(music) -- Welcome to Mississippi Antique Showcase.

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

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

-- Well, Stacey, this is an unusual painting you brought today.

-- Yes.

My aunt got it in New Orleans where she actually lived for most of her life.

And that is all I know, except that it was done by George Littrell.

-- Which it's unusual.

And I never saw anything quite like it.

He has lines that run through the painting and there's part of the alphabet on there.

There's a, b, c, d, e. That's kind of unusual.

You say this came from your aunt?

-- Yes.

-- Okay.

And she lived in New Orleans your whole life?

-- Just about, just about.

-- I believe before we started, you said something about she might have been Miss New Orleans at one time.

-- She was in the 1950s.

She was Miss New Orleans, sure was.

-- Well she must have been a pretty lady.

-- Oh, yes, she was, she was beautiful.

-- Well, maybe George Latrell this could have been your aunt, because this says "A Pretty Girl."

-- Maybe, yeah.

-- So maybe this was his rendition of your aunt.

What was her name?

-- Evelyn Sullivan.

-- Evelyn Sullivan.

-- Yes.

-- So maybe this is Miss New Orleans, and we just don't know for sure.

-- Maybe.

-- George was born in 1936.

He passed away in 2000.

-- Okay.

-- And, of course, this is a pen and ink.

And he signed it and dated it 1969.

And, of course, the title is "A Pretty Girl".

Most of George's paintings and drawings are New Orleans related Preservation Hall and that sort of thing with the musicians, the parades Mardi Gras, and that sort of thing.

That's what, you know, most of his scenes were about.

But this one's unusual.

I haven't really seen anything by George quite like this.

It was just, different.

-- Well, good.

-- Have you ever had appraised?

-- No, I have not.

I have not even had it that long in my possession, so... -- Does it belong to your mother or did you inherit it or something?

-- I got it... well, yes, it was in my mother's house, and she recently passed away.

And so, yes, then I got it.

-- From your aunt to your mother to you?

-- Yes.

-- I think this piece would probably sell somewhere in the $500 to $600 range.

-- Mm hmm.

-- You know, it's a little hard to say because there's none of the history I can see about George.

There's nothing in that history that compares to this one.

It could bring a thousand.

Or it could bring $500.

-- Yes, just depending on how someone else is interested.

-- Right, butI think it would probably be a $500, $600.

-- Okay.

Well, great.

-- Thanks for bringing it out.

-- All right, thank you.

-- Well, thank you for bringing in this very nice folk art piece.

I would like to know kind of what you know about it.

You can go from there and then maybe where you got it from.

-- Well, I bought it on the side of the road at this retail shop in Picayune, Mississippi.

-- Picayune!

All right, I'm in Hattiesburg.

Pearl River County?

-- Pearl River County.

Right before you go into the Audubon Center down there.

Right before you get to the Arboretum.

-- I know exactly where you're talking about.

-- I saw it.

I liked the colors.

-- Drawn to it.

I'm into the folk art kind of thing right now.

It was very affordable.

-- Okay, so how much did you pay for it?

-- Oh... $36.

I mean, that's very affordable.

-- Sure, sure.

I liked it so much, I thought, you know, sure, I'll take it, you know?

Why not?

Because, like I said, it just struck me, you know?

It's colorful, the blend.

It kind of pops, you know, without the glass on it.

-- Well, I'm sure the audience is dying to know where you actually hang this item in your home.

-- Well, this hangs about 20 feet from my stove.

That's why I had some glass put over it.

-- I see.

-- It was unframed.

It was just stretched over.

It's a black cloth over a wood frame.

I found a frame, had some glass put over it because the cooking, stuff floating in the air.

I didn't want something to stick to it.

-- Sure.

So it's a good idea to put the protected glass.

I commend you on that.

I'll tell you a little bit about it and then we'll kind of tell you where I think maybe we're looking at as far as a value is concerned.

You do see that this is actually signed by the Haitian artist.

-- And who is he?

-- Right, so not many people know, but we know he's got two works out there.

His first initial is J. Rodriguez, and we don't know a lot about him.

So that's the good thing.

There's some mystery involved, right?

Yes, mystery.

But he always works with vibrant colors.

A lot of Haitian folk art of villages and towns deal with these vibrant colors and they often depict water, the sea, the sky, some birds, lovely people crawling up trees.

But what makes these great is exactly what you said.

They catch the eye.

Their appealing, and Haitian art, generally, there are famous artists that come from Haiti, but this particular one, we don't know a lot about.

So I think as his work becomes maybe more known, I can tell you with it being an oil on canvas or it was on the stretcher, it would be someone better that would not be printing on paper or painting on paper.

So he's definitely got a very nice eye and he's using the right materials.

We just don't know a lot about him.

So that that really is going to probably affect the value just a little bit.

-- I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think when I looked at it it was like, well, maybe this is a guy that paints things for tourists.

You know, commercial consumerism.

-- It's probably street art.

-- I've got 30 of them out here.

Do you like one, you know?

-- Exactly.

I would agree that this is for some money on the side, but some of those artists continue to develop even starting there.

He could be a young artist.

We see some young artists develop in Haiti, that then become more prolific.

But he's using the right materials and a canvas.

So at an auction range, I've seen a lot of these Haitian pieces.

They're probably $150 to $250 at most when you're talking about that type of tourism art.

But guess what?

You paid more or less $36.

You're still "ROI" is what I say.

Return on investment, you're doing very nice.

-- Oh yeah, yeah.

And it's going to look lovely and continue to look lovely in your home.

-- Yeah, I like it.

-- I really appreciate y'all bringing it in.

It's always good to see the vibrant colors.

And thank you so much.

-- Sure.

Thank you.

-- How long have you had the basket?

-- Don't know.

My mother bought it at auction.

I'm not sure how long ago she bought it.

-- Oh, okay.

So it belonged to your mother?

Still does.

She was ill, so she couldn't make it today.

I noticed your basket...

If you look looking down inside the basket it said, "Woven only by men.

The pre-Columbian period."

Do you know anything about that card?

-- Card came with it from the auction, so.

-- Oh, really?

Okay.

This looks very similar to some baskets from, like, Bolivia and Peru, that part of South America.

If it's truly pre-Colombian, you know, it's probably worth in the range of $500 to maybe $700 somewhere in there.

If it's not a pre-Columbian period basket, then it's probably somewhere $50 to $100.

But it's a nice piece.

And, you know, it's something that will just take a little further research, you know.

-- Appreciate it.

-- Yes, sir.

Thank you.

-- Tell me a little bit about the history of the piece and where it came from.

-- Okay.

It was chip-carved by my father-in-law, my wife's father.

He made these tools to do the chip-carving.

He was a... he worked for Sulzer.

They built big ships, diesel ships.

And he was a machinist.

I'm not sure what the technical term was.

And so he designed these tools.

He lost his job.

-- Depression.

-- As part of the Depression.

And he turned to chip carving wooden boxes and things like that.

His wife would peddle to the wealthier people like that.

And that's how they helped supplement their living.

-- Yes, sir.

-- And his name was Olgan Schmidt.

And there's a date on the bottom of this.

-- You'll see in here there's a 1929.

-- Yeah, this is his name and the date.

And it's made of Lindenwood.

He didn't, he didn't build it.

He had a friend who was a cabinetmaker.

But he did the design work, shall we say?

Does that?...

-- Yes that helps.

The person's name on the back must have been the photographer.

Will Stodder?

-- Yeah.

Yeah.

No, that's Olgan Schmidt.

-- Olgan Schmidt is the name underneath.

-- And actually, it was interesting.

He came from a very poor family and already as a 14 year old boy, he, in the Spring when the sticks were soft, he started to chip around.

So it was very natural when he lost the job in Depression time to go into carving.

-- Yes, ma'am.

-- And made money.

But a little cigar box... $5.

-- Oh, yes, ma'am.

Back in the Depression, yeah.

-- Yeah, Depression and so on.

And this one stayed in the family.

And as we moved over, my daughter help and she was one was always there.

So it can stay with us.

-- Sure.

-- But everything he had in his head.

The design, how it should look, and all.

-- Well in the United States, they went through the same type of thing where people tried to make money during the Depression.

And they also did folk art and they did pieces similar to this, not quite as detailed.

This is wonderfully detailed.

And one of the things you showed me was the diagram of another piece that had the same type of carving that's in the top.

The carving is extremely detailed.

The term in the United States for a piece like this would have been a tabouret table because of the Middle Eastern Moroccan influence on the base.

I knew an elderly lady that had one very similar.

Hers was typical Middle Eastern teakwood, but it was some of the same type of design, octagonal design, but it could have been used for a store or a table.

But this is such a special item.

A replacement value on a piece like this just, you know, perhaps to insure it, would be perhaps $500.

You know, that would be an insurance evaluation, not if you went to sell it.

But I would keep all this together.

You'll need to write down an oral history to go with it, because it's very important to record all the information that you all know.

So I'll write it all down, okay?

And keep the photograph with it or refer to the piece or take a photograph and attach.

Thank y'all for bringing it.

It's a wonderful piece.

-- Thank you.

I appreciate it.

-- Peggy, thank you for bringing this piece of porcelain for us to look at today.

How long have you had this piece?

-- About 25 years.

-- 25 years.

Is this something you bought or did you inherit it?

-- Bought it at an estate sale.

-- Oh, really?

Was it in this frame when you bought it?

-- It was.

What do you know about it, Peggy?

-- Not much, I just liked it.

-- Just liked it.

Well, it's hard not to like that one.

It's, of course, three porcelain plaques.

I said three-- five porcelain plaques signed by the artist.

I think it's probably Japanese and it looks to be in the... in the original frame.

This frame makes me think it's probably 1970s, 1960s, 1970s, somewhere in that range because it has a plywood back.

That is a real nice piece, it's all hand-painted.

And got a little guy down here.

He looks a little bit like a jockey, but they really try to enhance their mountains all they can in thier paintings.

This mountain looks awful tall.

It starts up here and there's a waterfall here I noticed below the rider there.

Have you ever had anybody look at it and appraise it in the past?

-- No, no.

-- Okay.

You know, I think this particular piece, some of these you would see would be more in the early 20th century, and this one is probably mid century to 1960, 1970, somewhere in there.

And I think this particular piece is probably going to be in the... probably the $300 to $500 range is what I think it would probably end up appraising at.

What did you pay for it when you bought it?

-- Probably about $20.

-- Probably about $20.

Well, it's made you about as much money as if you had had it in a savings account.

-- That's right.

-- And you've got to enjoy it If you'd had that money in the bank, it had just been locked away.

-- I'm enjoying this piece.

-- Well, it's a pretty piece.

You know, usually you see these and it's just a single plaque with a painting.

I never really saw a Japanese one in a group like this with five.

That's a nice piece and we appreciate you bringing it today to us.

-- Thank you so much.

-- How are you tonight?

-- I'm doing fabulous.

And thank you for letting us be here.

-- Sure.

Tell me a little bit about the history of how this came tho your family.

-- As far as what I've been told is that our family came here on my mother's side before this land-- before the Civil War, and before all the action.

Came up through Louisiana and married into Indians.

And then their generations bought more land from Louisiana up to Illinois, Indiana, Wabash River, Cairo.

They also traveled to Oklahoma with Indians and brought Indians back on The Trail of Tears, is that what it's called?

And then went back again.

And then my father's side came from Germany.

And they may have brought back some artifacts, too, but this is the one that we hold dearest because we think it's very primitive.

-- Very much so, yes.

-- This is supposed to be sinew and it's not been re-thread or re-styled.

And this was a great, great, great whatever going back, grandmother's cane and was also used as a weapon.

-- Yeah.

(chuckles) -- And then this is fairly new.

This is probably only 200 years old.

And it was used by the men who did law enforcement.

And they were also ministers.

And if they happened to kill someone, either on purpose or by mistake, they made notches in it, so they remembered how to pray for them.

-- Wow.

Wow.

-- And ask for prayers.

So they kept that in mind that it was their duty, but they still wanted to pray.

And so he was a primitive Baptist preacher, was where the family went from, even though they came from England.

-- Yes, ma'am.

And then the other side was Methodist.

-- This piece is, I would say, fairly early, either Indians in the Midwest or possibly they migrated to Oklahoma.

But did you say this was all sinew all the way down or is this wooden?

-- I don't...

It looks like it is.

See how it's woven.

Here's the wood on it.

You can see the wood.

And then there's a sleeve around here that was taken off.

-- Well, some of it's carved and so forth.

But it's obviously a early club.

This particular style has to be, you know, I would say a couple of thousand years old, but not knowing exactly what tribe, it's a little harder to... you know, to... identify.

But a piece like this, I had something not quite this good that was an early piece, and it was in the $1,200 to $1,500 range.

But we really need to have someone that deals with that to look into it.

-- Can they do a testing, a carbon testing, or?...

-- Someone that's a... -- Smithsonian or something?

Try that?

-- Probably, yes.

-- Yeah, the family would like to actually donate it to a museum if it has some historical value, -- I would contact them and send pictures.

This is made by a particular way of wrapping rope like they do the hilts on... -- Ships.

-- And on scabbards on swords.

But someone perhaps, you know, made it around the turn of the century.

It's just a late Victorian walking cane that's probably $100.

The term in the South for these, of course, is Billy Club.

And this one obviously is all hand-carved out of, I would think, walnut wood.

So it's at least 19th century or early 19th century.

-- Okay.

-- But with the history of it belonging to a minister and used for law enforcement, it's got a unique history.

But I think the value is going to be the same as the cane, around $100.

But we really need to have it researched more.

-- All right, well, thank you so much.

-- But this one, you need to do a lot of investigation on.

-- Okay.

Thank you.

-- That's about all I can tell you.

-- Well, God bless you.

-- Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

-- Noel, thank you for bringing the urn out today.

Is this something that came down through your family?

-- It is.

My mother gave it to me.

It had belonged to her mother, which was my grandmother.

It was a wedding gift for her in 1911.

-- 1911.

Guess when my grandmother got married?

-- When?

-- In 1911.

She was born in 1889.

What a coincidence.

I love your capped urn.

You know anything about the maker or value or anything of that?

-- I don't.

I saw on the bottom that it was made in Vienna, but that's about all I know.

-- Yeah.

It's a pretty piece.

And your family, I tell you what, they're to be commended for not breaking this lid.

You know, usually when you see a lid like this, there's a hunk out of it.

-- Right.

Mama and grandma have taken care of this one.

Let's look at the bottom and see who made this one.

And it's Vienna, Austria.

A lot of what you see is Royal Vienna.

This one is not Royal Vienna, but another maker I'm not familiar with, has a crown mark and it also has an incised marker as well.

Of course, the lady, part of her is hand-painted and like her hair and her face, that's a decal.

And then they wanted it to look like it was hand-painted, so they added a little painting down here.

But she's kind of a little bit of both.

It's not signed by the artist.

There's a little bit of crazing to the glaze, but ovoerall, it's about as good a condition as you would see one of these in.

And it's probably made around 1900.

I really do like the piece (lid rattles) and it should with our-- basically wouldn't fogiving me if I broke the lid after all those years.

I think this vase would probably, in today's market, bring somewhere between $150 and $250 somewhere in there.

And probably 30 years ago or 20 years ago, it would have probably been almost double that really.

But the number of collectors for this sort of thing has actually gone down a little bit in number over the years.

But it's a nice piece.

Thank you for bringing it.

-- Thank you.

-- Well, this is a lovely piece.

Thank you so much for bringing it in.

-- Thank you for being here.

I want you to explain to the audience kind of where you got this from and what you know about the piece.

-- Well, I'm originally from Louisiana, and this came from my aunt who she and her husband didn't have children.

So, of course, my generation of Gaidens, that was her maiden name, got to choose what they wanted.

And I happened to pick this because I always admired it.

-- So you gave us a nice letter from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lovely institution, right?

So you you know a little bit about it.

So would you like to tell us what you do know about the piece?

Well, you know, that's been a while back, so you probably remember more.

It would be fresher in your mind.

I just know that the artist is Barriga.

-- You're correct, the artist's name is Barriga.

In fact, he has his signature right here on the bottom left portion, which is always lovely for an oil on canvas.

And these landscapes he was very well known for.

He was a Spanish artist, in fact, Jose Barriga.

And I know the Metropolitan letter provided you several different possibilities, but his work is very characteristic.

His brush strokes, rather, are really unique on the landscape front.

And I always love the Spanish itinerant artists because they did a good job encapsulating the colors of the fall and the sunset here, which are really lovely.

-- Yeah.

-- And I would add that you have a really terrific frame as far as the, (laughing) you know, David would attest to that, the Rococo and the original gilt.

I know that you mentioned some condition issues, but it really looks fantastic and we would recommend that you keep it just the same.

I don't think it needs any conservation.

-- Well, good.

-- Barriga was really active, at least in the landscape scene in about the 1880s to 1890s.

So that's what I would date this this landscape period as.

And he really does a fine job, as I said again.

So if you had to think, what would you value this piece at?

-- Oh I have no idea.

(laughs) -- No good guess?

-- I have no idea!

Maybe 10?

-- Ten?

Ten?....

Not $10, right?

-- No, no.

(both laugh) -- Well, look, I will tell you, it's not quite ten, but I've studied the estimates and the good thing is it is signed.

On a conservative day, you're looking at probably $2500 to $3000.

-- Oh, okay.

-- If you had a specific Spanish-type collector who is collecting landscapes at a private or maybe even a retail store, you probably could get more for that.

But probably to being conserving the $3500 to $4500 range there.

-- I agree with that, totally, but I want to tell you, somebody would fall in love with this painting, and you might pretty close get to your estimate at auction.

-- Really?

-- It's that good looking.

-- Now what auctions do y'all, you know, just curiosity You told me at New Orleans auction houses?

-- Those are some great auction houses.

-- Neill Auction House.... -- Oh that's the one, Neill, I was thinking about.

-- Yeah, but somebody would fall in love with it.

You might get pretty close to your goal.

-- Okay.

-- And remember, always go boutique.

So if you can find out exactly where this type of art is selling the most.

Beautiful thing is the internet's making it so much easier to compare comps.

But this is really lovely, again, and we really appreciate you bringing in.

Thank you so much.

-- So nice to meet you all.

I appreciate you coming.

-- Don't get rid of it.

-- No, I'm not.

-- Thank you again.

-- They'll, they'll... -- One of us will inherit it, one of her children.

-- Thank you so much.

-- Thank you so much.

(upbeat music) -- Join us next time on Mississippi Antiques Showcase and see if you have a hidden treasure in your closet.

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