♪ ♪ 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.

AMORY LECUYER: Coming up on “Chesapeake Collectibles.” PATRICK REDDING: You got a great piece of history here.

AMORY: This an altogether different realm.

This is a different universe.

PATRICK: What you have is what we call a Pennsylvania long rifle/Kentucky rifle.

KATHLEEN HAMILL: She was sort of an inspiration for all female artists because she really kind of made it, made it big.

ED MORENO: The glass shade is really, really unusual.

This is the top of the line.

ALLAN STYPECK: And I would never put this on a record player.

GENICE LEE: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: If you ever needed to listen to this, you go into a controlled studio... GENICE: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: ...and make sure it is handled very delicately.

GUEST: Okay.

(theme music playing).

♪ ♪ KATHLEEN: Hello, and welcome to “Chesapeake Collectibles.” GUEST: Hi, it's great to be here.

KATHLEEN: So, this is really fun.

Can you tell me what you've brought for me today?

GUEST: So, this is a painting that belonged to my parents, who have both passed away.

KATHLEEN: Okay.

GUEST: But they were in the Foreign Service.

They got married in October 1953, and in November 1953, they left for Karachi, Pakistan, which was their first posting.

KATHLEEN: Okay.

GUEST: And this belonged to them.

I don't know how they got it, except that when they were there in Karachi, they were very involved, I know, in like the local arts.

Um, my mom was an artist, watercolors, and so I, I, that's all I know.

KATHLEEN: So, this is an artist by the name of Zubeida Agha.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

KATHLEEN: She was a female artist, which is quite extraordinary, actually, in Pakistan because at the time, and, and still somewhat is, is the case, it was a male-dominated and very conservative culture and arts community.

She was actually educated abroad.

She was educated in London and in Paris, and then she came back, and she was sort of an inspiration for all female artists because she really kind of made it, made it big.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

KATHLEEN: And she was the first one to sort of take the human figure and kind of stylize it, make it sort of an abstract... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

KATHLEEN: ...figure.

And she used very bright colors, and she was really into this modern abstraction.

So, it's really interesting that your parents sort of were ahead of their time collecting this, this female cutting-edge artist.

I just find that really fascinating.

And so, it's very interesting too that you brought these pictures.

Can you tell me what we have here?

GUEST: Yeah, so, my parents were really, like, world citizens.

They were very international people.

My mom was born in China in 1921.

Her parents were Baptist missionaries.

KATHLEEN: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And she grew up there and graduated from Shanghai American School.

And then the other pictures are from their posting in Pakistan and their house, and this one is a picture of my mom holding a sign that says, "East Pakistan Relief Fund."

So, they were just very like, socially conscious and socially aware, and they really were, like I said, like world citizens.

KATHLEEN: And so, not only were they ahead of their time artistically, but like ahead of their time sort of politically and socially, you know, all the issues that really mattered at that time and today.

GUEST: Right.

KATHLEEN: Well, have you ever had a chance to have this sort of evaluated for insurance or auction or anything like that?

GUEST: No, nothing.

This is just one of the things that was in the house.

KATHLEEN: Okay, well, since we're talking about her and what a groundbreaking, cutting-edge artist she was, it's also playing out in her auction estimates and values.

So, her work is coming in estimate around $17,000 to maybe $22,000 for this piece.

GUEST: Wow.

KATHLEEN: Some of her more geometric abstracts are even up to like $28,000 to $30,000.

So, I think your parents' eye and you know, just the kind of artist that she was, is really proving to be accepted worldwide and by the arts community, and it's really a treasure that you have there.

I'm so excited that you brought it in.

GUEST: Wow.

KATHLEEN: Please don't ever sell it.

Hold onto it.

Pass it down through your family.

It's just the whole story together, and what we have here is just so important and so special.

GUEST: We would never sell it.

This will definitely stay in the family, and I think they would be very happy that this is here today on “Chesapeake Collectibles.” They were huge supporters of PBS, and um, you know, just to know that this is being shared with everyone is fantastic.

KATHLEEN: That is really lovely to hear.

That's wonderful to hear, well thank you for bringing it in.

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ PATRICK: Hello, and welcome to “Chesapeake Collectibles.” GUEST: Well, thank you for having me.

PATRICK: You brought quite the interesting gun in today.

GUEST: Yes.

PATRICK: What could you tell me about it?

GUEST: Well, I can't tell you that much, except that it was my father's favorite gun.

He was a gun collector.

Back from the '50s and through the '70s.

And this was the only gun that was left, and it's been hanging in the house for over 50 years.

And it's just part of the family.

PATRICK: Very good.

So it truthfully is a family heirloom.

GUEST: Yes, definitely.

PATRICK: What you have is what we call a Pennsylvania long rifle/Kentucky rifle.

And it gets the slang Pennsylvania long rifle because it actually was founded by gunsmiths in Pennsylvania in the early 18th century.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

PATRICK: And then, of course, it gets the Kentucky rifle side of it because it was widely used in the Kentucky territory by frontiersmen, obviously, most famous, Daniel Boone.

GUEST: Yes.

PATRICK: So it's got quite the history with it.

They're actually very collectible because every one's different in its own way.

Because back in the day, when the gunsmiths made these, they weren't mass-produced.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

PATRICK: Every town had a gunsmith, and they would put their taste to it and what their thoughts were with length of the barrel, you know, types of flintlock, percussion, patch box, what type of materials they make out of it, uh, brass, silver.

So this is kind of an interesting one.

And when you brought it to me, and I was looking over it, you know, there's signatures to a gun in a Kentucky rifle.

And one of the things is they could actually sign the barrel, and some of them are unsigned.

And some of them we can tell by the build or by the way the patch box is.

Now, this is what the patch box is right there.

And that's what we call a brass four-piece patch box.

It has four pieces to it, okay?

They also make a one-piece patch box, which is just one piece that opens up and shuts.

But that's really a four-piece, which tells me a better quality craftsmanship went into this gun as it was being built.

GUEST: Oh, I didn't know that, okay.

PATRICK: Okay, so a four-piece.

Also, we have some relief carving around the gun, up around the top of the tang.

On the back side, we have more relief carving.

We've got the half-moons coming out along the front here.

And it's, it's very unique.

It's got great quality.

But one of the things that stumped me was who made it.

GUEST: Yes.

PATRICK: And we put a lot of research... GUEST: You're not the only one.

PATRICK: Yeah, yeah, we put a lot of research into this.

Now, on the barrel, we have one letter we can definitely make out, but we cannot make out the other letter, okay?

So it kind of leaves us a little wide open.

So then we went looking into the four-piece patch box.

And unfortunately, right now, as I stand here, I cannot really formally tell you who it is.

GUEST: Wow.

PATRICK: It was definitely somebody, a great craftsman who built a great rifle, which is still together with us today due to the craftsmanship that he built it with, and also you guys caregiving for it.

We're going to evaluate this today as an unsigned gun, okay?

GUEST: Okay.

PATRICK: Because we really can't... GUEST: Because you can't tell.

PATRICK: Can't tell.

GUEST: Okay.

PATRICK: So we're going to evaluate it as an unsigned gun.

And then, so in this configuration, unsigned, that doesn't exist, I would put that in that $3,500 to $5,500 range.

Now, we find out who the maker is, that could two, three, four times that.

GUEST: Oh my gosh.

Wow.

PATRICK: So obviously, you have a weapon here that needs a large amount of great research done on it.

And we're going to continue working with you on this to try to... GUEST: Great!

PATRICK: ...put the puzzle together for you.

You got a great piece of history here.

It's a Pennsylvania long rifle if you're from Pennsylvania, and you're a Kentucky rifle from the rest of the world.

GUEST: Wow.

PATRICK: But we really, really do appreciate you bringing it in today.

GUEST: Well, thank you very much because you've told me a little bit more about it than I knew, except that it was a beloved article that my, my father had, so thank you very much.

PATRICK: Well, we really do appreciate that, and we thank you kindly.

GUEST: Okay, good.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ TONYA CAMERON: Good morning, welcome to “Chesapeake Collectibles.” GUEST: Thank you.

TONYA: How are you today?

GUEST: Very well, thank you.

TONYA: Tell me what you have.

I saw you with your buggy, and I wanted to run over and help you.

I'm so excited about this lamp.

Can you tell me a little bit more about the lamp?

GUEST: So the lamp belonged to a great, great aunt of mine.

She acquired the lamp sometime in the late '30s, early '40s, I'm not exactly sure when, at an auction in Chicago.

She ended up moving to San Antonio, Texas, in the late '40s, and it's been in the family ever since.

TONYA: Okay, and so did your aunt pass it down to you?

GUEST: She did to my grandparents, and then my grandparents passed it down to my mom and dad.

TONYA: Okay, it is a stunning, stunning lamp.

GUEST: Thank you.

TONYA: I'm going to let Ed hop in and tell us a little bit more about it, okay?

ED: Well, you've done a lot of research on your own.

I think you went, went on the web and did some research.

You want to tell us a little bit about what you found out on the web?

GUEST: So basically, my dad did the research for us.

ED: Okay.

GUEST: He was able to learn that the lamp was made by some of Tiffany's proteges, who started their own company.

We believe the lamp was made probably in the early 1900s.

ED: Made in New York?

GUEST: I believe so.

ED: Right.

GUEST: Yes.

ED: This is really a unique piece.

It's obviously made, it's a custom-made piece.

The body is made out of bronze that has been patinated.

You also found out that some of the workers, I believe they hired at this company are Japanese workers as well.

And this kind of patination on bronze and brass is, is definitely a Japanese aesthetic.

And we see it a lot in this kind of early 20th-century, late 19th-century high-end production.

The glass shade is really, really unusual.

TONYA: Splendid.

ED: This is the top of the line.

This technique started in the Middle Ages.

This is glass that has been painted and then fired, and this is how you get all this wonderful, exquisite decoration on it.

It's also lead-lined, and so it's, it's really made the same way how a church glass would've been made.

Very, very high-end.

So you've had it for how long now in your house?

GUEST: So I believe my parents acquired it around 2017.

ED: 2017.

TONYA: 2017.

GUEST: Yes, ma'am.

TONYA: Okay, okay.

ED: And what does the lamp actually show?

You've done research on that.

GUEST: It depicts the Crusades.

ED: Okay.

TONYA: Oh, wow.

ED: All right, and then we have the writing, which you can read here, and I think we have St.

Christopher as well.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ED: Some saints.

And again, these are all designed first and then fabricated later by, by and different painters would've done the, the, uh, glasswork.

But it really is a superb example of its type.

You said there were two made, correct?

GUEST: That's our understanding, yes.

ED: Where did the other one go to?

GUEST: We believe it's with the Baltimore Gas and Electric Company.

That's who commissioned both lamps.

ED: Okay, all right.

So you've done a lot of research, but have you ever had it appraised before?

GUEST: No, sir.

ED: Any idea?

GUEST: I don't have any clue as to how much.

ED: Okay.

Well, I think you'd be surprised to know that on the open market, this would fetch somewhere between $13,000 to $15,000.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

TONYA: Yes.

GUEST: Okay.

ED: It is a really, really important and great example of this period for very, very high-end.

This is obviously people that had a lot of money to begin with... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ED: ...and they wanted the best of the best.

GUEST: Okay.

ED: Louis Comfort Tiffany, of course, had a very refined clientele, but it was a very small clientele because most people couldn't afford this.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ED: And I think your great aunt bought it at auction during the '30s... GUEST: Correct, during the '30s.

ED: ...when a lot of people were selling their goods... TONYA: Yes.

ED: ...so they could eat... GUEST: Exactly, yes.

ED: ...during the Depression.

GUEST: Yes.

ED: So she got a fabulous bargain.

You have a wonderful piece.

Obviously, the patination, you do not touch.

GUEST: Okay.

ED: Yes.

Cloth without anything.

No water, no nothing.

GUEST: Okay.

ED: And this shade shouldn't need anything either.

Keep, I would keep it away from... this is lead, and if you keep it in a really hot environment, there will be deformation, it will deform.

So if you keep it in a darker place, it's going to look nicer anyway.

GUEST: Right.

ED: So, where do you have it in the house primarily?

GUEST: It's actually at my parents' home.

It's in their dining room.

TONYA: Okay.

ED: Oh, are you hoping to inherit it?

GUEST: It'll become mine, yes.

ED: Okay, well, thank you very much for bringing it in, it's a wonderful, wonderful piece.

TONYA: It's beautiful.

GUEST: Well, thank you so much.

TONYA: We so appreciate you showing up today.

GUEST: We appreciate the history, the work you did on the history of it as well, so thank you so much.

ED: Well, you did most of the work yourself... TONYA: We just helped you along.

ED: ...so thank you for bringing it in.

TONYA: Thank you.

ED: And we hope to see you with something just as nice next year.

GUEST: Thank you very much, and we'll see what we have.

(cash register bell).

♪ ♪ AMORY: I want to thank you for coming into “Chesapeake Collectibles” today.

And when you walked up to the table, you sort of said, "Well, we've got this little box.

It's got a little something in it."

And what emerged was this timepiece.

Can you tell me a little bit about where it came from?

GUEST: Absolutely, this watch came from a very special member of our family, a special uncle.

AMORY: Okay.

GUEST: This watch, I watched on his arm since I was about 10 years old, and I always admired it, and he always teased me and said, "You'll never get it.

It's going to be your brother's watch."

Well, when he was moving out not too long ago, he came to me and handed me the box and said... AMORY: Oh, my Lord.

GUEST: ..."It is yours."

AMORY: Now, where did he get it?

GUEST: He bought this when he was in the service, a musician in the Army in Japan in 1964.

He had the original receipt, which I can't find; it's at home somewhere, for $950 in 1964.

AMORY: I mean, even in 1964, this was an expensive, expensive watch.

GUEST: It's a lot of money.

GUEST: Absolutely.

AMORY: And this was probably sold at the PX.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

AMORY: That's how many servicemen and where many servicemen overseas bought their Rolexes.

But traditionally, you're going to see a service member buy the Oyster Perpetual as sort of the iconic Rolex watch... BOTH: Right.

AMORY: ...that we see.

This is an altogether different watch.

Have you ever had anybody look at it and... GUEST: Never have.

AMORY: Okay.

Well, as we discussed, the final key validation is to have the back of the watch removed and somebody to verify that the works are Rolex.

Everything else about this watch tells me it is.

That's the final validation, and we can't do that here.

But what we see on it is Rolex is a Precision, that's the model.

It's got the crown at the top of the face.

It's got the crown on the top of the stem.

Now, these are not just appliqués, particularly the stem.

The stem is a cast piece.

That crown, it's not, it's not two parts.

That's one of the ways that you can spot a fake Rolex, is it's a little emblem that's been applied to the crown.

And so, just if we stop there, it's a working Rolex Precision, it's a wonderful watch.

But the bracelet on here is an 18 karat gold bracelet, and the case is an 18 karat gold case.

And this takes it into an altogether different realm.

We, we sell a lot of watches.

I've had a lot of watches come here today.

I've seen several gold watches.

This is a different universe.

This is, if this watch came up at auction, I think conservatively $12,000 to $18,000.

I think it has to be insured for at least 28,000 to 36,000 on insurance.

It would be difficult, if not... Nothing's impossible to replace with a watch, but it would be difficult to replace this watch.

And emotionally, you can't even touch it.

GUEST: Never.

GUEST: No, no.

AMORY: But this is an extraordinary timepiece, and that doesn't, I don't say that easily, lightly, or very often.

But thank you for coming out today.

You have really made my day.

(cash register bell).

GUEST: Amory, you have made ours.

♪ ♪ GENICE: Welcome to “Chesapeake Collectibles.” What have you brought in today for us to take a look at?

GUEST: Well, these are some of my albums, and they are part of my collection.

GENICE: Okay, so let's talk a little bit about your collection.

GUEST: Yes.

GENICE: We were discussing it a little earlier.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: So, can you tell me about how big is this collection?

GUEST: Oh, it's about maybe 14,000 to 15,000.

GENICE: 14,000, 15,000... so how long have you been collecting?

GUEST: Since I was 17.

GENICE: Since you were 17?

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: Okay, what genres are in this collection, this large collection?

GUEST: Everything.

Everything, everything you can mention is in my collection.

GENICE: Okay, so since you've amassed so many, are there any out of these that you brought in today that are particular favorites?

GUEST: Well, for me, all the albums are favorite.

I know a little about all of them, but I don't know everything about them.

I know whenever you look on the back of an album, you get a chance to see how many different people have participated in it.

GENICE: Well, what I loved about you bringing this in is when we talk about antiques and collectibles, we talk about how do we pull in a younger generation, and I know that vinyl is hot again.

GUEST: Yes.

GENICE: That there are a lot of younger collectors... GUEST: Yes.

GENICE: ...that are looking at these albums and collecting them.

I know also that hip hop artists have sampled from... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: ...a lot of these older albums... GUEST: Yep GENICE: ...and so that's something that's created a buzz.

I know personally, for myself, when I look at these artists, like we have the signed Dick Gregory, here... GUEST: Yeah.

GENICE: ...that these were albums that I remember as a little girl, my dad playing... GUEST: Yep.

GENICE: ...in the morning on the weekends.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: And so it brought a lot of fond memories for me just to be talking with you about your collection and taking a look at them.

There was an record that you brought in that caused quite the stir, and Allan is actually gonna talk to us a little bit about why that album, or I'm sorry, that record is so important... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: ...and why it caused the stir that it did.

GUEST: Yes.

ALLAN: So this album, this Robert Johnson album... GUEST: Yes.

ALLAN: ...where did you get it?

GUEST: As I collect, things come to me, and this is one of the records that came to me.

ALLAN: Right.

GUEST: So I cannot tell you exactly where it came from.

I get albums in bulk a lot of times.

I go to an estate sale, say, "Let me have all of that."

ALLAN: Well, you chose wisely with this one.

So about five years ago, I had the opportunity to appraise the Mac McDonnell collection.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: Mac McDonnell was the archivist for Folkways music at the Smithsonian with Alan Lomax, who did all the recordings of the Delta Blues artists.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: He was also Blind Lemon Jefferson... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: ...and Morris Lipskind's personal agent.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: But in his collection was one of the only four known original photos of Robert Johnson.

So that's the introduction to this album, this LP, which is a 78 recording.

It's not an LP.

It is two-sided.

Do you know the titles on both sides?

GUEST: Uh, "Red Heart" and "In my Kitchen."

ALLAN: Right, so these were the 27th and the 28th of the only 29 original recordings that Robert Johnson did in his lifetime.

Robert Johnson, known as, as the creator of American Delta blues... GUEST: Delta blues.

ALLAN: Delta blues.

Was born in 1911.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: He died in 1938 under very mysterious circumstances.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: The song "Crossroads" is purportedly the song he did to make the pact with the devil.

GUEST: Yep.

ALLAN: Every artist from 1938 on to the present has covered Robert Johnson, from Muddy Waters to the Rolling Stones to the Allman Brothers.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: But this 78 recording is the original of those two songs.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: I don't know if you've ever had it appraised before.

I don't know if you've ever played it before.

So my first question is, have you ever played it?

GUEST: No, I haven't.

ALLAN: So we are going to assume that it is in this condition, I don't see any surface scratches or anything... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: ...to indicate it is in any way compromised to be listened to, and I would never put this on a record player.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: If you ever needed to listen to this, you go into a controlled studio and make sure it is handled very delicately.

GUEST: Okay.

ALLAN: The albums, you said you have 10 or 20 signed albums.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: Let's say 20 signed albums.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: Average value is $50 an album, 30, 200, do the math, you're about $1,000 in the signed albums.

Now, Vocalian, the Smithsonian, I worked on this project, in 2023 came out with a box set of all the Robert Johnson original recordings in the collection that we appraised.

GUEST: I do have it.

ALLAN: You have it, right?

GUEST: I have the box set.

ALLAN: You have the box set?

GUEST: Yeah.

ALLAN: So that is one, so that box set has probably three recordings which are only in the possession of the Library of Congress.

If I was going to appraise this for insurance right now... GUEST: Mm-hmm.

ALLAN: ...I'd appraise it for $15,000.

GUEST: Wow.

ALLAN: That's how rare this album is.

GUEST: Wow.

ALLAN: And in this current market, you certainly could get close to that if you tried to put it up for sale.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

I knew it was worth something, but not 15 grand.

Mm.

Mm.

Thank you so much.

BOTH: Thank you.

(cash register bell).

LEX REEVES: Next time on “Chesapeake Collectibles.” SELDON MORGAN: I was so excited when I saw this wandered across my table this morning.

GUEST: This is a portrait of Marlon Brando that was given to my mother.

She was a singer and dancer on Broadway, and she dated him for a little while.

GUEST: I collect menorahs; I have about 150 of them.

I purchased at an antique store in New Orleans.

PATRICK: It was the only company in the Battle of Gettysburg that fought in their own hometown.

SELDON: I would say this is about a $20,000 to $30,000 collection that you have.

GUEST: I brought in a few items from my grandfather's time at the White House, he was a White House butler from Eisenhower through Reagan.

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 would highly recommend people lining up come here to have their items appraised.

It was a fabulous experience.

The crew was wonderful to work with.

The appraisers were on their game.

GUEST: Well, it's going back on the wall where it's been for over 50 years, not over the fireplace.

It's very dangerous with firearms because it warps the wood.

GUEST: The people who were here, they gave me a background that I did not even know.

It's helped me to widen my experiences about it.

GUEST: We had a wonderful time.