Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

This is Leo and Reggie.

APPRAISER

(chuckles)

GUEST

I got them from my, uh, grandparents.

APPRAISER

Uh-huh.

GUEST

Me and my cousins used to always play with them and sit on them and ride them.

APPRAISER

So how did your grandmother come by them?

GUEST

After they got back from safari in Africa...

APPRAISER

Uh-huh.

GUEST

...uh, I think, in the '70s...

APPRAISER

Okay.

GUEST

...uh, she saw them and really loved them.

APPRAISER

I think the time frame is right. The history of them goes back much earlier than the '70s.

GUEST

Hm.

APPRAISER

It's a little unclear what the inspiration was originally, in terms of creating these animals, other than whimsy, but they are sturdy and traditionally have been used as ottomans. The company that makes them now is called Omersa, and they're a U.K.-based company. Dimitri Omersa was a Yugoslavian migr who ended up in England in the 1950s. He was a leather worker, and, uh, in his travels, he met, uh, a luggage maker named Old Bill. Old Bill worked for Liberty of London, which is a luxury goods store. He worked in pigskin, and he ended up having all of these scraps in his workshop. He used what was at hand, which was pieces of wood and metal, for the interior armature. He used something called wood wool. It's basically a packing material. So that's what these are stuffed with. His first animal made out of pigskin was a pig.

GUEST

(chuckles)

APPRAISER

And Liberty of London, he presented it to them. They kind of liked it, they're known for their quirkiness, and suddenly they were selling them, so...

GUEST

Huh.

APPRAISER

I think he generally abandoned the luggage business and just made pigs, which he did for Liberty for about 25 years.

GUEST

Hm.

APPRAISER

So, Dimitri Omersa meets him in the mid-'50s. Old Bill is ready to retire, and Omersa takes over the production of the animals. And one of the first animals he expands the brand to is the rhino.

GUEST

Hm.

APPRAISER

The popularity of the rhino is so much for that company, it's now their logo. In the early '60s, someone from Abercrombie and Fitch, the outdoor outfitter in New York, saw these, loved them, and Omersa contracted with them now. So he's supplying now Liberty of London and for Abercrombie and Fitch. This is the large version. It came in a, a standard size and a large size. The lion is the standard size. Condition-wise, they're in pretty good shape. This one has-- are these spur marks from when you were...

GUEST

Quite possibly.

APPRAISER

(laughing):...spurring him along? (laughs) The condition on this one, the, the tail is a bit loose.

GUEST

Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER

I think, in fact, if I gave it a little tug, it might come off completely.

GUEST

(laughing): Yes.

APPRAISER

Um, I've noticed also that he's missing an ear here, as well.

GUEST

Oh, I didn't even notice that.

APPRAISER

Yeah, the mane covers that.

GUEST

Yeah.

APPRAISER

Any idea in terms of value on these?

GUEST

I think my grandmother bought them for a couple hundred apiece.

APPRAISER

So if she bought this new retail in the '70s, the original retail price on this was $125.

GUEST

Oh, well.

APPRAISER

Um, the original retail price on this was $95.

GUEST

Okay.

APPRAISER

Omersa still produces these animals today.

GUEST

Hm.

APPRAISER

If you were to buy this new from the Omersa company, this would run you about $1,400.

GUEST

Wow.

APPRAISER

And the lion would run approximately $800.

GUEST

(chuckles): Okay.

APRRAISER

But people want the old, they want to see this wear, so in this condition, for this age, you're looking at about a $3,000 retail value. Leo here would run, in the condition it's in, probably less, probably in the $1,200 to $1,500 range, like that.

GUEST

Okay. Wow, I had no expectations. They've just been living in my living room. (laughs) And with fond memories of my childhood, big animals.

APPRAISER

Yeah, they're really, they're really fun objects. I smile every time I see them.

GUEST

They, they are fun. They are fun, definitely.