♪ ♪ APPRAISER: I've only seen one piece of pony bead work in 12 years at the Roadshow.

Oh, my God.

So it was... it was very exciting to see it.

(tearfully): Wow.

I can't believe it.

(laughing): Carry them gently, gently back to the house.

♪ ♪ CORAL PEÑA: In 2008, "Antiques Roadshow" stopped in Hartford, Connecticut, the insurance capital of the world.

Appraisers evaluated objects ranging from affordable copies...

Right.

You have a very lovely bowl here, but it's not, it's not the real thing.

PEÑA: ...to high end works of art.

You know that this ring is made by Tiffany & Co. PEÑA: Item after item, experts shared their estimated values for auction, retail, and, of course, insurance.

But do those estimates still apply in today's market?

We'll find out in our return to Hartford.

♪ ♪ WOMAN: It was left to me by my grandmother.

She left with a bunch of other jewelry and I found it in there.

Now we should probably start off by opening up this little door here to reveal it's actually a watch rather than a bracelet.

Now, what can you tell me about it?

Nothing.

(laughs) I found out it was a watch probably a year after I first laid eyes on it, and, uh, I don't know anything about it.

So have you worn it much since you had it?

I've worn it a couple of times, special occasions, but that's about it.

And have you ever tried to do any research?

It's obviously, uh, made by quite a famous maker.

I brought it into the Cartier in New York.

They took some pictures of it.

I called back, and the woman I spoke to no longer worked there.

Oh, dear.

So I got no more answers.

Were they able to tell you anything about it, its age or any details about it?

They thought maybe the '20s, like an Art Deco watch.

Well, have you ever had it valued before?

No, no idea.

I took guesses with my dad in the car ride here.

I...

I said $5,000.

And what did he say?

He said $11,000.

It was made by Cartier.

It's Cartier France, eh, in the 1950s.

'50s, okay.

It's 18-karat yellow gold.

It's quite beautiful.

It has what's called, um, a Jaeger-LeCoultre backwind movement, so to actually wind and set the watch it is on the reverse.

They were designed to look like bracelets so that the door opens and closes.

In terms of quality, it, it's exceptional.

It's absolutely beautiful.

Cartier, from this type of era, in the 1950s, they really made some of the best examples, in my opinion, of jewelry and watches that you tend to see today.

Yeah.

And the craftsmanship of the bracelet is exceptional.

It really is.

So few of these were made originally, and the demand is very high.

This type of exceptional design and condition, I think a realistic value nowadays, you're probably actually closer if you put both of your estimates together.

Yeah.

I think if it was to sell at auction, $15,000.

Wow!

Wow.

(laughs) I wouldn't be surprised at that type of number.

It, it's stunning.

Oh, it's beautiful.

It's probably one of the nicest of its type I've ever seen.

Oh, thank you so much.

Absolutely gorgeous.

It's really exciting.

MAN: I purchased them from a friend of mine that passed on.

His wife had 'em and she was gonna leave the things to her son, but he didn't particularly care for it.

So I told her that I would purchase 'em.

Did you have any idea what you were buying when you bought 'em?

None whatsoever.

What appealed to you the most?

The gun...

The gun.

Actually, I didn't even see the shoes down here, the moccasins and everything.

I just saw the gun and it fascinated me.

And I says, "I'll buy it."

Yup.

It's fascinating a lot of people in here, too, just looking at it.

(laughs) Can I ask you what you paid for the gun?

$3,500.

And did you know what it was at the time?

I know it was a Winchester.

Well, it is a '73 Winchester, kind of a beat-up old gun.

It's kind of a typical doctored-up '73 Winchester.

Okay.

We see 'em quite a bit and it's made to look like an Indian-used rifle.

They used things like this at the Little Bighorn battlefield.

Okay.

They would cover them with rawhide for repairs.

And they put some tacks in 'em, and this is a little medicine wheel.

Mm-hmm.

Unfortunately, that's all fake.

Okay.

Okay.

And basically it's a '73 Winchester.

All right.

Now, the other items you got are authentic, but it's kind of a mixed bag.

You've got a small knife scabbard over there.

Mm-hmm.

That was made by the Lakota and that was made as a tourist item to sell to the tourists.

All right.

You've got three pairs of late moccasins that are probably also made for the tourist market.

Okay.

And you've got an Iroquois bag here that was made up in Niagara Falls for the tourist market.

Oh, all right.

And you've got a nice early Plains bag here.

So, shall we see how you did with your $3,500?

(laughs) It's a risky proposition.

(chuckling): I probably...

I probably took a beatin'.

The '73 Winchester, in this condition, probably would bring about $600 to $800.

All right.

Your little knife scabbard would probably bring about $150 to $200.

Oh, that's not bad.

The three pair of mocs would probably bring about $150 to $200.

Okay.

And the Iroquois pouch would probably bring about $150 to $200.

These are auction values.

Okay.

But this particular bag is a very rare mid-19th century pony-beaded Plains Indian pouch.

Oh.

I've only seen one piece of pony bead work in 12 years at the Roadshow.

Oh, my God!

So it was... it was very exciting to see it.

It's exciting for me right now.

Uh, both sides are... (laughs) Both sides are a little bit different and they're very scarce.

This one, it is early pumpkin color beads and black and white, and you can probably see an early floral design starting here.

Yeah.

And later on floral designs became very prevalent.

Huh!

But that particular bag on today's market would probably be worth about $8,000 to $12,000.

You're kiddin'?

No.

Ho ho, oh, my God!

So you ended up doing pretty good.

So we did all right.

We did all right then.

Risky thing to buy a Winchester like this, but you did, you did very well.

Oh, my God.

That's great.

I just can't believe it.

One little bag like that?

MAN: We were working in Beijing about 2000.

Outside the Forbidden City we saw an antique shop, and I, uh, really loved this bowl.

The dealer in there said, "Well, this is really authentic."

Mm-hmm.

It looked a little shiny, but I said, "I really love the bowl."

And then he turned it over and he said, "Well, this red mark "is from the Communist government and it definitely guarantees it."

He fooled you a little bit.

(laughing) Probably.

What he sold you was a 20th century copy of an earlier type of bowl.

Ah.

The seal mark here, which is a red wax seal mark, was put on a lot of porcelains.

It's an export mark.

MAN: This, uh, decanter was given to my mother by her mother around the turn of the century.

APPRAISER: On one side is George Washington's initials.

As you turn this, on the other side, it has an American eagle and the word "liberty."

But it is not American glass.

Oh.

It is Irish glass.

I would say $1,000 to $1,500.

Wow.

Conservatively.

Wow.

Great.

And the misspelling of "independence," is that interesting?

That's just because somebody didn't know how to spell it.

(both laughing) MAN: This material is about Charles Edward Minor, who was my great-grandfather.

He was born in Virginia and joined the Navy in Washington, D.C., in around 1887.

What type of different ships did he serve on?

I think he started on the Dale, went to the Franklin, the New Hampshire, uh, finished up with the Constellation, but was on the Buffalo, the Brooklyn, the Vermont, a number of ships.

Served in various wars, as far as the Spanish-American War; the Boxer Uprising, or Boxer Rebellion; World War I.

Uh, he's been around the world approximately five times, uh huh.

He was a busy sailor.

Absolutely.

Well, it really is a pretty amazing group.

As a sailor during the Spanish-American War and World War I, he really did have a lot of different ships that he served on.

What rank did he eventually reach in the service?

In 1907, he was appointed as a petty officer, but in 1917, he, uh, reached the rank of chief petty officer, which was pretty much unheard of.

Uh, there were four African American chief petty officers at that time.

His total service to this country was in and around 34 years.

We're very proud of that, and, uh, I think that there's some folks that should know in this country that African Americans served in a very meaningful capacity in, uh, the armed forces at that time.

Absolutely.

And here is a great cabinet card of your great-grandfather.

We see him in his sailor's uniform.

This would have been from the Spanish-American War period.

Mm-hmm.

Here is his... basically the record of his, of his enlistment and the record of his service that he would have carried with him, which includes the different ships he served on, but it also includes his promotion to chief petty officer right here, in 1917.

The enlistment is actually printed on vellum, or, or sheepskin.

Mm-hmm.

As a group that belonged to a white sailor, this would be quite rare... Mm-hmm.

...because of all the service that, that the sailor saw.

But as an African-American sailor, it's really amazing and rare, as you say.

And there's much interest in preserving the heritage of African-American soldiers, sailors, et cetera.

Conservatively, at auction, we're talking $2,500 to $3,500 at auction.

Mm-hmm.

And I'm just really glad you brought it in.

Incredibly rare.

Just very happy to share it with this country.

WOMAN: This was a gift to my husband from his grandfather from Strawbridge & Clothier.

The grandfather ran a business where he delivered things from the store to people's homes.

There's a picture here of the grandfather, and my husband's the little one that's in the wagon.

And as far as I know, it works, it winds up and it moves.

It's in pretty good shape.

Now, the company, Strawbridge & Clothier, actually opened in 1868 in Philadelphia.

And it was very famous chain of department stores for many, many, many, many years.

In doing a little research I found that they had a little quote, which I thought was cute.

It said, "This is the place where Santa came to appear in the magic window."

So it was a place where kids would get their toys for the holidays and everything else.

The toy itself is made by Hans Eberl-- E-B-E-R-L.

It's a German toy.

Actually, the side of the box is even marked "Germany."

So it was made in Germany.

Guesstimate for the age it was made-- just pre-World War I, 1910, 1912, around that period.

It's a tin toy lithographed in different colors, plus the decal you have here on the side.

To find a toy like this in the original box is extremely important.

And it, it's great that people keep the boxes.

One thing I want to point out with this toy is the condition's wonderful.

But in this case, with the box, if you look at the very, very top of the toy here, you can see some scuffing.

That, that's right.

And that's a result of sliding it in and out of the box.

So I would want to tell people when you have the box, the original box, you can keep the toy in it, be careful moving it in and out because that can cause some damage.

You never want to restore a toy like this.

It's going to diminish the value dramatically.

Very, very scarce toy, especially, as I said-- and again, I'm stressing-- with the box.

One very recently did sell at auction.

I would estimate the toy at $5,000 to $7,000.

The one that just sold at auction, with the box, went for $6,500.

Wonderful.

Which is, uh... That surprises me.

Yeah.

I didn't realize it was that valuable.

Terrific.

WOMAN: My grandmother, when she passed away, left me all of her jewelry.

I'm the only grandchild in the family, and she was quite a gal.

And this was probably one of the most beautiful things that she left me.

APPRAISER: And she was a model in New York?

She grew up on a farm in Weston, Connecticut, and then she went into New York.

And at first she was a model for Stein and Blaine, and later on she became a buyer.

And who's the gentleman next to you?

And this is, um, her husband.

He was the manager of the Sherry-Netherlands Hotel in about the '30s.

So they were very social.

Yes.

You know that this ring is made by Tiffany & Co.

Yes, I saw that printed.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it's what we call a Ceylon star sapphire.

Ceylon was where it comes from, the island of Sri Lanka today.

They used to find these stones many years ago this size.

Today there's less and less of this size.

This particular blue stone is roughly about 25 carats, and that's large.

Oh.

Men used to wear pinky rings with star sapphires like this one here, see?

Yes.

But the ladies got jealous, okay, and they said, "Why can't the women wear nice star sapphires?"

So Tiffany designed a ring for them.

And it's all platinum, all diamonds.

And, if you notice, in the back here, it's all set with diamonds underneath.

Ooh... You don't even see it.

Now, this is something that was done in the '20s.

And it's being done again today, where you don't see the diamonds when you look at the ring from the top.

Star sapphires have a chatoyance that becomes a six-pointed star.

And how clear that star is, it makes the ring more valuable.

It's blue, which is nice.

And when you shine a light on it, when the sunlight hits it, you get a beautiful star.

See?

And since it is Tiffany, and since it is a Deco period, all these things are plusses for it.

A ring like that in today's market could easily be sold for somewhere in, in retail end for $25,000 to $35,000.

Oh, that's wonderful!

My children will be happy to know that.

And what, what else did you inherit from them?

Well, I brought this bracelet and the, the necklace that I have on.

Now, I don't want to scare you, but when I saw the bracelet and when I saw the necklace...

I'm going to tell you, my father was a jeweler in 1927.

I'm getting scared.

(chuckles) Okay?

He made that necklace.

(gasps) (laughs) When I saw that, I flipped.

Oh, my God!

That's, that's jade, carved jade, 18-karat yellow gold.

He made this?

My father made that.

This is providential.

And my uncle, his brother, made that bracelet.

That... your relatives had very, very good taste.

(laughs) APPRAISER: What you have here is you have a Springfield Model 1882.

And what makes it so special is it was fitted with this experimental triangular bayonet.

These are extremely rare.

Uh-huh.

There were only 52 of them made.

Yours is in very good condition.

At auction I would estimate it at somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000.

(chuckling): Oh my goodness!

Mm-hmm.

That's quite a bit.

It's... it really is a very rare gun.

Oh, thank you, thank you.

WOMAN: I inherited it from my mother-in-law.

I don't whether it's a vase or a bowl, but it's got some writing on the bottom, so I'm curious to know what it's all about.

Okay, is it a vase or a bowl?

We could make a case for either.

We'll call it a vessel.

Okay.

It's from Ohio and it is from the Weller Company of Ohio.

Just about 1900, maybe 1910.

And it's rare because underneath it says "Louwelsa Weller."

Louwelsa is the name of this line.

Louwelsa is usually a brown-glazed piece.

Oh, my goodness.

This is a blue Louwelsa.

It is finely painted with these little white violets and the value of this is about $1,000.

No way!

Way.

A thousand?

Yes, ma'am.

Oh, my gosh.

Can we put it down carefully?

(laughing) I'm a professional.

Wow.

WOMAN: The table I know my grandmother purchased.

She purchased it in Narragansett, Rhode Island, I believe, at an estate sale.

That's what my mom told me.

My mother was with her when she went, and they... my mom and dad were not married, so it was a long time ago.

Do you know what your grandmother paid for the table?

I have no idea.

Do you have any idea as to how old it is, or where it was made, or...?

I don't.

I don't.

I know that we've had it probably since the 1930s.

My family has had it.

Well, we'll never know precisely why your grandmother bought the table... No.

...but she had terrific instincts, because she bought a heck of a table.

Yeah.

This is a, a beautiful table made in Philadelphia.

Really?

Probably about 1760.

And it, in many ways, epitomizes what was available to a wealthy family if they knew a good cabinetmaker in the Philadelphia area.

Wow.

These tables are not particularly common.

No, I've never seen one like it.

Because they were made, um, few in number.

They were labor-intensive and required exotic imported woods and also the talents of very capable carvers.

This could be described generally as a Chippendale turret-top gaming table.

The turret refers to this rounded corner.

The knee of the beautifully shaped cabriole leg is carved with acanthus leaves.

It's a popular motif in furniture of the sort of rococo period, centering a blossom.

As you travel down the cabriole leg, beautifully articulated claw-and-ball feet.

They've repeated the claw-and-ball feet on the back legs...

Yes.

...but the back legs are more, more simple.

When you open up the table-- we'll do it just for a moment here.

I mean, one might well imagine having a terrific time...

Here, yeah.

Playing cards, putting candles on the corners to light what you're doing, or tea.

This table represented the center social situation in a prominent family.

At some point it was refinished.

This finish is fairly old.

Uh-huh.

But it definitely is not its first surface.

I think another way we can regionalize this table is you look at some of the secondary wood, and in this case, the drawer bottom is cedar, the sides are tulip poplar.

These are woods that are indigenous to that part of the country and commonly used in furniture made by Philadelphia cabinetmakers.

And if we tip the table back a bit, the underside shows a lot of patina.

Nobody refinished the underside.

And, in fact, there are areas on the underside of the table where the glue blocks and you saved them-- I saved them.

(chuckles) thank goodness-- where the glue blocks have fallen off, and you see a distinct lack of oxidation.

Is this mahogany?

This is a very fine imported mahogany.

So this table is, uh, in one word, um, magnificent.

I think so.

And as far as value is concerned, do you have any ideas whatsoever?

I don't.

I don't.

Well, we, we talked amongst ourselves here and, uh, came up with a consensus.

So the table is worth in the area of probably $250,000 to $350,000.

(laughing): Oh, my gosh!

(voice breaking): Oh, my gosh!

And having said that, if it hadn't been refinished, it would be worth perhaps... well, it's a little tough to say, but maybe another $100,000 or $200,000.

But the reason this table translates into as much money as that in today's market...

Yes.

...is that it's rare, it's absolutely beautiful and I'm thrilled to see it.

(tearfully): Wow.

I can't believe it.

(both laugh) Well, it's true.

I love it.

It's always been in my life.

WOMAN: I was given this as a gift for my birthday about 15 years ago.

It was my daughter's great-great-grandmother's.

That's pretty much all I know.

She lived in New York.

What we have here is called a negligée pendant.

Okay.

And a negligée pendant, it's two stones that are hanging asymmetrically from the top chain.

This is a precious topaz...

Okay.

...and we also have a peridot...

Okay.

...and it's suspending from two small red spinels.

And red spinel is a rare stone.

It's... when it comes in red, it's especially rare.

Oh, wow.

And then we go up top to a sweet little heart-shape cabochon sapphire.

The negligée pendant was popular around 1890 to about 1910, and they were always set with colorful stones and meant to be worn for sort of everyday purposes.

It really brightens up the face.

It's meant to be worn close up to the neck.

Okay.

It's a fitted box, and you can actually see... the fitted area.

It's in the original box, which adds to its value and adds to its, its cachet.

These have become more and more popular, uh, over the years, mainly because of the color combination.

I would say, for insurance purposes, $10,000-- right around $10,000.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

Is retail the same as insurance?

Retail is, is similar to insurance, so if you were to go out and buy this in a store today, and replace it, you would have to spend around $10,000 for it.

Wow.

I had no idea.

Yeah.

Really, that's amazing.

My heart went pitter-patter when you came.

Did it?

You have a personal relationship with Ms. Hepburn.

Yes.

Tell me about it.

Oh, when she came to the Shakespeare Theater, I was very young at the time and pregnant.

She invited me over to her cottage and she showed me all her paintings on the wall.

And she was asking my advice.

She said, "Well, I know you went to college and you studied some art, and I'd like to know your opinion."

And I gave her an honest opinion, and she liked that.

(laughs) And so how did you get this wonderful watercolor?

My husband was working at the theater at the time.

At the end of the season, she had it wrapped up in white tissue paper, pink ribbons all around it and she gave it to my husband to give to me.

And she said, "Make sure she puts it in the front hall, and that way some day it'll be worth a lot of money."

(laughs) Oh, isn't that a wonderful thing?

Yes, she was quite the person.

Everyone knows Katharine Hepburn as the great international actress, and it's almost as if there were two separate worlds for her-- as this famous actress who died in 2003 at 96 years old...

Yes.

...who won four Academy Awards, but yet a very private person who lived in Old Saybrook.

Yes.

And her hobby was, in fact, painting and drawing.

Yes.

And these things really were never sold on the secondary market.

I only know, before her death, of one that came up that she had donated to charity for an auction.

Oh.

She just felt that these were personal and she wanted them to be enjoyed or given away sometimes as gifts, like yours.

Yes.

And I love the viewpoint of it.

Very often she'd go out on her boat and she would paint from her boat.

And you can see that this is probably a view from her boat as well.

It was.

It was.

My husband used to take her out on the boat with Spencer Tracy.

It is initialed "K.H."

down here.

Mm-hmm.

But we also have this fabulous signature.

At the collectibles table we often see signatures by Katharine Hepburn, and most of them were done by her secretary or a personal assistant.

In fact, we often see notes that are typewritten that say, "Oh, you know I'm a personal person, I don't sign anything," and it was signed by her secretary.

Yes.

So when we see an original signature, it's really quite special.

Very often she signed with something that looks more like a "C" than a "K." Yes.

Right.

And it's one of the reasons why you can tell the secretarial signatures from her original signatures, because her original signatures don't look almost at all like her name sometimes.

That's right.

And as she got later on in age, they're very shaky.

Shaky, yes.

Sometimes original signatures, when they're dedicated, actually make the object worth less.

But in this particular case, it sort of reinforces how authentic and original this is.

If I was to put an auction estimate on this, I would put an estimate of $15,000 to $20,000 on it.

Oh, wow.

That's wonderful.

WOMAN: My father purchased it in China, 1931, 1932, when he was stationed there as a naval officer.

I don't know how much he paid for it or anything, but it's been in my family since he brought it back from China.

He just loved her when he walked in and saw her.

This is the figure of the goddess of mercy.

It's Chinese and her name is Guanyin.

She's characterized always by wearing these long robes, sometimes in a standing posture, sometimes in a seated position, often with a cowl over the head and usually with the hands raised and one holding a small scroll, sometimes occasionally holding a lotus branch or some other kind of object.

Often the figure of Guanyin will have a beaded necklace of some sort.

You can see that this is, in fact, bronze.

Here on the fringes of the garment... Mm-hmm.

...running all the way up the side... Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

...and on the middle of the body, there is inlaid silver wire, which is a particularly difficult technique.

It's not on the surface.

This is actually inlaid into the metal.

We have an inscription here on the front.

Mm-hm.

And there is also an inscription here on the back.

Most of the time, these inscriptions will be who the figure is or some aspect of the figure, but also it will have a name that's attached to the figures that's characteristic of this particular kind of workmanship, and that is the name Shisou, S-H-I-S-O-U.

So we often describe these as Shisou vessels or figures, but it's a particular workshop that was active in China.

Usually, you see them from the 17th century forward.

I would say that this dates from the 19th century.

Now, where in the 19th century?

It's tough to say.

It's in beautiful condition, the inlaid silver wire is in good shape.

Fortunately, no one polished it.

(laughing) 'Cause... You know about that.

I do.

Yeah, 'cause the bronze has this patination that was put there on purpose.

And that's in great shape, so it's a beautifully cast figure and it's exactly what people are looking for in the marketplace today.

I think in an auction sale, it would make between $8,000 and $12,000.

My father would be so proud.

He loved this.

APPRAISER: Well, it's a German doll, it's from the late, latter half of the 19th century, 1885, 1890.

Now it looks very, very much like a French doll.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: There's one doll called an A.T. doll this looks very, very much like.

But it's not really the A.T. doll.

Mm-hmm.

If this was an A.T. doll, this would be around $40,000 to $50,000.

Yes, I know.

And... Of course, it's still a nice doll.

It's made by a company in Germany called Kestner.

And on today's market, in a doll show, or a good auction, she'd probably bring between $5,000 and $7,000.

Mm-hmm.

My great-grandmother collected paperweights and this particular one has been handed down from my grandmother to my mother and to me.

I've been told it's a Clichy paperweight, but it's never been confirmed because there's no markings on the back.

It is Clichy, and these little flowers in the center here are referred to Clichy rose elements.

Mm-hmm.

This is about 1850, so it's quite an old weight.

Okay.

The Clichy, Baccarat and Saint Louis, at that point, were the premier paperweight makers in the world.

Mm-hmm.

And they then subsequently influenced the American paperweight makers.

But this is a very, very pretty weight.

It's in very good shape, very desirable.

I would say that a good estimate for it would be right around $2,000.

Oh, wow.

Great.

So it's a very nice weight.

Thank you.

About 20 years ago, I was in Prague, and I decided to bring home a souvenir that was a little bit different than the stuff that I usually bring home, and I was looking through the back streets of Prague, and I came across a little shop, and I saw him under about four inches of dust and decided that that's what I wanted to use for my souvenir from my trip to Europe, so...

So what, what about it attracted you to it?

Well, I just like the form, and I love bronzes, you know, I, I've seen some of the Rodin stuff, and I thought that was really neat looking.

And the price was right, so I paid $250 for it.

Otherwise than that, I, I really don't know anything about it, so...

Okay, well, there are some markings.

Um, I'll show here.

It's signed on the front here, and the artist is Edward Wittig.

And rather than German, he was a Polish artist.

Oh, okay.

So he was born in 1879, in Warsaw, and studied in Poland, um, as well as in Paris.

Oh!

And he took part in the Paris salons in the early 20th century.

He was a student of Auguste Rodin.

Oh, okay.

So possibly some of the things that attracted you to it were, um, from Yeah.

his exposure to that artist, and certainly the strengths of the, the figures, and sort of the sturdiness, the overall effect has some similarities.

It also has a foundry mark, um, here on the, on the back from a Warsaw foundry, and it's really an artist that there's very little, uh, published about.

He was part of a group of artists called the Rhythm Group, that were six or eight, uh, Polish artists that were part of, uh, really strong proponents for the Polish Art Deco movement.

Oh, okay.

So whereas Art Deco movements were taking place all over Europe, they were the Polish contingent, and they were very successful in exhibiting in Paris in 1925.

Oh, that's neat.

And, uh, I think had about a decade-long collaboration.

Wittig is known for, um, large institutional sculptures.

He did a lot of monuments.

Unfortunately, uh, many of those were dismantled by the Germans when they occupied Poland, so there really, there's not a lot of information about him.

He died in 1941 during the German occupation, and it seems that his works are now, his, his public works, are being, um, resurrected.

There are some that have been, since the '60s, have been re... reinstated in, in his home country, which is quite wonderful.

Uh-huh.

I found a few, um, comparables that help to lead towards, um, providing an estimate.

Uh-huh.

And, you know, based on what I could find out, I would estimate for insurance purposes a figure at around $10,000.

Wow.

So you certainly made a, made a very good purchase.

(laughing): That's amazing.

Yeah.

Thanks for bringing it in today.

It's been a treat to see.

Oh, wow.

What grade are you in?

Third grade.

Third grade?

Tell me what you know about these.

I just know that my great-great-great-grandmother wore them on her clothes.

The middle bit-- the blue and white bit-- is, uh, ceramic, it was probably made by a famous potter in England by the name of Josiah Wedgwood.

And he started making stuff like that about 250 years ago.

I showed them to some of the other appraisers here, some of the appraisers who are experts in textiles and old costumes, and they took a look at the buttons, too, and they liked them a lot.

And they agreed with me that they're a couple of hundred years old.

But they don't think that your great-great-great-grandmother wore them, and I don't think so, either.

She might have worn them, but I think they were made for a guy.

I think they're men's buttons.

Now, if you look at pictures of that time and you see the men with their wigs and they got all dressed up in fancy jackets we call frock coats, they would wear buttons like this.

You'd wear them up here and they'd be to show off.

They would've been a fairly high-end thing, pretty much a luxury item.

What I like about them, too, is there's a set of them.

Mm-hmm.

Sometimes you find just one button.

But there's a whole set of six here.

And that's probably all there was.

Around the middle is like a border on them.

There's a little bit of gold-colored metal.

And then there's another edge to it, which we call mother of pearl.

And whoever made these put those little ceramic plaques into the mother-of-pearl backing, and he made a really beautiful button.

Would they have been hand carved?

No.

The designs in the middle are not hand carved.

They're made in a technique that's called sprigging.

And the white bit is cast in a little mold and then it's stuck on to the blue bit.

Originally, the designs are carved, but the whole thing is, is kind of factory made.

Now, they've been in your family a long time.

Do you have any brothers and sisters?

Uh, yes, one sister.

You do, okay.

Okay, well, you shouldn't split 'em up.

Mm-hmm.

My advice is to keep them together, even if you've got a sister.

Don't be tempted to, like, let her have three and you have three, because they are a set and that makes them better.

Have your mom or your dad ever told you anything about what they might be worth?

Well... someone offered my grandma, um, either $600 for two, or $100 each, she forgets.

No kidding.

Now, how long ago was that?

Like 15 years ago.

You don't find buttons that are that old very often.

And they're real nice ones, and there's a set of them.

So I think today a set of gentleman's buttons like that, if you put them in an auction, they could sell for as much as $2,000.

Mmm!

I'm going to say $1,500 to $2,000.

And if somebody really wanted them, they could bring more than that.

Mmm.

I like them a lot.

Yeah.

MAN: These were my grandfather's.

I've had them since my mother passed away.

He was a scenic designer of Broadway scenery in Manhattan and did numerous Broadway shows.

And... but he was a world traveler-- Alaska, Africa, uh, all of Europe.

And these were some items that he brought back from Alaska.

He got them in 1908 to 1910.

He was trying to pick up ideas for different types of scenery art that he might use in, in a particular show that had something to do with Alaska.

Do you know what they are at all?

I don't have the slightest idea.

Oh, really?

I've had them, personally, for the last 45 years, probably, and they've been in a box in the back of my closet.

Well, they're all from the Northwest coast, and they've all from, really, the same area, where the Tlingit are.

I think the bowl might be Haida.

And these two pieces, this one for sure is Tlingit.

The ladle, I'm not quite so sure where it's from.

It's probably, again, Haida or Tlingit.

The bowl is based on a, a grease dish.

They had a big tradition of doing oil bowls.

This is probably late 19th century.

And we're starting to look at bowls here also being made for trade, not just for use.

So this isn't strictly a bowl that was ever used, probably, by the tribe.

It's probably made out of cedar and you can see that it has some abalone inlays on the outside.

Yeah.

And some bone inlays on the inside.

But what you've still got is wonderful animation of the bears on the outside.

In the middle we have a feast ladle.

And this also is the same period.

It's really getting toward the end of the 19th century.

But the real ones they used were actually this size as well.

They were really quite enormous.

This is already losing a little of the refinement, but still very impressive.

And it's interesting that the items that people would start to carve for tourists were fairly iconic items that they used in the tribal use, like the big feast ladle.

This is really the pièce de résistance.

This is a rattle.

It's made probably of maple, because it's a close-grained wood that allows you to do this terrific carving.

And it shows the shaman on the back of a raven, all very important shamanistic icons in Tlingit folklore.

And here you see the transference of the spirit from the tongue to the mouth.

And this is a kingfisher here holding a frog going into the shaman's mouth.

This is probably the second or the third quarter of the 19th century-- obviously been used, got wonderful wear on the handle.

Mm-hmm.

It's a super bit of carving.

The bowl, at auction, I would be very comfortable estimating that at $8,000 to $12,000.

My gosh.

Oh, it's a super bowl.

It's really wonderful.

Really?

The ladle, I think, again, very comfortably, $4,000 to $6,000.

Good heavens.

Okay?

I'm saving this one to the last.

Okay.

I think it's really super.

I would be, again, very comfortable, at auction, estimating this at $40,000 to $60,000.

You've got to be kidding me.

And I think that's pretty conservative.

Really?

I think, you know, with all the conditions and everything lined up, I think you might even double this.

Really?

It's a really super example.

And Northwest coast, out of all the American Indian art that's out there, is continuing to be very, very strong in the market; it's very, very desirable.

And the rattle particularly so.

I had...

I'm dumbfounded, I had no idea.

(chuckles) They're, uh, Staffordshire transfer decorated, so there's a, an underglaze blue transfer scene on them.

It's a typical English pastoral scene.

And then the surprise inside is that they have a, a frog inside.

Yes.

Supposedly, you would give your friend something to drink out of it, and they would drink, and then they would go, "Oh my goodness, there's a frog in here!"

But I don't think it really fooled anyone.

Our guess is they would probably sell the pair between $1,500 and $2,000, if they were being sold.

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness!

Well done.

Thank you.

Pretty special pla... pieces and very rare, and the condition is spectacular too.

WOMAN: The sculptress is Anna Hyatt Huntington, and she's a Connecticut sculptress.

She was a friend of a relative of mine and gave my Aunt Ruth this wonderful dog.

Anna Hyatt Huntington was one of the leading American sculptors of the early 20th century.

She studied with Gutzon Borglum, who was the, uh, sculptor of Mount Rushmore.

And she specialized in animal sculpture.

She did things for the Bronx Zoo in New York City, Joan of Arc.

She was married to a philanthropist, Archer Huntington.

Now, you said this is a depiction of Anna Hyatt Huntington's dog?

Her dog named Echo, I understand.

Echo?

Yes.

And you see how beautifully modeled it is.

The attention to detail, the clarity of the casting.

The patina is wonderful.

And I think what's so great about it is the dog really has a personality, rather than just some generalized idea of a dog.

This is an extraordinary large-size piece and great quality.

I would put a retail value in the $20,000 to $30,000 range.

Wonderful to know.

WOMAN: They're from my mother's family.

They've been in our family about 250 years.

My mother is from Maine, on the coast of Maine.

Okay.

The story is that they come from Boston.

And they've been in our family since the Revolutionary War.

Okay.

I don't know if that's true or not.

(laughs) Let me tell you about these tables.

Okay.

These tables were made after the Revolutionary War.

Okay.

In about circa 1810.

And after the war, America grasped hold of this incredible new style called the Federal style.

Mm-hmm.

It was a reaction, really, against the Chippendale-Rococo style with all the curves and carving.

We have these demilune perfect half-circles.

Very balanced, everything.

Yep.

These are games tables... Yep.

...so this unfolds, as you know, and the leg swings out.

And when you weren't using them, you'd put them against the wall and close it up.

Yep.

These oval paterae right there in the front, Mm-hmm.

typical of Federal, that's beautiful satinwood inlay, tapered legs-- I've never seen this fluted carving.

Wonderful detail.

Double cross, crossband at feet.

Mm-hmm.

At the bottom, yeah.

These tables are probably made in-- based on the construction and the design and this pattern-- this table here with this fluting is typical of Rhode Island, as well as the patera.

Now, did you have either of these appraised ever?

Um, this table in '94 apprai...

Okay.

was appraised for $2,000.

$2,000, okay.

Yeah.

And how about that table?

This... no one's ever appraised this table.

No one's appraised the second table.

This got unwrapped first, Right.

then I looked at the second one.

And as the wrapping came off...

Yes.

I saw this inlaid sprig.

Now, that is characteristic of a maker named Howard-- Thomas Howard-- who worked in Providence-area Rhode Island.

Okay.

This is a, a Rhode Island table.

Okay.

And this adds quite a bit of interest to the table.

Okay.

I mean, it really does.

(laughs) Collectors love that little delicate sprig.

Yeah.

Look at the wood, this, again, beautiful quality.

Yeah.

This inlaid edge adds a lot to it.

Yeah, that's so beautiful.

And look at this grungy finish on the top.

Right.

That's worried me.

Now, you've never touched it?

It's white, and on the in... when you open it up, there's more of this white.

And this wood is cracking.

Okay, looks like some stains here.

And that was...

Right.

Yeah.

It was used...

I don't even po...

I don't even put furniture polish on it.

What are these?

These are sort of scratches there.

Is that...

These are...

I have a cat that sits on it sometimes to look out the window.

Oh, okay.

And whenever I catch her on it, I stop it, I make her get off.

So she, she scratched them?

Yes.

I hope you never touch them.

This is the history of the table.

Yeah, yeah, the table.

And it's the original shellac from 1805, right around there.

Something, yeah.

This original finish makes a difference.

This table, and the legs are a little bit wider, slightly lower, the proportions, and it doesn't have the sprigs.

I would estimate this at $5,000 to $8,000 at auction.

Okay.

Now, this table, because of this incredible wood, Right.

because of the original finish, because of these sprigs, it makes a big difference.

Right.

It's...

I put an auction estimate of $10,000 to $15,000.

Wow, that's fantastic.

It's an incredible table.

They both are.

That's fantastic.

(chuckles) MAN: This was my grandfather's.

He made it when he worked at Martin Guitar in Nazareth.

He started to work there after he came back from World War I.

Uh...

So, about what year?

About 1918, 1920 is approximately when this was made.

He worked there for several years.

I don't know exactly the length of time he worked there.

He left Martin and then later on, he went back to Martin for a, a second time for several years in the, uh, '40s or '50s, but I'm not really sure.

Well, this is an amazingly good uke.

I knew immediately when you pulled it out of the box, or your case, that this was an employee model.

You had Grade 1, Style 1, Style 2, Style 3, Style 5.

The Style 3 uke-- and this has the same ornamentation as the Style 3-- had celluloid bindings like this, seven-ply bindings on the top, three-ply on the back, this celluloid ornament.

And you've got this, also celluloid.

Actually they called it "grained ivoroid," because it has... it looks like ivory, sort of.

Mm-hmm.

And it has this little three-piece nut.

It has the lines down the center-- five-piece line.

It has these pearl ornaments.

But it's missing something.

It wasn't made of mahogany or koa wood.

So in 1918, they started making the Style 3 out of mahogany, and then by about 1920, started making the koa one.

But I looked at this, and it was the spruce top with rosewood back and sides.

I've never seen one in my life, so I knew it had to be an employee model.

It was a one-off.

Martin employees were allowed to make personalized models, usually one.

They might have made several over a lifetime of working there.

And the period corresponds to when you're thinking he worked there.

Mm-hmm.

Just about 1918 to '23.

Because that's when this model had this interesting... See the little two diamonds there?

Mm-hmm.

But they're joined in the center.

After 1923 or '24, I think, they split 'em up.

And obviously he's making a, a standard Grade 3 uke, but he is doing it his own way.

Yes.

So ebony bridge, ebony fingerboard, rosewood friction pegs... or actually, I think these are ebony friction pegs.

This inlay in the back was an inlay that was used later on in the Style 28 guitars.

I'm surprised to see it on this instrument.

And it's just impeccable.

It's...

I think it's the nicest period Martin uke I've ever seen.

And visually, visually extremely appealing.

And the condition is like new, because it's been in that wonderful felt bag all these years, pretty much unplayed, it looks like.

Yes.

Did you ever play it?

I played with it a little bit, but not, not well enough to, uh, brag about.

A Grade 3 uke in mahogany sells in the $3,000 range.

This has gotta sell for more.

A retail value would be $4,000, perhaps a bit more.

That's great.

But it's, it's incredible.

I've never seen a Brazilian rosewood spruce-top uke ever from the Martin Company-- he made what looks like a mini guitar.

Yes.

WOMAN: These are a set of photo albums that were souvenirs given to the members of the Harriman Expedition.

My great-grandfather, De Alton Saunders, was one of the scientists on the expedition.

But of interest in this case is the photographer for the expedition was Edward Curtis.

Well, you've brought in the two-volume set known as "The Harriman Expedition."

Curtis had just started his career as a photographer in the Northwest, in the Seattle area, and was invited to become a member of this important expedition, so it was his first major assignment.

The Harriman Expedition was, as you said, a scientific, a naturalist, an environmental expedition.

Harriman was interested in mapping the topography of Alaska and having scientists engage in different experiments.

Now, Dr. Saunders was a specialist in...

He was a botanist.

His nickname on this particular expedition was Seaweed Saunders.

(laughs) Seaweed Saunders.

Well, as we can see in this first photograph, the images are topographic, they're each captioned.

In the lower left corner we can see an inventory number.

The images also focused on Native people.

The Harriman Expedition was a very well-populated expedition.

(chuckling): Yes.

Harriman not only invited scientists but his entire extended family to go on this adventure.

(laughs) What's interesting about books like these is that you wouldn't expect them to contain original photographic prints, but these were presentation albums given by Harriman to members of the expedition, your relative being one of them.

So these are actually original silver prints.

You're kidding.

Original silver prints with Curtis's signature Okay.

down here in the negative.

Almost half of the images in the albums are attributed, are credited to Edward Curtis.

Okay.

An auction estimate for the pair of albums would be $30,000 to $40,000.

It's a very desirable, fantastic chronicle of Edward Curtis's first photographic assignment.

Thank you so much for bringing them in.

Oh, wow.

Thank you.

(chuckles) Oh, boy.

Carry them gently, gently back to the house.

(both laughing) PEÑA: And now it's time for the Roadshow Feedback Booth.

And I have with me this bell, which was given to me by my mom.

Um, it's only worth about $300, but it still rings.

(rings bell) So when I call my husband, he will come for dinner!

We came all this way, about 130 miles, to find out that these are worth as much as the gas we paid to get up here.

That's true!

(laughing) And I brought this Chinese eggshell porcelain bowl, that was a gift from my ex-husband, and he took it back when we were divorced, but I found out it wasn't worth very much, so ha ha!

We came to the Roadshow today for my birthday, with some silver from a barn in Valdosta, Georgia.

And I paid $15 for all of it and found out it's worth about $120, so yay!

Happy birthday to me!

And this is my potty, and I'll cry if I want to, but I won't, 'cause it's worth $100.

I got this ring in a Ziploc bag from my aunt, she didn't think it was worth anything.

As it turns out, the diamonds are all real, and it was appraised for $1,000.

I know, who would've thought?

It's kind of huge!

And we brought this Hummel in today.

Uh, we thought it was worth a little bit more, it was only worth $10 to $15, but that's okay, 'cause we had a fun time.

And we're from Boston.

What do you say, Liv?

Antiques Roadshow!

Thank you!

Yeah!

PEÑA: Thanks for watching.

See you next time on "Antiques Roadshow."