17And one of my pet peeves is when people bring in glassware and they say they've got crystal.
22:23And because when I think of crystal, I think of rock crystal,
22:27which is a crystal that's made of glass.
22:30And it's made of glass.
22:32People bring in glassware and they say they've got crystal.
22:35And because when I think of crystal, I think of rock crystal,
22:39which is mined out of a cave as opposed to glass stemware, which is poured into a mold.
22:46This is the real thing, and it's made in Vienna circa 1900.
22:50Something like this on the auction market would probably bring about $5,000.
22:56Oh, really?
22:57Wow.
23:02This was my in-laws. It was in their home for many years.
23:05And when they moved to Florida, they gave it to my husband and myself.
23:09Bierstadt is one of the most popular Western artists.
23:12It's really superb. It's beautifully rendered. It's very finely detailed.
23:16It's probably earlier, his work.
23:18And generally speaking, you'd like something before 1880.
23:21So I kind of think this is probably from 1870.
23:24The other thing that's great about it is it's in perfect condition.
23:27I would expect a gallery to sell it in a neighborhood of $150,000.
23:31What? $150,000?
23:33Oh.
23:35I didn't think it would be worth that much.
23:41Well, it came from South Jersey.
23:44And believe it or not, it was in the home that was purchased in the eve of the garage.
23:50For several years, we never even realized that it was there.
23:54So what did you think when you first saw it? Were you afraid to pick it up?
23:57I think I started to dance around, and my niece describes it as the happy dance
24:02because it was something so peculiar that I knew it was special.
24:07A piece of folk art has to have a lot of things going for it to be great.
24:12It has to draw you in.
24:14Yes.
24:15And that's exactly what this does.
24:17Back around 1890 or 1900, somewhere in that time period,
24:21somebody decided that they wanted to make something out of roots.
24:25And once they got started, they couldn't stop.
24:28Right.
24:29It has a great old finish on it.
24:32And it's kind of like those spooky trees in the old tales.
24:37It fascinates me. It drives me crazy.
24:40And it kind of scares me, too.
24:42And that's exactly what something like this should do for you.
24:45There's a little bit of wear up here.
24:47But I'll tell you something.
24:49To a non-folk art person, this is probably ugly as a mud fence.
24:53But to the people that collect folk art, it's a thing of great beauty.
24:57So much detail.
24:59Several different snakes.
25:02Birds.
25:03Birds.
25:04A cat.
25:06Cat. My favorite.
25:07Another cat.
25:09And a horse head over there.
25:12And as far as value is concerned, we really agonized over that part of it.
25:17Okay.
25:18I would say a good auction estimate would be $30,000 to $50,000.
25:27That's incredible.
25:29That's really welcome news.
25:32That's unbelievable.
25:33Wow.
25:34Wow.
25:45I know that my grandfather purchased it probably in the 1920s
25:50from an estate in Canandaigua, New York.
25:53It's a pretty stunning bronze by a French artist, Albert Ernest Carrier-Beluz.
25:58And actually it's marked down here on the base.
26:00We did have a look, and I know you did too,
26:02to see whether there were any foundry marks that give you a little more information.
26:05And I didn't find anything on this.
26:07It's really a pretty tremendous figure both in size
26:10and in fluidity of the movement to it.
26:13It's really wonderful.
26:14It is titled.
26:15It's Dancer and Napolitan.
26:17And what's really kind of fascinating and what appeals to me,
26:19not only the figure itself and its large scale,
26:22but we see so many bronzes that are signed
26:25but we really know very little about the artist.
26:27And this is a case where it's someone who was very popular in his own time.
26:31He was a French who was born in 1824
26:33and worked throughout the mid-19th century
26:36and was really a very prolific artist.
26:38He did similar subjects, these fanciful figures from the 19th century
26:42to classical figures to mythological figures
26:45to under the reign of Napoleon III in the 1850s through the 1870s,
26:50public works projects.
26:52So he really pretty much did everything.
26:54He was sort of a Renaissance man of his time.
26:56When I was looking for comparables, I found over 1,000 records.
27:00So it's, again, rare that you find an artist of the 19th century
27:03that there's that much of a body of work for.
27:06It certainly does have a little bit of a condition issues
27:08and the surface isn't quite as pristine patina,
27:11but for insurance purposes, I would think of a value in the $20,000 range.
27:17Quite a valuable piece.
27:20And even though it's gold, it's still a bronze.
27:24Yes, it's the patina that's on it.
27:27Oh, my gosh.
27:29Thank you very much.
27:30Thanks for bringing it in today.
27:43It was left to me through my mother-in-law.
27:46She used to bring these little treasures over to us,
27:50and we looked at it, we put it in the attic with some of the other things,
27:55and it laid there for many, many years.
27:57It's an 18th century button mold.
28:00You can see when you open it up, there's a large button,
28:03and then it would have cast three smaller buttons.
28:06They'd be cast in pewter.
28:09You can actually see those are the eyes of the button.
28:12They were the types of buttons that had a hoop on the back
28:15that the thread would go through.
28:17I tell you, they're actually really as rare as hen's teeth.
28:20Is it?
28:22What makes this one, to me, even more exciting,
28:26it has the original owner, Josiah Miller, 1722.
28:31It even has his initials and the date again on the bottom,
28:34just to make sure you know whose it was.
28:36Wasn't he proud?
28:38He was, but things that are signed and dated,
28:41it makes a rare object all that more special.
28:45Did you have an idea what it's worth?
28:47I haven't a clue. No, I really don't.
28:49Did you want me to tell you?
28:51Oh, absolutely.
28:53I think, conservatively, at auction,
28:55$600 to $800 would be an estimate on it.
28:58Oh, wow.
29:11When I came back from my honeymoon,
29:14we wanted to decorate our first apartment,
29:17and we needed some art for the walls.
29:19And one weekend in Greenwich Village,
29:22they had an art show
29:24where you could buy a painting for $5 or $10.
29:27And so that's where we were headed
29:30until I got a phone call from my mother,
29:32who wanted to see us because she hadn't seen us
29:35since we got back from our honeymoon.
29:37And when I told her we can't do that
29:40because we're going to New York City,
29:43she said, well, if you want some art,
29:45I have a friend who has a lot of art.
29:48So she said, you come visit me,
29:51and I'll introduce you to my friend.
29:54This woman had paintings from the ceiling to the floor
29:58on every wall,
30:00and right over her bed was this painting.
30:03She said that it was given to her when she got married,
30:07and she wanted us to have it, just $35.
30:11We took it home, and we put it over our bed,
30:14and it's been there ever since.
30:17Well, she's just lovely.
30:19It's by an artist whose name is Stiepovich.
30:21Now, there is a plaque here.
30:23It's also signed in the upper right corner.
30:25Oh, I didn't know that.
30:26Very faint, but it is signed up there.
30:28Mr. Stiepovich, for an artist
30:30who painted such lovely paintings,
30:33has very scant biographical information.
30:36We know he was born in Russia, probably around 1840,
30:40and that he died in New York City,
30:42probably around 1910.
30:44Clearly he was very well trained,
30:46and there is a record of quite a few works by him.
30:50Are you familiar with the term Orientalism?
30:53No.
30:54The Orientalists were popular
30:57for most of the second half of the 19th century.
31:01There was a great interest in the Middle East.
31:05People traveled to the Middle East
31:07and told tales about how exotic it was,
31:10and many artists became fascinated by this,
31:13traveled to the Middle East,
31:15and began to paint these subjects.
31:17And there was a big market for them
31:19when they brought them home
31:20because the public was kind of fascinated by this, too.
31:23And as you can see, she's probably a Western woman,
31:27but she's in this environment
31:29that's very exotic and romantic,
31:32and just beautifully painted.
31:34And the frame you put on is very appropriate.
31:37It looks great.
31:38The frame costs $5.
31:40So you've got $40 invested in this.
31:42$40 invested.
31:43I think today a very fair auction estimate on this painting
31:48would be between $15,000 and $20,000.
31:51Wow.
31:52Boy, oh, boy.
31:54$15,000 to $20,000?
31:55$15,000 to $20,000.
31:57Okay, well, thank you very much.
31:59Okay.
32:09I do a lot of collecting, and this is on the Internet.
32:13I got this picture probably around 2 to 3 years ago.
32:17I liked the subject matter, and I won the bid.
32:21This is a silver gelatin print.
32:24You can see at the bottom edge of the photograph,
32:27it's a little silver.
32:28What's the difference between the silver gelatin
32:31and, like, an albumen?
32:32A silver gelatin print is going to have a grayish-black
32:37tonality with white highlights.
32:39An albumen print is a sepia-toned or brown-toned photograph
32:45on a very, very thin paper.
32:47Albumen prints were kind of phased out by the 1890s.
32:51The silver gelatin technology is introduced in the late 19th century
32:56and then, of course, carries through into the 20th century.
33:00It is signed by James H. Hare.
33:05Do you know a little bit about Hare's background?
33:08I know he was one of the early photojournalists.
33:11He covered the Spanish-American War
33:14and a lot of Wright brothers' activities.
33:17So the notion that photographers could cover topical events,
33:23especially events in which there was movement,
33:27indicates that the technology of the camera
33:30had really progressed and improved.
33:33And Hare was one of the first photojournalists
33:36to work with a small-format camera.
33:39But what's interesting about this photograph
33:42is that it's really presented as a fine art photograph.
33:46And in this case, we see a very formal composition.
33:51Aviation was in its infancy.
33:53I mean, the Wright brothers' first flight was in 1903.
33:57This is copyrighted 1910.
34:00So the plane rises just above the trees,
34:04so the elevation isn't too high,
34:07but high enough so that we know it made it into the sky.
34:12Tell me about the price you paid for this picture.
34:15As I recall, it was between $35 and $50.
34:18Do you have any idea of what it might be worth today?
34:22I thought it was maybe $500.
34:25Okay.
34:26Well, James Hare's pictures in a smaller format
34:31appear infrequently at auction.
34:33A photograph in this large format would be especially desirable.
34:39We're not sure if it's a Wright brothers' plane.
34:42In fact, one would need to do more research about that.
34:46But as a fine art photograph signed and dated by James Hare,
34:52an auction value today would be in the $3,000 to $4,500 range.
34:58Oh, that's very nice.
35:13My paternal grandfather evidently worked for a banjo company,
35:18and when my grandfather passed away, I found the letter,
35:22and I thought it would be a nice thing to keep along with the banjo.
35:26To my knowledge, he went to work for the banjo factory at the age of 14.
35:31Okay, well, he worked for the S.S. Stewart Company in Philadelphia,
35:35and Stewart was the foremost producer of banjos,
35:38not just in Philadelphia, but in the United States at that time.
35:41He started making banjos in the late 1870s,
35:44and he went on until he died in 1898.
35:47The name continued a little after that because his sons continued the company.
35:51They had a few contracts to fulfill.
35:54Stewart was responsible not just for producing wonderful banjos,
35:58but also for elevating the banjo to what he considered its proper place in society,
36:05alongside the violin and the cello.
36:08And you started seeing all kinds of gorgeously inlaid instruments,
36:12and quite expensive at the time, too.
36:14In this case, this might have been $100 or $150,
36:18when an average student banjo at the time might have been $15 or $20.
36:24It has the typical cherry neck with ebony fingerboard you find on all Stewart banjos,
36:29very high-end materials.
36:31The cherry neck is beautifully carved.
36:34Also, it has this wonderful trademark branded into the dowel stick
36:41and the serial number right here.
36:43This was made about 1896, 1897,
36:48and that's his standard peghead design.
36:51But this peghead is a different design altogether.
36:54This is his presentation-grade peghead design,
36:57which you only see on the highest-end banjos.
36:59But normally the presentation-grade has an equally fancy heel.
37:04This is the average heel.
37:06The presentation-grade heel carving goes up to here,
37:08so it's a bit of a mishmash in a funny way.
37:10But I understand that this might have been made by your grandfather.
37:13I think he didn't make it for himself.
37:15It's possible that Stewart had employees make some banjos for themselves,
37:18and that may be why it's a little bit of this, a little bit of that,
37:22or it might have been custom for a client.
37:24That's possible.
37:25It has a rim made out of what they call German silver,
37:27which is essentially nickel silver.
37:29You see the brass wearing through the nickel plating on the tensioner
37:32and on the brackets.
37:34It has the original flower on the tailpiece, which usually falls out.
37:39It's very complete.
37:40It could use a couple of things done to it,
37:42but it's a beautifully preserved Stewart banjo.
37:45I think for insurance and a retail value as well,
37:50about $6,6500.
37:53Really?
37:55Wow.
37:56I'm amazed.
38:09I was at a house sale about 10 years ago.
38:13I just like the way they look.
38:15What did you pay for them?
38:16About $25.
38:17Okay.
38:18These are from Nigeria.
38:19Okay.
38:20And they're called a beji.
38:21And the tribe is Yoruba, and in Yoruba, a beji means twin.
38:26And when a twin dies, they carve these
38:29because these become a repository for the soul of the twin.
38:33And I would say these are late 19th, early 20th century.
38:37In today's market, $800 to $1,200.
38:40Very nice.
38:42For $25, that's not a bad investment.
38:44I'll take it.
38:45I brought in a vase that we keep on our buffet.
38:48It was my husband's grandmother's,
38:50and it's just a vase that I always liked, and I don't know anything about it.
38:53Well, this is stuben.
38:55It's a classic stuben form, a beautiful vase, a great color.
39:00This is a green jade with alabaster handles,
39:03and we have here a polished bottle that's very typical of stuben's work.
39:07Stuben, of course, was only the highest quality glass.
39:10And to me, that is just an extraordinary vase.
39:13One little problem here.
39:15We have a crack in the handle.
39:17I know.
39:18This could have happened in the cooling process,
39:20but also people tend to pick things up by handles.
39:23Glass of this sort with these delicate handles, very bad idea.
39:26I never do that.
39:27If it were perfect, retail value would probably be around $1,500.
39:31That crack, unfortunately, is going to hurt the value quite a bit.
39:34This would probably be around $300.
39:37Okay, well, thank you.
39:38But still a beautiful vase.
39:39Yeah, we love it.
39:47It's been in my family for many generations.
39:50I got it from my mother.
39:51She gave it to me about 20 years ago,
39:53and it's always been called the Evans chair.
39:56It came down through the Evans family.
39:58Okay.
39:59And another little insider family joke that we have
40:02is that the Evans all have wide bottoms,
40:04so because it's a wide-bottom chair, it'll fit.
40:08So besides that, I don't know anything.
40:10How do you use the chair?
40:12We have it sitting in the corner in our bedroom,
40:14and I usually drape a quilt over top of it.
40:16Where do you think the chair was made?
40:18Probably in the southern New Jersey, Delaware Valley area, most likely.
40:23That's where our family is from.
40:25Well, this is actually, and the reason I'm so excited about this is it is.
40:29I'm glad you're excited.
40:30It's a really very rare, original, circa 1750,
40:36paint-decorated and turned ladder-back armchair.
40:41And what I love about this chair,
40:43what makes it Delaware River Valley, 1750,
40:45are all the elements, the turnings in the form,
40:48but this is particularly elegant and vertical.
40:52Turner's art was an incredible art in the 18th century.
40:55They had these big lathes, and they'd turn out these spindles,
40:58and the styles on the side and the front stretcher.
41:01This is a bold, incredible, Baroque stretcher that really is very gutsy.
41:06It's beautiful.
41:07Now, this foot is a sort of blunt arrow foot, very rare,
41:11and all the verticality is capped by those little pointed cones that you see,
41:15the pointed ball.
41:16This has its original rush seat.
41:18Well, it's like wood splint, isn't it?
41:20Exactly. It's woven splint, totally original.
41:22Look at that color.
41:23And because this is all different woods, it was meant to be painted.
41:27So they covered it all in red paint.
41:29Now, this has had several coats of paint.
41:31If you look here on the style, it has green, bright orange, red.
41:37But under there is the original paint.
41:38Then the serpentine ladder back,
41:40which we see here, shapes to the back of the person sitting in it.
41:44Do you know about the one condition issue on this?
41:46Well, I'm wondering, was this broken?
41:49Exactly, exactly.
41:50It would have had another arch here, which is gone.
41:52I thought so, but it's an old break.
41:54Exactly.
41:55Also, this would have had a cushion in it originally.
41:57Have you ever had it appraised?
41:59There was an antique dealer that offered my mother $500 for it back in the early 70s.
42:04$500, okay.
42:05Well, because of all the things we talked about,
42:07I would put an auction estimate on this Delaware Valley chair
42:11at about $8,000 to $12,000.
42:15Wow.
42:17It's a pretty amazing chair.
42:33I inherited it from my grandmother in 1976.
42:37I know that my grandfather collected Native American items,
42:41and he died in 1937.
42:44My guess is that he probably did most of his collecting between 1900 and 1920,
42:50and I don't know much more about that.
42:52I've been told it's Navajo.
42:54I don't know.
42:55Well, it is Navajo, but made from Germantown yarns.
42:59It's called a Germantown weaving.
43:02Germantown was the name of a town in Philadelphia
43:04where they started commercially producing very uniform yarns with lots of colors.
43:10Now, the Navajo had a long tradition of weaving,
43:13and they made classic blankets from the early 19th century
43:17into the time of their incarceration in the 1860s.
43:20And then when the 1880s came along
43:23and some of these Germantown yarns started becoming available to the Navajo,
43:27they started doing much more elaborate weavings like this one.
43:31Looking at this one for a while,
43:33I realize it's very influenced by a Saltillo weaving,
43:36which was coming out of northern Mexico.
43:38They had a long tradition of very beautiful, intricate weavings.
43:42First of all, it has an early use of a border,
43:45and there's almost a rainbow effect.
43:47They have so many colors available
43:49that they started doing shading of the colors from dark to light.
43:53The Saltillos usually had a central diamond with a serrated edge like this.
43:58Now, the Navajo in this case, she's expanded on that idea
44:02and made concentric diamonds that vibrate.
44:06This particular weaving also has wonderful crosses,
44:09and it has bow and arrows at both ends,
44:12and then it has arrowheads coming down from the top.
44:16Different sizes.
44:18So it's got a beautiful early pictorialness to it too.
44:21Some of these Germantowns, when they were first introduced,
44:24the traders didn't like them.
44:26They thought they were a little vibrant.
44:28In retrospect now, we look at them, and they're tour de forces, really.
44:32This one needs a cleaning, and when you get it cleaned,
44:36it will just jump off the canvas, so to speak.
44:39They call these eye dazzlers, and they're very popular with collectors.
44:43Have you ever had it appraised? Do you have any idea?
44:45No, I haven't.
44:47It's been in a box probably since the 1970s
44:49and just put away so it didn't get any sun damage.
44:52The fold lines need to be taken out of it.
44:54It's been folded a long time, and that can be taken out.
44:57Germantowns generally are still a little soft.
45:00This is an exception.
45:02I think your Germantown blanket at auction would bring between $20,000 to $30,000.
45:07Wow. Wow.
45:22I got these about 25 years ago.
45:25I was helping an older gentleman in New York move,
45:28and he was downsizing his house.
45:31He was so grateful after several days of helping him
45:34that he just gave these to me.
45:36I knew nothing when I got them, but since getting them,
45:39I found out that there were bill posters
45:42who put these up ahead of a circus or a show as advertising.
45:48That's about as much as I know about them.
45:50All of these posters were printed by Strobridge,
45:52one of the greatest American lithographic companies
45:55operating around the turn of the century,
45:57known for their high-quality, beautiful works.
46:00They did a lot of advertising for circuses.
46:02If we start with the poster at the bottom closest to you,
46:05the date on that poster is 1906.
46:08They're advertising Pawnee Bill's Wild West,
46:10one of the imitator shows that sprung up
46:13on the success of Buffalo Bill's show.
46:16And now chronologically, we go from 1906, we go to 1907.
46:21Here we have just Buffalo Bill,
46:23a portrait piece of him on his horse.
46:26It would have been used again to advertise
46:28the Buffalo Bill Wild West show.
46:31The third poster, which is on top, is dated 1909.
46:35Now, what happened in 1908, the one year we don't have here,
46:39due to some business problems,
46:41Buffalo Bill had to find a new backer for his show,
46:44and he turned to Pawnee Bill.
46:46So in 1908, the two shows combined,
46:49and you have the Pawnee Bill's Great Far East Act
46:53combined with Buffalo Bill's Wild West.
46:56Now, do you have any idea of the value of these pieces?
46:59A few years ago, I was looking in the market,
47:02and at the time, maybe $1,000, $2,000,
47:05but I really haven't followed it at all lately,
47:08so I have no clue what they might be worth today.
47:11Art is a commodity, and as the general market suffers,
47:14so does the market for art.
47:16However, I think by and large,
47:18these images for Buffalo Bill and the Wild West shows
47:21occupy a kind of micro-niche within the collecting community,
47:25something that hasn't been affected too badly.
47:28Starting with the Pawnee Bill,
47:30I would estimate that at auction,
47:33between $1,500 and $2,000.
47:35Okay.
47:37Then I think when we get to the combined act
47:40of Pawnee Bill and Buffalo Bill,
47:42the price is a little higher,
47:44because Buffalo Bill's name carries quite a premium
47:47within the collecting world,
47:49so I would estimate that poster at $2,000 to $3,000.
47:52Okay, that's good.
47:54So if Buffalo Bill's name can add value to a Pawnee Bill poster,
47:58what do you think his image and his name
48:01could add to the value of another poster?
48:03I'm hoping a lot.
48:05Well, it certainly is a fair bit more.
48:07It's such a proud and wonderful image of Buffalo Bill.
48:10I think at auction, for this piece alone, $4,000 to $6,000.
48:14Wow.
48:16What would have added significant value
48:18to the 2 horizontal posters
48:20would be if they had any suggestion of a Western theme.
48:24Given that they're both advertising Western shows,
48:27neither one of them shows a Western theme,
48:29and that alone, like Buffalo Bill's name,
48:31would have added a premium to their value.
48:35bell rings
48:47It's been in my husband's family for a very long time.
48:50It was passed down to his parents,
48:52and then after his parents passed away, it was passed on to us,
48:56and we've just had it hanging up in the house.
48:59Cornelius Krieghoff was a very interesting
49:0219th-century Canadian artist,
49:04and what he's really known for
49:06are these wonderfully vibrant genre scenes
49:08that almost read like novels.
49:10You have the images in the piece of the sled
49:14and of the mother and child,
49:16and just a great deal of activity.
49:18He was born in Holland,
49:20and there's a tradition of really finely painted genre scenes
49:24in Europe, and he took that training and style
49:27and transposed it to sort of rough-and-ready Canada,
49:30mid-19th century.
49:32He was very popular during his lifetime
49:34because the scenes are really wonderful snapshots
49:38of Canada, Quebec City area.
49:40Because of that, there are a number of fakes
49:44of Krieghoff's work, and we really looked at it,
49:47and the quality of the piece, the style of the piece,
49:51and the provenance of the piece
49:53led us to come to the conclusion
49:55that there's a very, very strong chance
49:58that the piece is right.
50:00I would certainly consider more research for the painting,
50:03but everything falls into place.
50:05The original frame, which has been painted
50:08with radiator paint, I suspect,
50:10and we believe it to be a lovely example
50:13of Krieghoff's work.
50:15Given that, I would estimate the piece at auction
50:18between $200,000 and $300,000.
50:20Oh, my God!
50:24Oh, my God!
50:26It's a wonderful example of his work.
50:29For insurance and retail purposes,
50:33in excess of $350,000.
50:36I can't believe it.
50:38I just can't believe it.
50:40Believe it and insure it right away.
50:42I will.
50:44I can't believe it.
50:46I just can't believe it.
50:48I can't believe it.
50:50I just can't believe it.
50:52Mmm!