(music) ♪♪ -- Welcome to Mississippi Antique Showcase.

We're in Columbus, Mississippi, with our expert appraisers to look at your rare finds, family heirlooms, and quirky collections.

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

-- Okay!

-- Yeah.

-- Thank you so much for coming to MPB's second Antiques Showcase.

We're so thrilled that you came here today and bring this item.

Why don't you tell us what you know about it?

-- Well, all I know about it is I did some work for my aunt, and she didn't really have the money to pay.

And she said, "Well, I'll just give you this."

You know, that was probably close to 50 years ago.

-- 50 years ago.

What type of work were you doing for your aunt to get it?

-- Well, I just did odd jobs.

I was in a real estate business with my dad and I don't really remember exactly.

There was some little something she needed fixed and I fixed it.

There wasn't much to it.

And so when she gave me this, and it's been basically sitting in my closet ever since.

-- Did she ever tell you where she acquired it or how she found it?

-- She passed away not too long after that.

So I didn't have any way of really, I mean, I guess I should have talked to her more about it.

-- Well, that's why you're here anyway.

-- Well, I kind of want to know what it is and what to do with it.

-- Sure, so I'm going to give you a little bit, now that I've seen it in person, and actually touched it.

This is actually an English land grant.

It's actually dated, 1730 right here on the top corner.

-- Yeah.

-- And also on the reverse, it's dated and that officially sealed this document.

Now, the great thing about this is for being 1730, this is actually a blend paper.

So it actually was made of pulp and manila, and that's why you kind of see this rigid texture here.

-- Yeah.

-- And I think that's helped it be preserved over the years, including your aunt, and now you, keeping it in very good condition.

But what what happened in 1730, King George II was the King of England at the time.

And for this land grant to occur, you'd have to have the royal stamp of approval.

And that's what this this right over here is the royal stamp of King George II.

So it's really remarkable to see something this old having been preserved this well and the ink that was used is pretty legible.

Now they wrote a lot differently than we speak.

-- Oh, yeah, right.

Can't read it.

-- It's hard to read, but it is in English.

That's one thing we do know.

And then you see here and these are stamps and these were been the individuals that likely divided up these particular type of land grants and approved them.

They could have been they have been the governors of those particular territories, or the new land grants in 1730.

But these are all the individuals that would have signed and stamped their seals on this document to make it binding.

What we call binding-- for the parties to be charged.

It was then binding and then provided its royal seal.

So this is a really a remarkable piece of history, English history.

And to have it so well preserved in this form, I don't think I've seen one this well-preserved.

It's just been passed down, and not in a museum or other type of quality.

I would say for an astute collector looking during this time period, this document could either go from $5,000 to $10,000 to a collector who specializes in these type of documents or just historical documents in general.

But I can guarantee you probably at the right collector and right market, it could go anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 at auction and maybe in a private collection, it could do even more than that.

So this truly is a really lovely piece.

I really appreciate you bringing it in.

-- Thank you.

Appreciate it.

-- I'm Luke Edward, it's nice to meet you.

What's your name?

-- Kathy Howell.

--Nice to meet you.

So tell me about your treasure here.

-- Well, I have a story for you.

-- Okay.

-- Upstate New York where my daughter lives, we were out one day and we were coming home.

It's rural in the area where she lives.

And we saw this sign that said barn sale.

-- Okay.

-- She said, Mom, let's go do that.

So we did.

And in there it was an old church.

They were collecting things to sell to make money for their community center.

And everything had a price on it, but this, and you had to bid on it.

So I bid on it and I won it.

-- Okay, well, do you mind telling me what you paid for it?

-- Oh..... -- Were you embarrassed?

You don't have to say.

-- Well, I was a little embarrassed.

-- Okay.

-- But I got it anyway.

-- Okay.

-- I paid $110 for it.

-- Oh, my gosh!

You did?

Oh, wow.

Okay.

-- And then, we have a house up there close to Corning, and there is a Corning Glass Museum up there.

And the lady that that's her job is to fix glass, pottery.

And there were a few chips, and the wing was broken, but it was in here.

-- Yeah.

-- And she fixed it and it's just been beautiful -- Well, it's a beautiful, beautiful piece.

It's really colorful and you know it's Majolica, right?

-- Yes.

-- Okay.

And I'm going to say it's probably French Majolica.

-- Yes.

-- Because the English were a lot more staid with what they do.

The French are whimsical and they put parrots and big things.

-- All the way around.

And it has some barbatone on it, which are the flowers and the relief, and that's the term for the flowers that are put on here.

So a lot of times vases have these big displays of barbatone flowers and things like that.

But this one is really, really exquisite.

And even though you had it repaired, you can't tell.

-- No.

-- I think it's great.

What do you do with it?

Is it displayed?

-- Well, a friend of mine was a florist and he said, don't do anything, leave it.

This is a spectacular piece.

-- Yeah.

-- And I'll just leave it out on my chest.

-- Well, prior to starting this segment, I looked at the bottom and it's definitely got age.

It's probably from the turn of the century.

-- Wow!

-- Probably 1890, something like that, might be 1910, but it's definitely got some years on it and it's in great shape considering all the time it's been around on the earth.

-- And it's glazed.

-- It's glazed.

It's just absolutely beautiful.

So I can see it with a gorgeous spray of sticks or flowers in it or something like that.

But actually, for value, you did pretty good.

It's probably worth about $2,200.

-- Okay!

That sounds great!

-- Yeah.

It's a good deal.

So you scored big time.

-- Okay, thank you.

-- Wow!

Thank you for bringing this grand portrait.

-- I purchased it at a local auction several years ago.

I'm a mixed media artist.

I was planning to collage her up, and fix her up.

My son looked, we looked at the signature and we said no.

I recognized her name from art history.

She has some very famous paintings.

So I asked the man who brought it to the auction where he got it, and he said from a dealer out of Memphis.

And she painted four portraits in Memphis at one point for a family.

And I think this is probably one of them.

Do you know who the sitter is in the portrait?

-- No.

-- Wouldn't that be interesting to determine?

-- It would.

I think that somebody who knows about her could identify if she painted that family in Memphis.

-- When you look at a portrait, you know, this is a three-quarter portrait.

So it's not just a quarter portrait of the bust.

It's not a half-length portrait.

It's a three-quarter portrait.

So the person had great prominence and was of great importance.

So she's a grand lady.

I like to say that this is around the turn of the century, 1920 to 1940.

And you can tell that, by the way, you look at her jewelry and it looks like art deco jewelry, as well as the silk dress that she's wearing, which is typical of the art deco era.

And even her nail polish reflects the art deco period and the fur; look at the way she has her fur draped.

So it just screams, I think, 1920 to 1940.

It would be really interesting to determine who the grand lady is.

A beautiful lady.

The unfortunate thing about Southern female artists is that there's not much information about them and they really didn't have a big market place.

Southern female artists rarely appeared at auction, they rarely were in museums, nor did they have gallery representation.

So the value of this painting is not necessarily based upon the female artist because she didn't have a track record in the marketplace.

The condition of the painting is quite good.

You could have it conserved because you see this little scratch right around.

-- There's something right there.

-- The canvas is a little bit rippling here.

I actually think this was framed in a different frame before it was in this frame.

This is a real gold leaf frame, which adds value to the painting, but it's of the period.

This is also an art deco frame with real gold leaf.

So when you touch this frame, make sure you always have your gloves on because you don't want the oils of your hands to damage the real gold leaf of this.

I think if you look at it, it was framed in a different frame.

You see that line in here?

-- Mmm hmm.

-- Right here, the creases?

And then I think later they changed it to this frame.

But it's in great connection.

I would put $3,500 on it, fair market value.

If you have it cleaned and conserved, I would put $7,500 on it.

-- Very good.

Thank you.

-- Ms. Wilson, we're looking forward to looking at your unique typewriter with you.

Let me give you a chance to tell us about it.

-- Okay, this is a typewriter that was it was invented in 1891 in Sanford, Connecticut.

And this model was produced in 1893.

I bought it in an auction on a family collection, and I didn't know much about it.

Well, what caught my attention was this beautiful case.

This is solid wood.

-- It's actually oak.

You're right.

-- And it's over a hundred years old.

Doesn't even have a crack in it or scratch on it or anything.

So I thought that was unique.

-- It's beautiful.

-- And then I discovered there's a typewriter in here.

And back when this was invented, the configuration of the letters are different.

There was a time, and I read it on the internet, and I've forgotten what date, but there was a time I changed the letters to "A, S, D, F' here.

But now, back then this was how typewriter letters were laid out.

-- And nowadays the keyboard is different and the mechanisms are totally reworked differently.

And the way that we type on the computer, with a traditional typewriter than today and they really promoted the fact that they were portable.

They could be taken places.

You didn't have to just have it on your desk and it was stuck there, light easy to manipulate and move.

They took great care to make high-quality cases.

As you pointed out, the oak, you got the tiger oak on it that's just absolutely gorgeous.

These days and times, a typewriter like this in mint condition, most of the ones would run somewhere from maybe $450 to $650 in value.

I think that yours is a much better model than they mostly are able to offer folks, collectors at this point.

And I'd like to challenge you sometime to see if you could type something on it.

Have you tried?

-- I haven't tried that.

-- I don't know if the paper would work.

I don't know how you would feed it.

-- I'm sure I would have to ink this.

-- I think you would have to ink that and everything about it.

But you'd also have to kind of figure out how to use your fingers, because all the verbs.... -- You'd really have to hunt and peck.

-- Which is the way I text so that would be okay by me.

It's a great piece.

I think it's unque.

I've not seen one before and I enjoyed learning about it myself.

-- We collect unusual pieces, different types of unusual pieces.

We have a collection, lots of things.

So that just caught my attention, too.

I had a typewriter in the 1950s, and this is so different, so.

-- You have a good eye.

Thanks for coming again.

--Okay.

Thank you, sir.

-- We're here with Mark Sanderson.

Mark, welcome to the show.

-- Thank you very much.

-- I know what this is, but I know there's a much bigger story there, so tell us about it.

-- These are boxing trunks and they're signed by Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

And as you could see, there's a picture taken of them as they're signing the boxing trunks.

The note of authenticity for each signature here, just to show its authenticity.

But the guy was asking a lot of money for it and I didn't have that much cash on me.

So I talked him down $500.

So I just walked out with a plastic bag.

And when I made it back to Mississippi, my dad likes to make things, so he actually duplicated the same case.

So my dad actually made the case and that actually saved me $500 from the original purchase.

-- Have you been able to talk to the folks here at the Showcase to find out what their estimate is?

-- I did.

One man said just the Muhammad Ali signature with the exact same shorts.

He said the same design and cut, and he thinks it was signed at the exact same time.

He said it was $25,000.

So I'd like to know when they add the Joe Frazier part to it, you know, what they think.

-- Have you enjoyed yourself at the show?

-- Yes, sir.

A lot of people and even people don't know anything about boxing or sports have come up to me to say, you know, things like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier bring back a lot of memories.

Somebody's 30 years old or 80 years old.

So people have, everywhere I go, people are asking me about it.

So very interesting.

-- Well, great.

Mark, thank you.

-- Appreciate your coming today.

We want you now to let us know about your piece.

-- Well, you know, about...

This piece was bought by a friend of ours-- he's since passed away-- in Mexico, probably in the 1960s.

They were building power plants in Mexico, and they could never authenticate it as being pre-Columbian.

There was some talk or discussion that it might be pre-Columbian, but really, that's about all I know.

It's, as you see, a small figurine I need to take and think about doing something to keep it from getting broken.

But it was part of a very large estate that he had.

-- And that's one thing you brought to my attention.

You have an appraisal from 1985?

-- Correct.

-- Some of the items on there are so significant, and merit high value, that it makes me look at the piece a little bit differently than the information I had beforehand.

I do note that this type of art, Colombian art, is a specialized field, but unfortunately there are many, many reproductions and they've been reproducing for over a hundred years.

So some reproductions themselves have significant age to them, but they have been faked, and a lot of times the fake ones have exaggerated details.

One of the things I noticed here is indeed some exaggerated details.

I'm a little bit concerned or have questions about the wear.

I don't see any grime or residue of that type of nature on there that I would expect from an early pre -Columbian piece.

I noticed that the appraisal said it was a Toltec Indian clay figure from Mexico.

I saw the value that they put on there.

I do know that these pieces have been reproduced for decades for tourist trade down in that area.

With all of that said, I think in being conservative, I have to give it a tourist trade value, which is probably somewhere close to where they put the appraisal at $175.

But that may not be right.

You need to seek help from somebody in this specialized field who knows this-- at a museum, a curator-- and let them help you more.

-- Okay, yes.

-- A little more investigation, yes.

-- I appreciate that.

-- Hey Karen, how are you doing today?

-- I'm doing fine.

And you?

-- Oh, doing good.

Looks like you brought us a nice lamp today.

-- Yeah, yeah.

That was a present from my husband.

He found it at an estate sale back in the late 1970's.

-- Late 1970s?

-- Yeah -- At an estate sale?

-- Yeah.

-- You know what he paid for it?

-- Well, he may not have paid for it, actually.

He helped a friend who had a store, and he'd go to estate sales with him and the friend would often give him pieces, that piece, and pieces that he liked.

-- Have you ever tried to light it?

-- Yes.

Back when we first got it, we used to actually use it, and it gives off a really nice light.

It's like the old camping, you know, the old Coleman camping light lanterns.

It gives off a very nice light.

But we have not lit it in probably 30 years.

-- These lamps in today's market at a well-advertised auction this lamp with a pretty shade, most of them don't have a nice glass shade like yours.

Most of those have been broken.

And that really adds to this lamp.

I think this lamp at a well-advertised auction should bring $300 to $400 in today's market.

-- That's impressive.

-- In the meantime, though, if the lights go out, just put some gas in it.

You can light it up again and keep using it.

(laughing) -- Well, we appreciate you bringing this in.

-- Well, thank you.

-- How are you today?

-- Fine, thank you.

-- Tell me a little bit about the history of the watch.

And I can go into detail about some more of it.

-- Okay.

The history of the watch is my dad, who was the number one ship's pilot in Alaska, he sold his pilot service to the Southeast Alaska Pilot's Association.

And I know it was in the 1960s, and I think he bought the watch when he sold the business.

-- Well, basically, it is a Seiko watch.

The casing here and the frame around the watch head, and this are all ten karat gold.

I did found the marking on the inside of the handles.

-- Oh good!

-- But the rest of the bracelet here is original to the Seiko.

They basically just, I guess, he designed the frame and had it inset into it.

-- Yes.

Yeah.

-- So what you have are two different pieces of 10 karat gold and the frame around the the watch head of the Seiko.

As we talked about, the stones could be ruby or they could be, more than likely, they're so dark, they'd probably be garnet.

-- I think, is garnet because that was his birthstone.

And so that's why... -- If you took the watch head out, you might be able to get an accurate weight of the gold.

But offhandedly, just by me holding it, I would say there's a couple of ounces of gold in here.

And gold being what it is an ounce right now, I would think that the watch is probably worth between $3000 and $4,000 just in gold weight.

So you really need to take it to a jeweler and have him assess the stones and have it, you know, an appraisal done for it for a replacement value, because most of your homeowner's policies are only going to cover up to $2,500.

-- That's really good to know because we had no earthly idea.

I was saying back then, maybe it was $300 or $400 that he paid for it?

-- Perhaps, yeah.

-- So it's kind of like, where do you go from there?

So this really gives us a good idea.

-- A lot of people use gram weight now and so it's $34 per gram, but this is in ounces.

And I can tell you just from holding it, it's two ounces of gold.

And gold is per ounce right now, about $2,000.

So, you know, you're looking at between $3000 and $4,000 just in gold weight.

-- Well, thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

-- And thank you.

-- Well, what do we have here today?

-- So we have a bed warmer.

All right.

How long you owned this?

-- Me, personally, I have not.

I'm presenting for my second mom.

She bought it at an antique store in 1969 in Germany.

-- In Germany.

I'll say, it looks very European.

This is all hand-hammered.

This handle is all hand-hammered.

And the inside, it's hand-hammered brass.

You can see where the hammer marks are inside of it.

And the attachment of it is is braided together.

And this is... this is an unusual piece.

But, you know, we had a same thing in America.

We had the bed warmers.

They'd fill this with coal, hot out of the fireplace and it'd get real hot.

And then they'd raise the cover up and they'd run this in around the bed and warm it up before you get in on those cold, cold nights.

So it is a bed warmer and it's still together.

And this one is a very old one.

And I'd say we sold so many of them.

I'd have to say this one would have to bring $200 to $400.

-- Okay.

-- Thank you for bringing it by.

-- Tell me what you brought us today.

-- What I brought you today was an apothecary box that my daddy got in London, England.

He was in England in charge of a hospital that was helping the soldiers to get well.

He was aactually a pharmacist, and that's what some of them call it now is a pharmacist, an apothacary jar.

And he had kept that name from, he got it in 1945 in London at a little shop, and he brought it home on the Queen Mary with him.

Only other thing that he brought home.

A lot of the little boys' fathers brought guns and flags and exciting stuff.

He brought us a jewelry box and a picture of the Queen Mary.

My brother broke it.

We put this up on a shelf in the living room and he would let us take it down sometimes, but he would watch us whenever we'd play with it.

-- Well, it looks like it's in excellent condition.

I don't...

I don't...

Thank goodness he didn't let you play with it.

But it's impressive.

It's very rare that you find a medicine apothecary chest.

They're traveling apothecary chest with so many glass cases.

And what makes this so unique is it still has the original labels on it.

And it's incredible, even with the old medicine inside of them.

And they really became popular in the 18th century.

They became part of the household.

I mean, this is how people survived when they were sick and this is how you would nurse people back to health.

The ancient Egyptians would actually have medicine chests, but it didn't become popular till the 1800s.

-- Did you notice the little for salve?

-- No, I did not notice that.

Tell me about that.

-- It comes out.

It looks like ink or something to me.

Can you reach it out?

-- Well, they they would use this I mean, because this this is how people would survive.

It had the scales to weigh the medicine.

You've got the mortise in the pestle, you've got the salve.

You've got all the little essentials that people look for.

And this is a nice, nice chest.

I mean, look how this was handmade.

When you look at the mortise and tenon joints here on the side.

So what they would do is they would find a mahogany chest and they would customize it for each client, you know, around the 1800s.

And sometimes they would put secret drawers and compartments in the apothecary chests.

However they wanted it.

if they wanted to have seven glass jars.

So this was custom done for each client.

However, they did their order.

But you can look at the handmade details are beautiful.

Nice craftsmanship.

I don't see any secret compartment drawers and I think you probably would have found it by now.

-- Well, we would have done more to it than just found it if he had let us get it down from the shelf and play with it.

That's why it's in good shape, I'm saying.

-- Thank goodness he did not because this is very rare to find it with so many jars in great condition with the original labels, with this exceptional craftsmanship.

It takes you back in time just looking at the labels on these medicines.

-- Mm hmm.

-- So are you ready for the value?

Yeah, I'd like to know how much you think it's worth.

-- These are being sold, one like yours, I found one identical being sold for $18,500.

-- That's pretty cool.

Thanks for the information.

That was very interesting.

-- Well don't let this get harmed.

Keep it up high in the cabinet.

-- I'll do it.

-- And don't let your grandkids play with it.

-- Now, that's a tall order.

We hate to say no to them, you know.

-- I know, how true.

That's the only way they can learn.

-- Join us next time on Mississippi Antique Showcase and see if you have a hidden treasure in your closet.