>> Welcome to Mississippi Antique Showcase.

In this episode, we're in Biloxi, Mississippi, with our expert appraisers to look at your rare finds family heirlooms and your quirky collectibles.

We'll see what we can learn about these unique treasures and of course, see what they might be worth.

>> ...about $1500.

>> Wow!

>> You brought us a mighty fine baseball here today.

>> Well, it's been in my family a very long time.

>> How long has your family had the baseball?

>> I think probably.... Oh, in the early 1940's is my best recollection.

>> So you remember this baseball since the early 1940's?

Yes, my father was such an ardent baseball fan and he acquired this, I think, through a family friend who was a naval officer who picked it up for him.

And I remember being like five or six years old.

And the man coming to my grandparent's home.

My father put it in his sock drawer where it stayed for I don't know how many years.

He died in 1993.

And when I came across it in his sock drawer, I put it in a safe.

>> Well, that sounds like a good place to keep a Babe Ruth baseball.

You know, most of those, the balls you see are signed are Spalding baseballs from this era, and it's 1920s.

And this one is a J.C. Higgins, which is a Sears and Roebuck brand.

And it's an official boy's baseball.

Did your dad ever say anything about the baseball team?

>> No, I cannot recall anything, except he was such an ardent fan as he read the Sporting News from cover to cover every week and followed baseball.

And I just believe that he acquired it and then put it aside and kept it.

Now, you can see it looks like it's been used.

>> Yes.

This baseball, looking at your signature, and I'm very hesitant to touch a baseball because I don't have on gloves today.

Sock drawer was a very good place to keep a baseball.

Probably down inside a sock.

>> That's where I've kept it, even in the safe, in a sock.

>> It's safe in a sock.

>> Absolutely.

>> Safe in a sock is a good thing to do.

>> Safe in a sock in the safe.

>> In the safe, okay.

(chuckles) Looking at the signature, the flow of the signature is good.

Now a lot of times, the folks are trying to do a fake signature.

They're hesitations in the ink trying to make sure they have it right.

And the consistency with this one and all that, it looks good.

It looks like a good ball.

The ink is kind of an unusual color.

You don't see-- it's usually a dark ink and this is like a light green ink.

I think you're baseball, in today's market, if it was-- the signature has faded just a little, but still, it's pretty bold and it's very good.

And it's Babe Ruth's, I think is probably somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000.

>> That is great.

I plan to donate it to a nonprofit.

>> It's a good baseball.

>> Thank you, Mark.

>> Well, thank you, Ms. Elanor.

Appreciate you bringing out your ball.

>> We have Yvonne here today and she's brought us a teapot with a creamer.

Actually two creamers.

It's not a sugar.

Can you tell me a little bit about it, where you got it?

>> Well, I moved into a house in 1986, and this was just left in the house.

And so I have kept it under wraps just to see, yes.

>> Okay.

Well, it's... magnolia leaves and it is very well detailed.

There were a couple of makers that made this.

You have a McCoy.

>> Yes, sir.

>> I'm going to show the bottom of it.

McCoy made a lot of pottery like this at the time.

It's probably 1950's, early 1950's is probably what it is.

As far as what-- have you ever had it looked at or appraised?

>> No sir.

>> Or have you ever looked it up to see if you know anything about it?

>> No, sir.

>> Okay.

Well, I did a little research on the McCoy, and because you have the three pieces, it's probably in the $125 to $175 range.

>> Okay.

>> It's in very good shape.

I wouldn't do anything to it as far as maybe a little cleaning, but other than that, it's in great shape.

>> Okay.

>> Okay?

It's a wonderful display.

>> Yes, sir.

Thank you.

>> Thank you for bringing it.

>> Yes, sir.

>> We really appreciate it.

>> Yes sir, thank you.

>> Meg, welcome to MPB's Antique Showcase.

Thank you so much for coming and bringing these items.

I know you've got a really interesting back story on these.

So I'm going to let you tell the audience a little bit about where you got these.

>> Well, my grandfather was a medical doctor and a colonel in the US Army during World War II, and he was also a member of the OSS, which I understand is the forerunner of the CIA.

So he was stationed in Romania before the Soviets invaded and the Iron Curtain came down.

And, you know, that was the last anybody really saw Romania for a very long time.

And these are just some religious icons that he collected while he was stationed in that country.

>> Well, I'm glad you brought these in.

They're kind of special in that they're kind of reflective of that Eastern Orthodox religious history.

And it's fascinating because that kind of was a resurgence of the Byzantine period in the 19th century when you had, after the Ottoman Turks took over in 1843 and the Empire fell, you had this resurgence after the empire was dissolved back to some of these iconic religious themes.

So I was going to kind of go through a couple of them.

You have one of them, the first one here that is actually an Eglomise.

It's basically reverse painted on glass.

And this specifically you know by the kind of a more common frame is probably more in the 19th century for just basically common folks that used to bring in their homes to invite color and more richness in their lives and usually to pay homage to as Byzantine art did.

Saints, the Virgin Mary was very common, as we have in the center here.

But they do a good job of highlighting angels and certainly Christ, Himself.

And so it's always neat to see because this was entirely hand-painted and you see the vibrant colors on the piece of work.

And from my examination of it, it looks like also the original backing.

You can see here on the corners where they have the tendons.

Those appear to be original, too.

I would probably date this probably around mid-19th century.

So anywhere from 1840 to 1850.

These other two here, I guess we can start in the middle one.

This, while it's on wood and polychrome, is a much more later example.

So when your grandfather was actually in the area of Romania, he would have likely acquired it around that same time period.

So the war time in the 20th century.

But it's a good example of some of that same Byzantine art with the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus Christ, there.

That's very iconic there, but still vibrant colors and the craquelure, on the wood and polychrome is a good example of that.

These on the end, however, are my favorites because they're definitely in the 19th century and they've got this gorgeous, still original, nails around a tin... circling, almost kind of like a frame itself, again, polychrome.

But how they did this here, you can still see very bright, vibrant gold.

So they incorporated gold and red in this work and it still really maintained a really nice sheen despite being how old it is.

But this particular period would have been that near Byzantine and they're reflecting you see, there's Greek letters and Romanian letters in the alphabet and every letter is also corresponded with the numeric value.

But here you've got a burial of a saint.

And because of this iconoclasm, it's difficult to see the relationship between these characters.

But you also know you've got a saint then put on a pedestal as well.

So at least appreciating his rise to sainthood, most likely.

And then the death of a saint here on the right.

It's a really fabulous probably around 1820 to 1830.

So that's right on that resurgence period.

And so you've got that same polychrome, it's lovely and the same velvet backing as well.

So all three great examples of Romanian iconic religious art, I'd probably have to say, since there's, I think you told me there's more pairs of these.

They have individual value, but they also have value together.

So if you had a larger pairing, I'd probably say it could go anywhere from $2,000 to $4,000, depending on how many you had.

But just these two here are fantastic examples.

I would say they give anywhere from $800 to maybe $2,000 to a particular collector, because this one's the middle one here with Virgin Mary is more later period, you'd probably get it for maybe $250 to $300 because a lot of these, as you mentioned earlier, are Greek tourist nature, so they did fake them.

And so those new ones don't bring near as much value as these originals.

And this particular one here, just because it looks like the original framing and the Eglomise, which is always popular, being hand-painted, I'd probably give it anywhere from $300 to $500 at auction.

So you've got a really lovely set here, and I'm glad that you preserved a little bit of your grandfather's history.

And we appreciate you for bringing it in.

>> Thank you.

Very informative.

>> Thank you.

>> Paul German and Elizabeth, Paul's daughter.

And tell us what we have here.

You already pointed one thing out to me and it's so cool.

>> So we've got a signed envelope from George Ohr to B.P.

Harrison, which, from what I understand, was a district attorney back in the day.

Stamped 1909 from Biloxi.

On the back, you can see there's actually a Gulfport stamp there, too.

>> Okay.

And what did you learn about it as far as valuing it?

>> Well, probably worth between $250 and $300.

We probably spent about $0.50 for it.

>> Oh, there you go.

Good investment.

Tell me more about the signature.

You told me a little bit about it.

Kind of the little George Ohr quirk, there.

>> So, it looks like he put "It's not Ohre... Ohr".

Someone must have misspelled his name at one point.

>> And George wanted-- the Mad Potter wanted to make sure his name was spelled correctly.

>> And the feathering on this ink, I think is so pretty that he did that as, like, artistic signature.

>> Yeah, I didn't even notice.

>> I think it's pretty.

>> Well, thank you.

>> Thank y'all so much.

>> Well what do you have for me here today?

>> Well this is an antique enamel music box that my mother and dad bought 60 ago years, probably.

I was so enamored with it when I was a child that eventually my mother gave it to me.

So I really don't know much about it, other than that.

>> Okay.

Where were they traveling?

It's from Austria.

>> Oh, is it?

I think they probably got it in New Orleans.

>> At an antique shop?

>> Probably.

My mother gave my dad an antique clock for his birthday.

>> Yeah.

>> Which was unusual, but he fell in love with it.

He's a real fix-it tinkerer person and began to be quite the clock collector.

And when they would go look at clocks, Mother would pick out things like this.

>> I'm gonna take it out of its original box, which is worth a lot to have its original box.

There's the original key and you want to make him play?

>> It probably needs to be... well there it goes.

(chirping) >> Little bird comes out and sings and plays.

Chirps.

And the amazing thing about it is you said you played with it.

Or were able to look at it when you were a child.

It hasn't been played with much because these things are so delicate that if a child were to play with it, it wouldn't have lasted.

But it's really pretty.

It's all the way around enamel, all the way around the painting.

It's really a great example of the Austrian music boxes and it's a tiny one.

I saw a picture of it earlier.

I was thinking it was going to be a little larger, but this is really a good one.

And I like how all the bronze is good on it and on the bottom there's a place where the key goes.

It goes right there to wind it up.

It's really a good one.

I'd say today in an auction, it would be worth $3,500 to $4,000.

>> Thant's nice.

>> Keeping it in this condition is really a good thing and keeping it in that original box.

And if you did anything, you might restore the box, because these things are, like I said, they're very delicate.

If you drop them one time, you know, >> I can imagine.

>> They probably won't ever play again.

So $3,500 to $4,000.

>> That's good news.

>> And I would hang on to it.

It's just going to go up in value.

>> Harold, nice to meet you.

>> Good to meet you.

>> So look at this magnificent statue you brought us today.

My goodness, what can you tell us about it?

>> Well, I don't really know that much about it.

My wife picked it up at a second-hand shop in McComb and loved the piece.

She just... so we brought it home, put it on the coffee table, has been there ever since.

>> And do you remember what she paid for it in McComb?

>> Oh, she thought they were asking too much for it, so she bargained with them.

Got it down to $60.

>> Oh, wow.

Okay, well, that's a great number.

So what do you know about it?

About the maker?

Do you know?

>> I know nothing about the maker.

>> Okay.

>> There is something on the bottom and I could not read it.

>> This is by a manufacturer called Royal Dux, D-U-X, and they've been in production, I want to say, since 1860.

And really the items can be divided into four categories, some of the more contemporary stuff to some of the older stuff.

Based on what I can see on the bottom here with the marks, this is absolutely one of the older pieces.

Now they kept the molds.

So you can find something that they produced, say, in 1900, also reproduced maybe in 1960.

A lot of the Royal Dux stuff you see is going to be about this big.

And this, as you can see next to us here, is quite large.

>> It's about 30 inches.

>> And this is as big as I think that I've seen.

I'm sure they have some pieces that are bigger, but this one is very large.

The condition of this appears to be excellent.

I don't see any breaks or any damage on it.

And then I'll point out a couple of things here.

You know, these are all hand-painted.

So, you know, you've got the gilt tracing here.

And the gilt is all still very intact.

You have, you know, pink highlights of the buttons and then the clovers on the bottom.

And obviously, this figure is getting ready for for the hunt, for the fox hunt.

So ideas about value today, more than $60, you think?

>> I would think a little bit more.

>> I would have to agree with you.

So what we're looking at something like this, replacement value with a Royal Dux figure of this size and this age, we're looking at roughly $1,500 plus.

>> Wow.

Wow.

>> Yeah.

It's a fantastic piece.

Thank you so much for bringing it down.

>> Tell us what you brought today.

>> Well, I quit my job on Friday, gave two-weeks notice, because I was very optimistic.

And I brought my grandfather's fiddle-- my great-grandfather's fiddle.

This was handed down from my great grandfather, Walter Perrin, to my grandmother, whose name happened to be True Perrin when she made my grandfather and I'm a Love, so this was given to True Love then to my dad and to me.

So I'm going to pass it on down to my grandsons >> That is awesome.

How long has it been in the family?

How many years?

>> We think 1890ish.

>> Wow, wow, wow.

>> My grandfather used to play this at dances on Saturday night, and he was notorious for being the local bootlegger in Norman, Arkansas.

And most of the people in the county-- in town-- he lived six miles out in the country and they actually ran a wagon out into the country to bring workers from town in.

And apparently he had some people on the take because he never went to jail or had any problems.

And he made a tremendous amount of money during Prohibition and then drank up all the profits.

>> (laughing) >> So we lost the farm and all the business.

>> That is awesome.

Talk about what you learned today about your item.

What did the appraiser tell you?

>> It is a wonderful family heirloom, but money-wise, it's practically worthless.

You can buy these at auction for $100 to $125 now.

>> Okay.

>> Like I said, I probably should not have quit my job.

>> (laughing) Well, what are you going to do now that you've quit your job and you've got this priceless family heirloom?

>> I'm gonna store it until I die and I've already got-- So I'm the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son.

And I will give it to my oldest son who's going to pass it to his son, who's two.

>> That's awesome.

Do you ever plan on playing it again or anybody playing?

>> I have no musical talent.

I'm an engineer.

I have no musical talent whatsoever.

>> (laughter) Well, Jerry, thank you so much for joining us today.

>> Glad to meet you from Vicksburg.

>> Glad to meet you, too, sir.

>> Tell us little bit about your piece here that you've brought in.

>> Yes, it's an art piece, a painting by Moreau that I inherited from a brother that died in 1992, lived in San Francisco at the time and had many artifacts, furnishings.

My sister and I inherited his belongings and we shipped all that to her home in New Orleans.

And gradually she had her pieces and I had mine.

And and we had this and two other Miro paintings and some other art that we inherited.

But we've always enjoyed it and just didn't know enough about.

>> Well, lucky you, because you inherited a fantastic piece.

Moreau was born in 1893 and died at the age of 90, and he was an artist and a sculptor.

And you can see, I think, from this, there's a lot of Asian influence or Oriental influence in the thing.

I love the way that he really focused on the black to give you this real strong painting and then the different colors that he did was really interesting as well.

It's a great piece.

And I think that perhaps, you know, this piece could be worth $500, $600, $700, I would think, because it is signed by the artist and he's no longer alive, which helps in any price.

You know, it really does.

It's kind of crazy that we have to not be here for things to be more valuable.

But that's a fact.

I love the framing of it.

I think this is really a powerful piece to me.

I have the greatest respect for any artist because I have no artistic talents whatsoever.

But anyway, I think it's really wonderful and I'm so glad that you all have it and you're enjoying it.

And, you know, to me, that is the most important thing about the value, that you're enjoying it.

>> It is.

>> And I'd like to come and visit with you so I could see the other ones.

>> Sure.

>> We'd love that.

>> Okay, we have Lea here today and she's brought a wonderful photograph.

Can you tell me a little bit about it?

>> Yes, this is taken in the Cotton Club in Harlem in 1949.

And it is a picture of Ella Fitzgerald who's singing and celebrating her 39th birthday.

And in the audience, you see Richard Rogers, Benny Goodman and Duke Ellington.

>> Okay.

And it seems to have some writing on the bottom and signed.

>> Yes.

Well, the photographer was Herman Leonard, who was a well-known photographer for Paris Fashion, but his hobby was jazz.

And he would go to New York to all the jazz clubs.

And he has several books of famous jazz musicians.

And so about 15 years ago, there was a fundraiser at the Palm Court in New Orleans.

And I went to it and I bought a raffle ticket for $1.

And Herman Leonard had donated this picture as the raffle item.

Unbeknownst to me, the person who was going to pick the ticket was Henry Butler, who was a famous jazz pianist.

I had known him, but we had had a little disagreement.

But I felt like I had to speak to him, so I didn't know what to say.

So I told him how I took my raffle ticket and I scrunched it up so that it had more texture.

Right then, they called Henry to pick the winning ticket and he's fishing around and the audience was yelling, "Come on, Henry!"

And he says, "I'm searching for the right ticket."

And with that, he pulled my ticket.

So for $1, I won this.

And I knew Herman, the photographer, too.

So he wrote on here a little message about how we had a lot in common and he was happy to know me.

>> Well, it's wonderful.

It really is.

It's wonderful photograph.

The subject matter is great.

It's great that you know the history.

It's great that you knew the photographer and the man that pulled your number, right?

>> That's right.

So have you ever had it looked at to know what the value is?

Did they guesstimate a value?

>> They told me when I won it was valued at $1,000, but I've never had it appraised.

>> Right.

Well, because of the subject matter and because, you know, where it was taken, that adds a lot to it.

Of course, the personalized helps for you.

Okay?

Someone else other than your daughter or your son or someone, that might not have as much meaning to other than them because writing on a picture or something, doesn't always help.

But with you it does.

And of course you probably would never get rid of it.

Hopefully your kids won't either.

But as far as a value, photographs are a big thing.

The black and white.

The subject matter is great in this.

I would probably guesstimate it between about $1,500 to $1,800.

Do you have it insured, because if you don't, I would insure it.

>> Oh, all right.

>> Just because you won't get any of it back.

Course the value is who you know and and who did it.

>> Yeah.

Right.

>> Okay well thank you very much for bringing it.

Did you have a good time?

>> Oh, yeah, interesting to see, and my friends all brought interesting stuff, too.

>> Well, that's great.

We enjoy having you.

Thank you for coming.

>> Okay, I love public television.

>> Uh-huh, great.

>> Okay.

Thank you.