Antiques Roadshow

CORAL PEA: "Roadshow" has touched down in the Natural State, Arkansas, at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

I think with these you've really kind of hit it out of the park.

(chuckling): Oh my gosh.

Really?

Oh my goodness.

PEA: Crystal Bridges is a treasure trove of world-class art on 120 acres of Ozark forest and free to all visitors.

And the buildings that make up the exhibition spaces are just as striking as the artworks in the collection.

Designed by Moshe Safdie with the goal of uniting art, nature, and architecture, the museum's structures become part of the environment, not separate from it.

Thousands of treasure seekers are thrilled to be a part of "Antiques Roadshow" here at Crystal Bridges today.

(indistinct chatter) Hi!

I brought in a Langstile Deluxe, uh, banjo my grandpa bought at an estate sale over ten years ago.

PRODUCER: Do you know what he had to pay for it?

Uh, about $250.

I'm... trying to learn.

(chuckles) GUEST: I got it from a friend.

I have tried to buy it from him like three or four times.

It took him moving halfway across the country to California and then he gave it to someone else!

(chuckles) But I persevered and the other person moved away too.

When they moved, I tried to buy the lamp from them, and they ended up giving it to me because it didn't work.

Joke's on them, it just takes two clicks the lamp works just fine.

Well, my grandparents and my mother traveled from El Dorado, Arkansas, to New Orleans in the summer of 1946 to get my mother's wedding dress and her trousseau in preparation to marry my father.

And my grandparents went into a gallery and my grandfather saw this painting, and fell in love with it, and bought it.

And then what can you tell me about the little painting?

Apparently, my parents, uh, communicated with the artist.

And in 1949, they bought this smaller painting, which is the study that he did before he painted the big painting.

We have a letter from him to my parents that he's enclosing the painting, and it cost $35.

Not a small amount of money in 1949.

No, no.

And $500 was a lot of money in 1946.

Right, right.

Both of these paintings are by Clarence Millet, oil on canvas, and both are of the old French Market in New Orleans.

We don't know for sure when these were done, but we have a pretty good guess.

We know he bought them in 1946.

Clarence was from Louisiana.

Yes.

That's where he spent his whole career.

He studied at the Art Students League from 1922 to 1924.

Even though he would tell people that he was self-taught, he definitely was not.

Uh, he was-- he was part of the establishment.

And in 1925, he set up shop in-in New Orleans.

Okay.

And these are the kind of subject that he became famous for, uh, an American Impressionist take on New Orleans.

This large painting was exhibited in numerous places, which is quite fun.

It's very unusual that you would track down the study later...

Right.

...uh, which I also enjoy.

And I think that, when it comes to valuating something like this, that the question really becomes, "Where is it?

Is it somewhere good?

Is it something that the artist is known for?"

Yes, absolutely, right?

We got the French Quarter in, in, in New Orleans, exactly what he's known for.

Then there's a question of provenance.

Right, where has it been?

Right, okay.

What is the story?

What is its history?

And in this case, we know exactly when it was bought.

We know the artist knows about it.

And then we have letters and receipts that take us all the way back.

And then the third factor, really, when we're evaluating these things is, is color and quality.

Like, how good is it within the artist's body of work?

I think with these, you've really kind of hit it out of the park.

You've got all three things.

I would say a conservative auction estimate would be $30,000 to $50,000.

Whoa.

(chuckles) It would be a shame to break these up.

Right.

I think they should stay together.

Uh, but the study all on its own, I would say is probably worth $3,000 to $5,000 right now.

Wow.

My grandparents would be very proud.

(both laugh) GUEST: I brought in this petroleum sign that hung over my grandfather's country store many years ago.

Probably the late '20s, early '30s, as best I can find out.

He had a small country store in a rural community in Van Zandt County, Texas.

I can remember my folks using it to play dominoes on.

They rested it on their knees and played dominoes, and then once I got it under my control, so to speak, well, I've tried to take good care of it since then.

It's a double-sided porcelain advertising sign for the Magnolia Petroleum Company.

They were established originally in 1911 in Texas.

By 1925, Standard Oil of New York had begun the process to-to purchase the company.

We can reasonably date this sign somewhere between 1911 and 1935.

It's all completely original.

Obviously they've got the, the magnolia blossom, it's a gorgeous piece in the center, surrounded by this red and this field of-of blue, that just really makes the sign pop.

And what I like to think about is, you're driving down the country road, it's just a piece that would have caught your eye.

It's got the original mounting bracket where it would have hung, and then the surface on it remains in a really good state of preservation.

It's got a couple little chips.

But compared to most signs that we see of this nature come up, I'd say it's in really good condition.

Probably an eight out of ten, something like that.

So with signs, a lot of times what we'll see is the sign might be in good condition on one side...

Right.

...the other side is really poor... Yeah.

...and that can really affect value.

So what I'm going to do is turn it over here...

Okay.

...so you can see that this sign... on both sides... still just really pops and has all the good color.

I think this side is even a little bit better than, than the other side, really.

If this sign came up for auction today, I think, conservatively, we'd place an estimate of $2,000 to $3,000.

Okay, that's good.

My grandfather would be proud to know that.

Mint condition signs, um, identical to this one have sold for as much as $9,000.

And you're saying at one point somebody had offered you, how much was it?

$200.

$200.

So not a, not a bad increase there at all.

This is a vase that my great grandfather won in a, uh, pocket billiards championship back in the early 1900s.

He kept his status as amateur.

He won 17 championships.

And because he was amateur, he could not accept money.

For one tournament, they gave him this, uh, vase.

And it's, it's inscribed on the back with what tournament it was and the date.

I've been looking at it since I was a little kid.

(chuckles) GUEST: My mother passed away, and everybody else thought it was a creepy doll, and they were scared of it, so I got it.

But look how cute she is.

I know.

Do you know where she was made?

I don't know where she was made.

This doll was made in Germany by Heubach.

But Americans like me call her "Hue-bach."

She's called The Laughing Child.

I have never seen this doll in this pristine condition and still work and still cry and still haunt people.

(laughs) Never.

(spooky voice): "I'm coming to get you."

GUEST: This is a... what I believe is a comic book cover sketch.

My brother acquired it some time between '83 and '87 in Houston.

He passed away in, in '87, so all of his belongings were boxed up.

And we just started going through that stuff and found it.

So, you are correct that this is a original piece of comic art.

It is an original comic cover.

Now, everybody knows the subject: the man, myth, the legend-- Spider-Man, Peter Parker.

However, most people in the United States know the comic as "Amazing Spider-Man."

So some viewers to this might be a little uneasy trying to figure out what it is.

So this is the original cover to "Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes" from June 1976.

Oh.

The reason why "Super Spider-Man" might be a title unfamiliar to most here in the United States is because this was a British market comic.

Oh.

It's done in a horizontal format compared to the traditional vertical layout of comic art for a cover.

And if we look at the lines here that are go-- the faint pencil lines... Mm-hmm.

This would have been the spine of the book, where there was information, the date would be lower here.

Oh.

And this is the title area.

Now, the original cover for "Amazing Spider-Man" 126 was done by John Romita, Sr. Lord of Comic Art, father of John Romita Jr. Romita Sr. and Jr., when it comes to Spider-Man, their name is synonymous with "Amazing Spider-Man" art.

So you're not getting a cover by John Romita Sr., you're getting a recreation of the "Amazing Spider-Man" 126 cover for the "Super Spider-Man with the Super-Heroes" comic, issue 175.

The value of this is-- A, it's an original published cover, but B, it's an original published cover recreating a wicked iconic John Romita Sr.

I mean, for an "Amazing Spider-Man" fan, Marvel fan, this is the best.

And it's a great way for a collector to kind of get a piece of Romita artwork without having to pay that price tag.

So I would say, conservatively, at auction for the Super Spidey cover, I'd say it's easily a $4,000 to $6,000 piece of comic art.

Wow.

Oh, my gosh.

Oh, my goodness.

That is... wonderful.

Not a bad little treasure for your brother to leave you in storage.

(laughing): No, not a bad treasure.

PEA: Crystal Bridges says its mission is to bring people, art, and nature together.

Architect Moshe Safdie designed the buildings that perfectly complement the surrounding environment of northwest Arkansas.

This was our family land.

I knew that people weren't used to museums in this part of the world, and that's why I wanted to do this, was to create access.

I knew that I wanted it to be in a comfortable place for people.

And so I wanted it to be literally a part of nature.

And Moshe and I talked about that from day one, and I'm so thrilled, because he got it and did it.

(chuckles) PEA: The museum, nestled into a natural ravine, really does feel like it's a part of the Ozark landscape.

Mission accomplished.

GUEST: This is a, uh, signed, uh, wood carving by Pat Barela, who was an artisan out of Taos, New Mexico.

My stepmother worked for a few summers in Taos at an art gallery in the mid-1950s.

And so she knew of him, she knew of his work, and, uh, she wanted a piece.

She bought it from him.

She couldn't remember what she paid for it.

Less than ten dollars.

But she could remember a couple packs of cigarettes also went with it.

His nickname was Pat, and he carved all of his sculptures out of local wood.

And if you pick this up, you can kind of feel the weight of it.

It's not, like, terribly heavy, so I think it's probably cottonwood.

He was born around 1900 and died in 1964, and he was a self-taught artist.

From 1936 to 1943, he worked under the umbrella of the WPA, and that was something that started during the Depression by the Roosevelt administration.

And in 1936, they exhibited his work at the Museum of Modern Art.

Right.

Which was a really big deal.

And "Time" magazine named him the discovery of the year.

It has a lot of imagery.

I think the, the hands are folded in reverence on this side, and there's some other faces in there.

Those faces remind me almost of Easter Island carvings.

Yep, they sure do can.

Those are religious carvings.

They're spiritual figures.

Mm-hmm.

The good thing about this is, of course, you have this fabulous history, so there's no question about where it came from and who did it.

We really don't know the title of this, but we're lucky that he signed it on the bottom, uh, and that's easy to show.

It's P-A-T, and then part of the-- the letters in his last name.

When I was doing the price research on this, I found several figures about the same height.

Pieces like this were bringing $6,000, $8,000, easily... Mm-hmm.

Depending on the subject matter.

And in my opinion, this one is probably in the $8,000 to $9,000 range for retail.

It's a happy number.

Well, thank you for bringing it in today.

Oh, awesome.

I'm thrilled to be here.

I opened a coffee shop, and the place that was before me was an antique Asian art store, and they left it behind.

He said it was an 20th century replica of an ancient 14th century statue.

GUEST: My husband got it for me.

We had gone to flea markets, and I spotted it, and it was out of our price range, and I was like, "No, no, no."

And he goes, "Yes, let's do it, let's do it!"

And I'm trying to find out information before he's-- drops money on it.

They wanted $1,000 for it, and he negotiated them down to $500.

I know it's a Rembrandt-- or it-it's a copy of a Rembrandt, I don't know.

Whatever it is.

They're bookends that my husband received from his father.

One of his uncles brought 'em back from World War II.

He was in Europe.

GUEST: This is a piece that we picked up at an estate sale back in the late '90s-- '97, '98.

When my wife and I went into the estate sale, they had these three lithographs, and she was interested in 'em.

Come got me, and said, "Hey, come look at these."

I said, "Eh, let's don't do that."

They was wanting $300 a piece.

And I didn't want to pay the $900 for 'em, so we left.

I got home, and I got to thinking about it, and she was really excited about these lithographs, so I went back and bought 'em.

How much did you pay for them?

Well, I offered them $300 for the three.

They took my offer, and so then I took 'em home and hid them in the attic of the house for about a month, until Mother's Day.

Aw.

And then I brought 'em out, gave them to the kids, and let them present them to their mom.

(chuckling): Oh.

Well, the map we're looking at today it isn't what it seems.

So it's a map of the North Pole and adjoining areas, and it was printed in what they call it Oxon, which is the, um, Latinized name for Oxford.

So it was printed in England, and it's by Moses Pitt.

His name's on the bottom here, And the map was dedicated to Charles FitzCharles, who was the illegitimate son of Charles II, who was the king of England at the time.

Wow.

Um, but if you look at it, is it really a map of the North Pole?

Because they did not map the North Pole.

They didn't reach the North Pole until the 20th century.

Instead, what this is a map of is the search for the Northwest Passage and the Northeast Passage.

So you can see here, on the Canadian part of the map, there are all these entrances that lead to nowhere, to parts unknown.

Moses Pitt wasn't interested in mapping the Arctic.

He was interested in Asia.

He was looking for the quicker way to get to the Spice Islands.

And everyone was exploring the area, trying to find the Northwest Passage.

On the other side, by Scandinavia and Iceland, it's the same thing.

They're looking for the Northeast Passage, another quick way to get to Asia.

When explorers were looking for the Northeast Passage, they discovered Nova Zembla, which was an island in the Arctic Circle.

Although the map is called North Pole, it's not really a map of the North Pole, because there's nothing there.

So that-that's what makes this map really, really important.

This map is dated.

It's printed in 1680.

There weren't that many English maps or charts of the area.

The Dutch dominated the map trade, so he took upon this ambitious project to make a giant atlas of the world based on Dutch maps.

So he borrowed or used other map makers' designs to come up with his English atlas.

And at the time, there was no copyright, so, you know, anyone could print anyone else's maps.

But it was such a big project that he eventually went bankrupt and ended up in debtors' prison.

This one in particular, he designed himself.

He didn't steal from a Dutch mapmaker, and it has some wonderful details in the cartouche.

We have an Inuit family with an architectural structure and a depiction of a kayak in the background.

On the other side, we have, presumably, English fishermen hunting narwhals and whales.

It's a wonderful, dynamic, big design in comparison to the map.

And the reason he designed it that big was because it was literally parts unknown.

So he tried to cover up what he didn't know by that beautiful image.

(chuckles) The map isn't a lithograph, it's an engraving.

And the engraving was made from a plate and laid and colored by hand.

It has some original color.

And then here, the, the blue is, um, uh, possibly added later.

Looks to me added in the 1970s.

That doesn't affect the value of the map because of the rarity.

I'd put a retail value on it, in a gallery setting, between $4,000 and $6,000.

Wow, that's a... nice return on investment.

Agreed.

And what a-- what an educational piece.

It's amazing.

Thank you for that.

Glad you went back to the sale to get it for your wife.

(laughs) I am, too.

I think it's probably about 100 years old, but I don't know.

I bought it at an auction.

PRODUCER: What did you have to pay for it?

Ten dollars.

My husband bought it at a toy store in California, and it's over 100 years old, and I think he paid $2,500 for it.

He was a toy car collector.

GUEST: The trophy that I brought today was given to me as a small boy through my father from Rogers Hornsby, which was a, a good friend of his.

For people that don't know of Rogers Hornsby, he played 23 seasons between 1915 and 1937.

You and your son have had a really fun project in learning more about the trophy.

Very much so.

Well, he did a lot of legwork.

The other name, I thought it was a St. Louis politician.

Mm.

Mm.

and here it turned out to be the boy that wrote an essay.

Hornsby was presented this trophy for being voted the most popular player in the National League by the youth of America.

13-year-old Alfred Dornheim... Mm-hmm.

...who's the boy who won the national essay contest, was transported to St. Louis so he could actually be at the ballpark down on the field... Mm-hmm.

...and present this to Rogers Hornsby on opening day in April of 1926.

Yeah.

But also gets his name engraved on the trophy.

Rogers Hornsby, he won the NL batting title seven times.

(chuckling): That's tough, man.

He's regarded as one of the top hitters ever.

Rogers Hornsby's lifetime batting average was .358, so third of all time.

Ty Cobb, best all time, at .366... Mm-hmm.

...and Oscar Charleston at .364.

Mm-hmm.

So the trophy itself is made-made by Gorham, and it is a sterling trophy.

Hm.

It's hand-hammered, what we call a loving cup.

I would say, for you and your family, for insurance purposes, you're going to want to insure this for $10,000.

Mm-hmm, okay.

Well... (voice breaking): there's-there's more to-to that than the money.

Took it out of the house, it's like taking my arm off, the way I felt about it.

I don't have too many-- too much emotions about a lot of things, but my kids and old Hornsby.

(chuckles) GUEST: It originally belonged to my great-grandmother who lived in Lincoln, Nebraska.

My aunt ended up with it, and she unfortunately passed away.

So then my dad got it, and then he passed it on to me about a year and a half, two years ago, right before he passed away.

Well, what we have in the center is an Australian opal.

Oh.

Technically, this is called a boulder opal, because you have the beautiful play of colors on the front side, and you see the brown matrix on the backside of the opal.

Okay.

When we look at the sides of the ring, it's got a lovely palmette on either shoulder, and that would be a motif taken from Egyptian art.

Oh, my gosh.

So we start with the top, and we look at this as a beautiful piece of art.

It's an art jewel.

Oh, my goodness.

We know that the ring was made to frame the stone in particular.

And when we take this ring and we look at it on the shoulder, specifically, there are extra leaf motifs... Oh gosh.

...on the undercarriage of the ring.

I did notice it said Marcus and Company inside.

Marcus and Company was an American manufacturer based in New York City.

They were open between 1892 and 1962.

So they were known for making very fine pieces.

They were specialists in enamel work, which is on full display in this lovely ring.

Okay.

The metal is actually stamped 14-karat gold, and that is normal for U.S.-made pieces.

I think based on the motifs and the materials that we're working with, it's safe to say that this ring would be an art nouveau item... Oh, okay.

...that would roughly date to 1900.

Okay.

Oh... Oh, gosh.

Okay.

It's, it's fantastic.

So you have a lot in your favor.

A beautiful ring, a piece of artwork that's wearable, fantastic name, desirable period in time.

Thank you.

At auction, you could anticipate an estimate of $8,000 to $10,000.

(chuckling): Oh, my gosh!

Really?

Oh, my goodness.

Okay.

It's a fabulous jewel.

This is a one-of-a-kind piece.

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, my gosh.

(chuckling): I'm just kind of speechless right now.

If this were to be appraised for insurance purposes, you would probably be looking anywhere $25,000 to $30,000.

(chuckling): Oh, no!

Really?

Yes.

Okay, I need to put it someplace other than my drawer.

GUEST: This is an Audubon-- a lithograph that was pulled about 1828.

It was my late son's gift to me.

We have lots of different art in the house, and this complements everything because it's so real.

As far as we know, it's a-a green slag lamp, and the person's name is on it, which is Edward Drummond.

Who founded Libbey Glass Company in the early 1900s.

I don't know, I guess.

He was an apprentice of.. Tiffany.

Tiffany's.

But I'm not sure of, of anything.

It's been a mystery of an enigma my whole life.

It's been like the thing that you don't touch, so.

It's Edward Miller, actually.

Oh.

It's-it's an Edward Miller lamp.

Oh.

Okay.

That was made in Meriden, Connecticut, circa 1910 to 1920.

E.D.

was just the initials of his first name.

I think it might have been.

Okay.

I inherited this from my grandparents.

They had it on their mantle, I have it on my mantle now, but I was with them when they bought it in 1967.

My grandfather fell in love with this clock because of the horses, and I'm so pleased that I have it on my mantle like they had it on theirs.

Do you remember what your grandparents paid for this clock, back in 1967?

I do not.

And do you actually run it in your house and, and... yeah.

Oh, yes.

Oh, yes, it has a really nice ting.

In fact, since we've been here, it's been tinging just a little bit.

It's a 14-day clock, and it keeps regular time.

It's still viable.

I think it's an eight-day clock, not 14.

Oh!

What do you love most about this clock?

I think I like it because it's so pretty, it's eye-catching, and I love the, the scene on top.

We believe that this is the Battle of Vouill...

Right.

...in 500, I think, A.D.

Right.

And, uh, Clovis here is getting ready to defeat this guy.

So he was fighting a lot of the, the districts in, at that time, Gaul, and I think this guy was the last one standing.

Right.

so he got this one, and so he's the first Catholic king of France.

Right.

It's interesting, these sculptures are hardly ever signed, and this one holds true to form, so we don't really know who did it.

This clock was made in 1850.

There are a lot of what I call French figural clocks that come in... Uh-huh.

...that are completely out of fashion these days, but I would dare to say that this one is not out of fashion.

(chuckles) It's so well done and so over-the-top.

Fancy French, just beautiful.

Thank you.

Interestingly, it's-it's a combination of the bronze sculpture, and then you have these brass elements here and this military motif with bows and arrows.

There's a bow here, swords coming out, uh, the dog at the bottom.

Mm-hmm.

Just great.

And then you have these brass elements that are really a different color from the bronze.

It just sort of ages differently.

It probably was all the same color at one time, but now it's a little bit two-toned.

The case is made of Belgian slate, and it's heavy, as you know, but great quality.

Yes.

And I love the dial, the dial is-is Belgian slate as well.

Fancy French hands.

Just beautiful.

Really, really first rate quality.

What do you think the-the value of this clock is?

I have no idea, when you said it's over the top, I don't know!

(chuckles) Yeah, if you were to sell this clock, I think you would really want to find a high end store like on Madison Avenue or Royal Street, New Orleans, which is where I think it would do the best, priced at a retail value of $8,000 to $10,000.

(softly): Wow.

I'm surprised.

That's great.

My grandparents would really like that.

I mentioned that it strikes.

Maybe we can make it strike.

(clock striking discordantly) (chuckles) I guess we can make it strike, but it's....

Needs a little fine tuning.

ROD BIGELOW: The connection between art and architecture at Crystal Bridges is a really wonderful one.

You have two buildings playing off of each other.

The very large Moshe Safdie building that is incorporated for this space specifically.

And then you have a Frank Lloyd Wright house that is a little gem of a space that is sitting just adjacent to it.

PEA: Wright's Bachman-Wilson house, named after former owners, was built in New Jersey in 1956, but was acquired by Crystal Bridges in 2013 after flooding threatened to destroy it.

Carefully taken apart and reconstructed piece by piece over a period of three years, the house is an example of Wright's classic Usonian design.

The word "Usonian" comes from an abbreviation of "United States of North America."

GUEST: So this is my grandmother's Japanese robe, or we believe it's Japanese.

So we know that she purchased it in the late 1980s.

We believe she paid about $2,000 for it.

APPRAISER: And where did she get it?

Um, so, from an acquaintance whose family had worked in the Japanese embassy and in Asia.

My grandmother has been a prolific collector for the last 60 years.

But we realized as she's getting older, the rest of the family doesn't know about her collection.

So I've taken it on myself to help catalog all of her collection.

It's not from Japan.

(gasps) Okay.

(laughs) It's actually Chinese.

Okay, I had no idea.

(chuckles) Mm-hmm.

We can see right here, that beautiful purple... Uh-huh.

...that's on here.

Well, that's a very good indication of age.

Is that mauve?

It is.

Oh, okay.

And aniline dyes, this color purple, in particular, was created in 1856.

This is Guangxu period, 1875 to 1908, and I think it's probably 1880s.

This was a woman's surcoat...

Okay.

...for formal and semi-formal occasions.

Formal at home for domestic occasions...

Okay.

...semi-formal for court uses.

Okay.

So you would wear this, if you can imagine, this is not your formal wear.

You would wear this over your actual robe.

That's amazing, because it's so fine.

I know!

I wouldn't think it would be casual.

(chuckles) If you look at the sleeves, they are incredibly wide.

Uh-huh.

And that is to account for another article of clothing being worn beneath it with long sleeves.

Okay.

It's silk.

It has a wonderful feel.

It's not a satin, but here the embroidery is satin.

This has some couched, gilt metal wrapped thread.

The cranes up here, they have multiple meanings.

They are one, primarily, a symbol of imperial authority.

Cranes were a symbol of good luck, and heavenly acceptance of whatever you had going on.

Okay.

They also are symbols of longevity.

I think this was likely something that was created perhaps for somebody's birthday.

Oh, okay.

Interesting.

Uh, the wife of a prince.

Was this very expensive to produce and own at the time?

Absolutely.

Okay.

It has these wonderful roundels, which are ornately decorated with the eight Daoist symbols.

Oh!

You can see that there are bats on every single one of the roundels, and the bats are symbols of wealth.

In these skirts, the... this is called "lishui," the fantastic rainbow of colors.

Yes.

The mountains coming up, the waves, dragons.

We have some of the "bajixiang," which are the Eight Buddhist Symbols.

Oh, wow, okay.

It doesn't have all of them.

And if we look at the back, we can see that there are one, two, three.

There are three on the front and one on each shoulder.

Okay.

So there are eight roundels total.

Looking at the collar, you can see that there's some wear.

Well, that's good.

It means that this was actually used.

Oh, okay.

Uh, but there's not so much wear that it is going to damage the value.

What do you think it's worth?

Uh... (chuckles) Could we say... $5,000?

You are right on the money!

No way.

Really?

Yes!

At auction today, (laughs) this would sell for somewhere between $4,000 and $6,000.

Oh, wow.

Okay!

So I guess I have my grandma's eye for things.

(laughs) But, uh, that's wonderful.

Were we to put a insurance value on this, it would be closer to $12,000 to $18,000.

Wow.

Growing up, we would just, uh, play around beautiful... (laughs) beautiful pieces of artwork-- carefully!

(voice trembling): But, yeah, it was always displayed in her home very beautifully.

It's an honor to be able to do this for her.

I have my great-great grandfather's Knights Templar Freemason sword.

It's got his initials on the handle here.

I believe he got this around the early 20th century, maybe around the '20s.

GUEST: These are posters that came out of one of three steamer trunks that were in my family for many, many years.

APPRAISER: Well, these were printed to raise money during the First World War.

Sure.

Yeah.

So they were selling the third liberty loan.

There were five different liberty loans during the war.

They printed hundreds of thousands of these.

And this was hung in the window.

"V for the victory" loan.

What do you think they're worth?

What do you want them to be worth?

I want them to be worth $100,000.

(laughs) You want them to be worth $100,000?

There's my, there's my granddaughter.

That's-that's your granddaughter?

Yeah.

By the way, I want them to be worth $200,000.

And between your wish and my wish, if we cut off all the zeros, they're worth about $150 each.

Oh, wow.

GUEST: It is a working copy of... by a journalist named Morgan, and he was at Parkland Hospital when Kennedy was assassinated.

My great aunt worked there as a volunteer, and she was there when they brought the motorcade in.

And it basically just details all the work that was done by the doctors there at Parkland in the emergency room, trying to save President Kennedy.

And how did it come into her possession?

The U.P.I.

reporter, uh, asked her if he could use her typewriter.

He was there several days composing this, and she was so nice to him, he-he left her with this working copy.

They actually brought Lee Harvey Oswald, he was actually treated for his gunshot wounds in the same hospital.

He refers to the accused assassin.

The assassination was on November 22... Mm-hmm.

...which was a Friday.

This is the date of the 26, which was a Tuesday.

As you pointed out, the author is somebody called Morgan, and on the top of each page is the same thing we have "Newsfront," "Morgan," and the date.

And I suspect that was because if any of the pages came apart, they would know how to put it back together.

There was a nighttime news show in New York at the time called "Newsfront."

I'm gonna suspect that this person, Morgan, who as we know, was a man, because of your family story, he was in the hospital writing this in real time.

There would have been what was called a carbon, which is what we have in front of us.

So not only do we have the typing, but we have his edits.

He says here, "emergency at Parkland."

But now it says, "medical team fights to save president."

We have a quote here from one of the doctors.

And he says "there was considerable loss of scalp "and bone tissue, both cerebral and cerebellar tissue, "were extruding from the wound.

"Further examination was not possible, as cardiac arrest occurred at this point."

And this is the part that-- I'm getting goosebumps.

The doctor finishes: "There was electrical silence of the president's heart.

The president is dead."

These seven pages were in that hospital when President Kennedy was there.

They are a witness to history.

At auction, we would estimate it probably around $500 to $750.

Well, thank you very much.

And I don't think the dollar value reflects in any way its value.

It's just the cash value, because I think the historical value, the-the family value, far exceeds that.

GUEST: I brought this tray that was given to my family way, way back in 1878.

It's my husband's family.

He was the fifth generation.

The fifth generation from his ancestor who was... E. C. Priber.

And it was from the Napa-Sonoma wine country.

And it was presented to him for all of what he did for the wine industry in California.

He was a young man, about 21 years old, and he came over from Germany.

So first he immigrated to Mexico, but he wasn't really happy there.

And then he came to California.

Emil Priber got to know some of the biggest, longest lasting names in the winemaking industry, including Krug, Beringer, and others who were...

Exactly.

...considered really the founding fathers of the wine industry in California.

Then, in the early 1870s, he was asked by Krug to go to St. Louis to set up a wine company to help distribute their wines that they're growing in California to the eastern part of the United States.

He founds and operates the Napa and Sonoma Wine Company.

Then, a few years later, in recognition of all of his efforts on behalf of these California winemakers, they present him with this serving platter made by an American firm called Rogers, Smith and Company, made of silver plate with really ornate decoration around the edge.

The double handles on the end to help hold it up, because it is quite heavy.

Right.

And this really fantastic decoration in the center of the reserve...

Yes.

...depicting Athena, the goddess of war.

Yes!

Below Athena, we have the "P" monogram...

Right.

...for Priber.

And then the presentation inscription, "presented to E.C.

Priber.

"by Charles Krug, J.C. Weinberger, O.W.

Craig "and Jacob Beringer, "as a token of friendship "and appreciation of valuable services rendered to the Napa and Sonoma Wine Company."

And that's in St. Helena, California, in May of 1878.

I realize it's a family heirloom, so you'll be keeping it, so I'd advise an insurance value of $4,000.

(quietly): Wow.

I didn't even bring it to get any value.

I didn't even care.

I just think the value.

But to be that valuable, I think I probably should get it insured, (chuckling): because it's sure not insured.

I was at a poker game at Honduras, and I won a lot of money.

I went down and I bought this one and one for my wife.

She didn't want it, so I got my money back on that one.

But then I've kept this one for 40 years.

It's a GMT Time Master original.

APPRAISER: Do you have all the paperwork and stuff on it or?

GUEST: It's all inside.

I was in the military.

This came through the-the PX system.

APPRAISER: So what did you have to pay for the military rate?

GUEST: $471.

GUEST: I love large scale photos.

And I found this photo online, set in 1925, Harvard baseball team.

And I started scanning it, and I discovered, uh, Will Rogers is in the photo.

(chuckles) This was, uh, the first day he ever visited the White House in 1925, and he met with, uh, President Coolidge that day.

GUEST: My mother gave it to me about ten years ago.

I'm sure that she bought it at a garage sale or an estate sale because that was what she enjoyed doing.

I have no idea what she paid for it.

APPRAISER: You brought us a-a charming piece of Bjrn Wiinblad's work.

Born in Copenhagen in 1918, a very accomplished artist, designer.

Mm-hmm.

I think this may be the first piece of his work we've ever had on the "Antiques Roadshow."

Oh, my.

This piece is dated 1965.

Okay.

And I think that makes it fairly early.

They're not unique in that this piece would have been cast out of ceramic pottery of some nature, Mm-hmm.

But it has been hand painted.

The colors can vary.

The marks... We see in one corner, the B.W., for Bjrn Wiinblad and a date which appears to be 1965.

Amongst the marks is the term "efteraar," which I may not be pronouncing correctly, but it means "autumn."

So she's a representation of autumn.

You can see she has an umbrella, she has a basket of harvested fruit.

She has this enormous sunbonnet with flowers.

I have found this exact piece, a pair.

One was autumn, one was spring.

And a retail figure on a pair of them was $1,200.

But they were both later.

In the '80s, 1980s.

Okay.

I think, given the fact that this is an early piece from 1965, that an auction value would be somewhere in the $700 to $900 range.

Oh, my.

So she's cute as she can be.

And if this is the first time we've had a Bjrn Wiinblad piece, it's a good one to start off with.

PEA: One of the many American experiences represented in the collection at Crystal Bridges is that of Ruth Asawa.

Asawa was the daughter of Japanese immigrants to California.

During World War II, in 1942, uh, she and her family were sent to southern California to a detention center at the Santa Anita Racetrack, and then eventually transferred to one of two internment camps in southeastern Arkansas.

After the war, she went on to study at Black Mountain College, and she loved exploring the connections between her drawing and sculpture.

And so her wire sculpture, which is sort of a study of petals that you see here, made in 1965 to '70, is a perfect evocation of the way that she is creating drawing in space.

It's a beautiful connection between drawing, sculpture, art, and nature.

GUEST: I have had this hanging in the closet for a couple of years.

I recognized the name when I picked it up in the flea market.

It said Max Ernst-- that's somebody, I know that's somebody.

You bought it in a flea market?

I did, yes.

For how much?

Actually, a thrift store.

Uh, ten dollars for this, and one other etching that accompanied it.

After I got it, I did a little bit of research on him.

Apparently, he was one of the founders of the surrealism movement?

Is that correct?

Yes.

Max Ernst is probably one of the best known surrealists, and this print really epitomizes his approach to surrealism in printmaking.

But he was also a painter, a sculptor, made collages.

This is a really great example of surrealism and etching.

It's a print made as part of a portfolio.

The title of this portfolio was "Brunidor No.

1."

And it was printed and published in 1947.

In New York, there was a press called Atelier 17, and it was famous for printing surrealist artworks.

And it was run by an English printmaker...

Yes.

...called Stanley William Hayter.

So Stanley William Hayter printed this for this portfolio.

In one portfolio, you had seven of the leading surrealists.

Max Ernst was the leading light of surrealism.

And this is a scarce print, it's an edition of 70, but very few impressions have been recorded in collections.

But it is in some very famous collections.

This print is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art and the Tate Modern in London.

Mm-hmm.

I believe it's titled "Dangerous Liaisons."

That's right.

And after looking at it a while, I could kind of see that in it.

Yes, so it's an abstracted couple.

You can see it's, it's sort of two lovers kind of in this throes of an embrace, and it's dangerous.

There's almost like a devil-like creature...

Yes.

...lurking in the background on the left.

And it's very typical of Max Ernst.

He did these etchings and engravings with these silhouetted figures.

They're open to interpretation.

Do you have any idea of the value?

I thought maybe $2,000, $2,500, somewhere in there.

I have some good news-- I would say at auction, in this condition, I would estimate it at $6,000 to $9,000.

Very nice.

GUEST: Well, I got this Southern Association ball from a friend of mine who owned a card shop.

I was a lifelong Traveler fan.

I grew up in Little Rock.

And this is a 1925 Little Rock Travelers ball.

They were a minor league team for a number of major league teams.

Right.

The signature on here is Bill Dickey.

He became a Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees.

New York Yankees.

And then this ball is fantastic.

That's a '51 Dodger baseball.

Believe it or not, I bought that ball in my barbershop.

Of course you did.

A shave, a trim, and a signed baseball.

You got the Travelers ball, which is local, with Bill Dickey.

And you paid $100?

I paid $140 for that.

All right.

And that with Bill Dickey on it, and being so old, is probably going to be about $300 to $400.

Okay.

So you did good.

How much did you pay for the '51 Dodger?

I paid $350 for that.

This ball is $3,000 to $4,000.

You gotta be kidding.

I had no clue.

That ball has been in my closet the last ten, 12 years.

I hadn't even looked at it.

GUEST: Well, these two paintings have been in my family for probably 150 years, and probably were bought by my great-great grandmother in the late 1800s.

I had copies of them hanging on the wall in my office at work.

And I work at a university.

And one of the art history professors came in one day and she saw the works, and she goes, "Oh, I didn't know we had any Winslow Homers in our collection."

And I just about fell out on the floor, and I said, "Well... (chuckles) those belong to me."

There are two great watercolorists of the late 19th century: John Singer Sargent and Winslow Homer.

Mm-hmm.

Winslow Homer started working in watercolor in about 1873 in Gloucester.

These works date from slightly later, about 1878.

The medium of the one closest to you is pure watercolor.

There might be some pencil underdrawing that's very faint.

The one closest to me, it has the pencil underdrawing the watercolor.

And then these touches of gouache, they're just perfect 1878 Winslow Homers.

The one closest to you, the little boy and girl on a swing, that has lost color.

Yes.

Um, we call that light struck.

There were times when he painted in very pale washes, um, but this is a little paler than usual.

The one near me is in much better condition.

Right.

Uh, this has not lost color.

And you can actually see that the opening goes to the very edge, that there might-might be a little bit of what we call acid burn...

Right.

...from the old frame where it's darkened at the very edge.

But you can see that the color hasn't really changed.

You get that full range of the greens.

What might have happened, though, is that the paper might have darkened very slightly.

And you can see that here where the gouache has protected the original color of the paper, this kind of buff tone.

Right.

And the papers darken slightly.

I'm going to value them as though they are by the artist.

They look absolutely right to me.

In my opinion, uh, they're signed with every stroke of the brush.

The, uh, little boy and girl on the swing is probably worth about $30,000 to $50,000.

Okay... That's fair market value.

Uh-huh.

That would be the range you might get in an auction.

Okay.

I would insure it for about $70,000.

For this one, an auction estimate would be about $150,000 to $200,000.

Wow.

And I'd insure it for closer to $250,000.

Okay.

(chuckles) That's pretty amazing.

I, I don't think I would have guessed that.

PEA: And now it's time for the "Roadshow" Feedback Booth.

We brought my, uh, Sermel papier-mch unicorn with us.

I've had it since I was 16, and he's gone from Miami to North Florida to New Orleans to try to get to my house since I've moved to northwest Arkansas.

And I just turned 43, so had him for a while.

We traveled all the way, six hours here, and we found out that this Copenhagen was worth... $200.

$200.

With a pretty butterfly on the back.

And this Korean vase is worth two dollars.

(chuckles) My mom dragged me up here and I'm just glad to be a part of this.

We came to the "Roadshow," to "Antiques Roadshow" today, and we had so much fun!

This is a Navajo squash blossom necklace that my mother bought.

And this is a Navajo rug.

The necklace is worth around $700 and the rug is worth around $400.

$400.

We had a great time.

It's wonderful!

Y'all have to come!

And we came to Bentonville, Arkansas, for the "Antiques Roadshow" to see how much our "Popular Mechanics" toolkit appraised at.

And it appraised at $35 to $50.

But I can still build a house with it.

(laughs) We love "Antiques Roadshow."

We actually, even in our daily lives, we... if something goes poorly, we go, (imitates depreciation oboe) And if it goes well, we're-- (imitates chime).

(both laugh) (chime playing) PEA: Thanks for watching.

See you next time on "Antiques Roadshow."