NARRATOR: Major funding is provided by... Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles, online and in-person gallery auctions every month, serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

PATRICK REDDING: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

ROBERT HARRISON: This is a magnificent piece, representative of a period and a time lost.

PATRICK: When I first saw the sword this morning, I was blown away.

ALLAN STYPECK: It was probably not Teddy Roosevelt's finest hour.

GUEST: No.

ALLAN: And it was a stain on his record.

GENICE LEE: What was the connection between them using these ink blotters with African Americans on them and advertising their ice cream?

LEX REEVES: And it's such a well-known book.

It's a well-known play.

You know, you've got the sheet music.

It's, it's a, it's a, it's a wonderful package.

(theme music playing).

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ALLAN: Welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles," what did you bring us?

GUEST: I brought you three telegrams that were sent by Teddy Roosevelt when he was returning from an inspection of the Panama Canal, when he stopped off in St. Thomas in the Caribbean.

These particular telegrams are one, a, a congratulatory telegram to a family member.

But the other two are direct items concerning a, an event that was called the Brownsville Incident.

ALLAN: Right, and what, tell us about the Brownsville Incident.

GUEST: Well, the Brownsville Incident occurred in 1906, when there's animosity between the villagers in the local town and the Black Buffalo Soldiers that were in the military base nearby.

In August of that year, there was a shooting.

One town's person was killed; another was wounded.

The townspeople said that the army had done it.

The army members said, no, they had not.

The villagers pressed for the Army to investigate, and they did.

So, they discharged without honor the entire 167 members of the unit, even though he had next to no evidence that they had done it.

Now, they appealed this decision all the way to the President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt, and this was his decision.

The first telegram says that I agree with the decision, and these men are to be discharged.

The second telegram says, you know what I said in the first telegram, I meant it.

ALLAN: Yes, it's a very important collection of documents.

So, Brownsville, the murder was of a local bartender, a White bartender, and a local police officer was injured in the same shooting.

When the townspeople were enraged by the possibility of it being, being perpetrated by Black Buffalo Soldiers.

Exactly what you said.

Interestingly enough, in the Nixon administration, the two remaining living members of the 25th Cavalry were pardoned by President Nixon.

There is a great backstory to this.

It was probably not Teddy Roosevelt's finest hour.

GUEST: No.

ALLAN: And it was a stain on his record, especially since he was such a supporter of the U.S. Army Cavalry.

GUEST: Yes.

ALLAN: So, give us some more background history as to the disposition of the two telegrams you have in this collection in relation to the originals.

GUEST: Okay, well, there are three copies of these telegrams.

One is in the National Archives, the second is in with Teddy Roosevelt's personal papers, the third, which these are, are the telegrapher copy that stayed with the, uh, telegraph office.

And these come from my great-grandfather, who was head of that organization at that time.

ALLAN: Interesting.

And this is unrelated, but contemporary to the same trip.

GUEST: Right, this was a congratulatory, telegram that he sent to a family member.

ALLAN: Right.

GUEST: And it's, it's signed by him.

I can't verify the signature.

I've never had that verified.

ALLAN: That's the next question I was gonna ask you, you answered, you have not been able to verify the signature.

GUEST: No, I have not.

ALLAN: It looks like a Roosevelt signature.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: I would go on the premise that it probably is.

And so, my next question is, have you ever had any of this appraised?

GUEST: No, I have not.

I wouldn't even know where to begin to get it appraised.

ALLAN: Okay.

Well, you came to the right place.

GUEST: Yeah, it's so unusual.

ALLAN: It is quite interesting and historically very important, considering that Roosevelt sent these telegrams to Taft to emphasize the severity of the order he's going to give is, helps in the historical perspective for value.

So, I'm going to say that with the exception of this telegram, which is two or $3,000 for a Roosevelt signature, I would price the two telegrams for around $30,000 as a pair.

GUEST: Wow.

ALLAN: For, um, insurance value because of their historical importance.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: And I thank you for coming to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

ALLAN: Thank you.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ ROBERT: Well, thanks for coming to "Chesapeake Collectibles," what have you brought in today?

GUEST: I brought a French Empire clock, bronze clock that, I, I purchased it in, a shop in Falls Church, Virginia.

ROBERT: Okay.

GUEST: And that was back, I think, in 1988.

So I, I brought it here in here to find out what your thoughts were.

ROBERT: Alright.

Very good.

And when you say it, you mean all three pieces are, are stored together, correct?

GUEST: Yes, yes.

ROBERT: That's the way the Victorians would've wanted it.

GUEST: Okay.

ROBERT: Yeah, it's a, it's a clock marked Tiffany, and there are two additional candles with it.

And together we just call those garnitures.

Um, we think perhaps the, the clock was French-made and retailed at Tiffany's in New York, and as we did a little research of course...

GUEST: Right.

ROBERT: ...we discovered that it was marked Tiffany in New York, and the works are actually marked Tiffany, so we know that's where it was from.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ROBERT: I think it dates to about 1880.

GUEST: Okay.

ROBERT: It looks very Renaissance revival to me.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ROBERT: What we see are things like Griffins on the side here of the clock, this nice double handled urn at the top, this little, what we call mummy's head here on the front, and some leaves and fleur de lis on the side.

It is guilt-patinated bronze.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ROBERT: Which is why it's so heavy.

GUEST: Right.

ROBERT: And it was meant to be displayed together and be a showpiece, so you have it on your sideboard...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ROBERT: A lot of people had it on their mantelpieces if they had one...

GUEST: Right.

ROBERT: ...in the 19th century.

The clock, I mean, the garniture here is just a repeat of the clock.

We see the same thing with the patinated bronze; we see little leaves on the feet.

We see the fleur de lis on the top, the French symbol with nice fluted columns on it.

Very ornate, a lot of bric-a-brac, just what the Victorians liked.

Have you ever had this appraised before?

GUEST: Uh, no, I haven't.

ROBERT: Okay, in terms of value, I think if it came up, it is marked Tiffany, and that takes it into a different category.

If this were offered at auction, I think very comfortably, a fair market value estimate would be $5,000.

GUEST: Okay.

ROBERT: For all three of these together.

And I, I think, again, it could go up a little higher depending on where you sell it.

But to me, this is a magnificent piece, representative of a period...

GUEST: Thank you.

ROBERT: ...and a time lost, but well represented by this.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ PATRICK: What can you tell me about what you brought in?

GUEST: Well, today I brought in a, Maryland state presentation sword from the War of 1812.

In 1828, they presented this to then Lieutenant Mayo for a service that he had had during the War of 1812 on the Hornet.

He had joined, back when he was 14 years old, at about 1809 and made several deployments, worked his way up from a midshipman, and had been with like Lawrence on a couple of, of the different missions and different ships.

And eventually he was on the Hornet and for his work against the Peacock, where they captured that, and then being able to take and escape another British warship, Maryland was proud of their native son, and they issued this solid gold, hilted presentation sword.

PATRICK: Very nice.

When I first saw the sword this morning, I was blown away by what I was, had the chance to see.

What you brought into us is probably one of the most historic military items I've ever had the chance to look at and preview, and review with you, and to appraise.

This is only one of three known.

And not only that, it's only the one known to have the original drawings.

And when you look at the sword, that inscription is on the sword, just like you see it on the drawing.

Now, what's nice about this and unique about this sword is that the blade was made by Rose, which is very the finest blade maker in the country at that time.

And when you look over at the pommel with the eagle on it, it's so detailed.

And then not only that, it has Hercules on the handle there.

And we also have Neptune on a Trident with the horse on the middle mount.

So, what's... the detail that went into this is absolutely phenomenal.

And, you know, to have it all together here and then even take it a step further is documented in a book.

And not only that, we could turn the page here, and we can show a picture of him himself right there.

So, he had a very, very, very good military career, and he was very, very proud of what he did in serving for Maryland, and Maryland returned that in favor by presenting him the sword.

And for me, from a person, from the appraising point of view, it's iconic at just, it's one of those items you very rarely get to see.

Not only that one of three and the only one with the original drawing.

I gotta tell you right now, of my tenure on "Chesapeake Collectibles," this will be the most expensive item I've ever had the opportunity to appraise.

And we've had some great items come in.

So, taking this all in the historical significance here, a documented sword in a book, presentation sword from the state of Maryland with the original drawing, I would have to appraise this between 225 and $250,000.

GUEST: Wow, thank you.

PATRICK: That's a really great find, and I really appreciate you presenting history and preserving history like you are.

GUEST: Okay.

PATRICK: Thank you for coming in today.

GUEST: Thank you, surprising, thank you.

PATRICK: Very good.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ GENICE: Hello, and welcome to the show, what did you bring in today for us to take a look at?

GUEST: Hi, uh, these are some items that were in a box of stuff that I got from the auction, Sloans Auction House in Washington, D.C. GENICE: Okay.

GUEST: So, we had no idea what they were, and that's why we're, I'm here today.

GENICE: Okay, great.

Well, let's start out with what these are.

These cards are actually known as ink blotters, and they were used with fountain pens.

And so, you would be writing with your fountain pen, and there may be some excess ink from that; you would just take the ink blotter and blot it, touch it to the paper to stop the ink from running.

So that's how they were used.

One of the things that I found quite interesting about when you brought these in is that often, when we talk about antiques and collectibles, paper objects typically get thrown away.

So, think about it, if I'm using this ink blotter and I am gonna throw it away, but you all brought in a very nice stack of these in great condition.

The other thing that is very interesting about these ink blotters is that these are advertisement products from the metal gold ice cream company.

Another thing that makes these interesting, aside from the fact that they would typically be thrown out, is they do tell this, these stories of African Americans in the community.

One person on the card is Lucy Diggs Slowe, she was the dean of the women's school at Howard University.

GUEST: Wow.

GENICE: Right here in the Washington, D.C. area.

GUEST: Interesting.

GENICE: The other thing I loved about the information on her was that she, in her own right, played quite a bit of tennis and was quite good at it, and won some awards.

The next person that we had featured on one of the cards that you brought in was Alfred E. Jones, he was a businessman, and because he was so good at what he did, he actually was known as one of the two wealthiest persons of color during his time in the Washington, D.C. area.

So, I think that's pretty impressive.

GUEST: That is.

GENICE: And so, I'm so glad that you brought these in; they not only, were used for ink blotting, they have a ruler at the top, a calendar on the side.

This one's dated 1951.

So that gives us some idea of the timeframe.

What would something like this cost?

Well, they range from 35 to $45 a piece, and you've got quite a nice little stack there.

And so, I think that's, that's not bad to actually have not been the focus of your treasure hunt to bring those in today with us.

So, thank you so much for bringing them in.

GUEST: Thank you, appreciate it.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ LEX: Welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles," tell me a little bit about what you brought today.

this little collection.

GUEST: This collection is a collection of Renee Clark.

LEX: Okay.

GUEST: Who was my husband's grandfather.

LEX: Nice.

GUEST: He was a commercial artist during the '20s, '30s, and '40s.

LEX: Okay.

GUEST: We had received the book jacket of "Showboat" from the family.

And as you can see, it was used in the book jacket, which came out.

So, I ended up finding a first edition book.

LEX: Nice.

GUEST: And then years ago, I'm dating myself, 1995... LEX: Uh-huh.

GUEST: ...we went to a revival of "Showboat."

LEX: Okay.

GUEST: On Broadway, and they were still using the artwork.

LEX: Oh, how great.

GUEST: From 19... LEX: That's wonderful.

GUEST: It, it really is neat.

You can see that the original artwork, the characters are slightly changed... LEX: Sure.

GUEST: ...as they go along.

And... LEX: But the template was that is...

GUEST: ...there.

LEX: ...was the original there.

GUEST: You know, and part of the issue we had was it usually he signs things "RC."

LEX: Right.

GUEST: There was no "RC" in on any of the artwork.

LEX: Right.

GUEST: So, we were able to find in the "Illustrator's Guild" catalog, magazine, his listing with "Woman's Home Companion."

LEX: Oh, how neat.

GUEST: And again, I was able to find a copy of the magazine, which gave him credit.

LEX: Oh, that's great.

That's the nice thing about the internet today, you can find just about anything.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: If it had been 30 years ago, you would've had to call different magazine dealers and hope to find it.

GUEST: Yes.

LEX: So, what's a really neat that you were able to put it all together, I love the way you framed it.

You know, in terms of one thing I was gonna mention, because this has kind of started to tone and that's from the, the, the wood pulp, just make sure that it, it does have UV protective glass.

GUEST: Yes.

LEX: And that it doesn't sit in the, in the sunlight.

GEUST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: And I think it's great that you were, even though it's a little damaged, it's always hard to find original dust jacket...

GUEST: First edition, yeah.

LEX: They usually, they get torn up, so the fact that you have it is, is great.

And it's such a well-known book, it's a well-known play.

It's, you know, you've got the sheet music, it's, it's a, it's a, it's a wonderful package.

So, if we're gonna look at something like value...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: The value is less so what you've added to it, but is obviously the original artwork.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: The family provenance is impeccable.

GUEST: Yes.

LEX: Which is wonderful.

GUEST: Which is... LEX: Now, he's only had a handful of things that have popped up into the marketplace; there are probably some that have sold privately through galleries, but in terms of the secondary market, which would be auction...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: ...there really only I could find three or four, because of the important subject matter, it's better than the ones that had popped up.

Now, the high for him was for a Wesson oil image.

GUEST: Yes.

LEX: And that brought 3,000.

Because of the importance of, of the subject matter and everything that it represents.

I think it would exceed that.

Have you had it appraised before?

GUEST: No, we've never had it appraised.

LEX: Okay, well, I think conservatively, I'm gonna say 3,500 to $4,000.

GUEST: Okay.

LEX: The Wesson one was in color, but I think this is much more important for the subject matter and the history of the, the, the play, the book, and everything all together.

So, it's a really neat.

I love what you've done.

I really appreciate you bringing it.

GUEST: Well, I appreciate you taking the time and... LEX: Happy to do it, thanks for coming.

GUEST: Thank you so much, thank you.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ DENNIS HARTER: Welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles," you have a very interesting stone piece here, and I'm interesting to know what you can tell me about it and how it came either into your possession or family possession over time.

GUEST: Sure.

My father-in-law was in a business export/import business, and during his travels, he would come back with amazing things, and this was one of them.

DENNIS: Okay.

GUEST: Yeah.

DENNIS: And he is no longer around, and this is something that is now in your household?

GUEST: Yes, long time.

DENNIS: Okay.

Well, did you have any indication from him or from anything that was associated with it to give you an idea of what it was or where he acquired it?

GUEST: No, he did not.

Nothing in any great detail.

We just knew it was something special, some of his artifacts, he had pictures and, different things like from, like Cambodia and, you know, Asian type of artifacts.

DENNIS: Okay.

GUEST: But this was something that was really nice, so.

DENNIS: And that's why you brought it to "Chesapeake Collectibles" to see if you could find out a little bit more about it.

GUEST: Yes, yes, sir.

DENNIS: Well, I'll be happy to try and tell you something that I think it is, and what I believe represents something that you are gonna have to think about, because I believe this to be a 12th century head of a statue that was either in the museum in Cambodia, in Phnom Penh, or in a temple somewhere in the country and that it was liberated from those areas in the 1970s during the war when the Khmer Rouge was active and trying to take over the country from a pro-Western government, or in the period of time when the Vietnamese involved themselves in the Cambodian warfare to try and drive out the Khmer Rouge.

And at that particular time...

GUEST: Oh my God.

DENNIS: ...a lot of things that were in museums that were in temples were cut up.

And this is the head that has been cut off a full-size statue, because you can see underneath there was a hole in the head, and that head was used also attached to a body, for the statue.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, wow.

DENNIS: And the original top of this had a larger section that was represented here by the same sort of carving.

And it's a representation of one of the rulers of Cambodia, probably from the 12th or 13th century, in Phnom Penh.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness, I cannot believe it, the 12th century actually.

DENNIS: Yes, yeah.

It's, uh, it's...

GUEST: That's amazing.

DENNIS: It's good, solid stone from the, from that particular period.

There are reproductions, there are things that are similar to this that are there, but this is actually something I believe that, was probably from either a museum or a temple that was taken outta the country at that time.

GUEST: Oh.

DENNIS: Now, since this is an artifact of that nature...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

DENNIS: ...there is, uh, an international program and international conventions that are designed to have these sorts of things repatriated to the original countries.

So, things like this from the conflict in Indochina, things that, for example, during the Iraqi War that were taken from the museums there, or were taken out from archeological digs during the war illicitly, are being returned through the assistance of international organizations or bilateral agreements between, you know, in this case, the United States and Cambodia.

Obviously, there are still people out there who collect these sorts of things, even though it's illegal.

And that's, you know, not the kind of thing that people generally wanna be associated with.

GUEST: Mm, I see.

DENNIS: So, if you, if you have the opportunity to contact the Embassy of Cambodia in Washington, D.C. or the State Department...

GUEST: Wow.

DENNIS: ...or the museums, the museums will be able to help you with doing a return.

Now, there is a distinct possibility that the Cambodian government will say, this is an inconsequential figure.

It's not something we necessarily need to have back, in which case it becomes legitimately yours.

And you're not going to be involved in anything that has any connection to any criminality or anything else that's associated with it.

GUEST: No way.

DENNIS: Yeah, and again, as you would, as you'd mentioned, you have no records other than the fact that, you know, that your father-in-law was in a business that took him to Asia, and that during this period of time he acquired it, without any real knowledge necessarily of, of where it came from or, or how it was no longer in its normal resting place in a Cambodian museum, or a...

GUEST: Wow, unbelievable.

I didn't know this, but it definitely, I will definitely have to speak with my family and let them know what we have here.

Everyone will be excited, I'm quite sure, as I am right now, and we wanna do the right thing.

So, we have to make a decision what should be done with it, you know, if it has to be returned to the rightful country, that would be the best thing to do, so.

DENNIS: Well, it was very good of you to bring it in, and I'm happy to have the opportunity to talk to you about it and to, to give you at least a little bit of an idea of, uh, what might be done to bring it back to its rightful place.

GUEST: Well, thank you, thank you very much.

DENNIS: Thank you for coming to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

(cash register bell).

ROSS KELBAUGH: Next time on "Chesapeake Collectibles..." AMORY LECUYER: You almost never know what's coming through the door next.

ALLAN: Early illustrated illuminated manuscripts.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: Specifically, those which were made for royalty can sell in the millions of dollars.

ROBERT: I was really fascinated with it because it has all this detail... ROSS: That's the best mystery in the world.

AMORY: This was commemorating the '83 Orioles winning the World Series.

And then the next time that they won, it was, oh wait, they haven't.

NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by... Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles, online and in-person gallery auctions every month, serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

GUEST: I was absolutely ecstatic to find all this information out.

GUEST: It was exciting, I enjoyed it, it was a lot of fun.

GUEST: Oh, it's been wonderful, everyone's been nice, I just couldn't say much more about it, really, I mean, it's been a great experience.

GUEST: Today, I had a really great experience.

I thought the appraisers seemed to know a lot about the different items they were able to take and tell me a little bit more than what I had known before coming in.

GUEST: Well, I learned they're more valuable than what I thought they were.

GUEST: It'll probably go back on our sideboard and continue on ticking.

GUEST: I certainly would, if you have those items in your basement, in your cellar, or your attic, you never know, you've been holding on to it, come here because they'll certainly let you know what it's all about.

GUEST: Love to come back next season if I had another great find.

NARRATOR: Stream anytime, anywhere with the free PBS app.