Germaine Flood here at The Inn at Ole Miss Hotel and Conference Center.

We are just 150 steps away from The Grove at Ole Miss.

And we are here with Mississippi Public Broadcasting for the Mississippi Antique Showcase 2025.

In this episode, we are in Oxford, Mississippi with our expert appraisers to take a closer look at your rare finds, family heirlooms and quirky collectibles.

Now let's move on to our first appraisal.

Alright.

We have some very interesting things here today.

This was, I'll let you tell 'em about it.

Okay.

This was a scroll we bought in Ethiopia.

We were in Asmara.

I was an Arabic linguist in the military.

And, um, we were there and bought this at an antique shop in Asmara, Ethiopia, which we're assuming this was done by a monk back in the middle Ages or sometime.

We don't have any real idea.

It's On, it's on the leather and it is stitched together down here.

And so he just kept writing.

Right.

He just add to it and just kept always writing for this, you know, it's almost impossible to put a price on something like that.

I agree.

Yeah.

Because it's, uh, probably done as you said, you know, a monk and a monastery.

Right.

It was way, he kept records of things almost like a diary, you know, he just kept adding to it and Drawing a prove he Lived.

Yeah.

The longer he lived, the more he added to it.

Yeah.

We have that.

And, uh, you've also brought me some things from your grandmother.

My grandfather gave them to my mother.

Okay.

You see now, if you're ever driving out west, you see tur horse everywhere in all these places.

But these are really much better than, than what you see the stones in.

These are absolutely lovely.

This one right here, is that the bit of man?

Mm-hmm.

Yes.

If it's a man, it's really pretty.

And this one, it's a lot of work.

Went into this one.

And these are old?

Yeah.

I would say this one is, is close to a hundred years old or it may might even be older, older than That.

And this one, uh, it has a crack in the, on the turquoise.

Mm-hmm.

And, uh, but it has a beautiful mounting.

And this one could be the oldest.

It's a Thunderbird and it has a turquoise there.

And it's has the arrows out out here.

Was this, did this belong to your grandmother?

No, this actually was given to me by one of the native people in Gallup.

Well, this particular one here, I sold one similar to it recently that brought, uh, $1,800.

Oh my.

For this one?

Yeah.

And this the good turquoise.

And on this one, it's an old one.

It's well made, well decorated, well put together.

Uh, I'd say this one, uh, it's another $1,200.

Oh goodness.

And then this one say it's worth about $600.

Is the green turquoise more valuable than the, it is, than the Blue?

It is, uh, the green turquoise is, is worth more than these.

Uh, were cut out of a beautiful, beautiful, uh, stones.

I say you have a lot of green on.

I do.

So I'd say it was your favorite color too.

Yes.

Absolutely.

One thing.

Should we try to display this in any way?

Well, I'll tell you that being leather and the age it is, you'd have to be very careful.

And then after you unroll it and after you, uh, maybe you wanna put it behind the glass or something, but you still need to worry about the sunlight because all these illustrations on here, they will fade.

And, uh, the best way to keep it is just the way you're keeping it, keeping it rolled up.

It's been rolled up in a drawer for the last 54 years.

That's, that's A, that's a good place for I'm so proud you guys come by today.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Welcome to the Mississippi Antique Showcase.

Thank you so much for coming today.

Thank you.

Um, you brought in a violin and we were looking at one of the more exciting things we've seen today, and I'll tell you why in just a little bit.

But this violin is labeled on the inside at as a Stradivarius violin.

Uh, the name immediately sparks curiosity and excitement because Stradivari, who worked in Italy in Cremona, specifically from about 1680 to 1737, was probably the greatest or most prolific violin maker in the world.

And so a lot of people have Stradivirus labeled violins.

We just call 'em Strat violins for short.

Um, but whether they're authentic is really the question.

So I know that's probably why you may have brought it in to get an idea of what it's worth.

But I want to talk a little bit about, uh, Stradivari and, and the violins too.

His golden period, or when he was, uh, producing the more finer quality violins was, uh, about 1700 to 1720.

These violins are known for their beauty, their craftmanship, and really their unmatched sound.

And so you can't really get any better.

So our task is to figure out whether this is in fact an authentic Stradivari.

It's believed that Stradivari made over 1100 instruments, mainly violin in his lifetime.

Wow.

So if this were to be an authentic Stradivari, we're talking about big money here.

I think the first thing I look at when we determine what, whether it is authentic is the interior.

And you can look here in the F holes if you see these.

And yes, there is a label that says Antonio Stradivarius uh, Cremonese Faciebat, which basically just means his name in Italy, where it was, uh, produced.

And then in the year of, and there is a date in there as well.

I believe it was 1721.

But what's also on the label is, uh, one word above that it's model.

And so we got a real quick clue.

My brother and I were looking at it, uh, that this is in fact not an original Stradivari S violin.

It is, uh, a reproduction or model, and it's probably a 20th century model, so it wouldn't be in the 18th and 19th century.

A lot of violins in the, the 19th and 20th century reproductions had these labels, but it wasn't like a slight, it was really to try to emulate the great craftsmanship in production of a really great violinist maker.

Anyway, it's, it's just, regardless if this is a reproduction or not, it's still a gorgeous violin and something that can be used.

And one of the things that makes this a really great violin, it was clear, precise, and it was extraordinary reactionary.

It filled an entire room with warmth, but also it was extremely responsive to each player's hand and touch.

And that's why it produced such good music.

And you know, when we look at even a violin, even though it's a reproduction, as he says, we really have to look at the condition because if it was a reproduction, or even if it's actual authenticated, you have to look for cracks and repairs.

And we can see the bridge is, is missing here, which I, I know that's in your case.

Mm-hmm.

It's nice that it still has, its a bow.

It doesn't have any horse air, but you can obviously replace that.

And I think you had some things to replace it in the box, but let's talk about a little bit providence, because that's a big portion of potential value also.

So tell us a little bit about how you got it.

My father passed away in August and my mother had passed away two years prior.

And my father collected everything.

And, um, so this had always been on top of a pi, an antique pie safe that my mother had kept from her grandmother.

And, um, I just thought it was beautiful and I wanted to hang it on my, uh, wall.

And then when I started looking at it and I was like, why does it say this on the inside?

And maybe I wanna learn to play it and get it, you know, get the horse hair repaired and get, you know, new strings and all that kind of stuff put on there.

And I was just like, well, let me make sure before I do anything to this that I should or should not.

So I wanted a professional opinion.

Well, that was a really good call.

'cause if you do try to attempt repairs or cleaning, if this were a true Stradivarius violin, those go from 2 million to $15 million, you could end up doing more damage to the violin where you need to be curated.

Um, but it's, it's good that you have that story with the violin because that makes it so much more valuable to you.

Mm-hmm.

And especially if you want to learn, it's still a great instrument to pick up.

The big question is, even though it may not be worth millions of dollars, how much is this worth?

There are reproductions that were done in the 18 hundreds, so the 19th century and for good reproductions, they usually go from in the thousands.

So 1000 to $10,000, I think because yours is a later reproduction.

The 20th century, we're more talking about hundreds of dollars.

So, um, because there's some condition issues, which I mean means it was loved and well played and that's great.

Um, but I, I think you're more looking at probably about 250 to $300 for the violin.

So that means you can make some Repairs To Yes.

And learn it.

Yes.

I really appreciate you for bringing them today.

He tell so much.

Thank you, James.

Good to see you today.

Yes, sir.

How you doing?

Uh, Doing good.

Uh, proud you came down to see us and looked like you brought a baseball.

Yes, sir, I did.

And had about two years now just sitting around and yeah.

How'd you come by that baseball?

Uh, On the storage locker deal.

We had to clean it out, you know, I wanna save whatever in there, throw it away or keep it.

Oh man.

So At the bottom of it, it was the baseballs, the baseball cards and all that.

Mm-hmm.

So I, I did Google it and the names on it And yeah.

I know a lot of people make a living on storage lockers off of things that people didn't think had much value.

Yes, sir.

But they just, uh, a lot of good things in storage lockers.

Yes, Sir.

And, uh, when you found it in the locker, was it like hidden under something or in a Box?

It was in a box.

In a box.

It's a box.

I got a, had a little bubble head thing in it.

A couple baseball cards in it, so I still got the rest of it.

Have you ever done any research on your ball to see what you thought it might be worth In?

I did, but it didn't me to Google didn't tell, to tell me nothing.

He gave me some pointers, but I did, I do it again and said something else.

So I wasn't for sure.

But when y'all came along that I offer, I said, this is my chance to see is it good or not.

Yeah.

Did you recognize many of the names on the ball?

Uh, couple of them, a couple of them i did when I was Googling them.

Yeah.

Oh, there's some really big names on this ball.

Uh, a lot of, uh, players that have played in the, uh, Allstar games, uh, World Series winners, uh, that sort of thing.

Boog Powell, who played, uh, third base, uh, maybe he was shortstop.

He played for the, uh, Baltimore Oreos.

He signed this ball as, uh, John W. Powell.

Mm-hmm.

And, uh, that's Boog Powell.

And, uh, that's, that's what he went by.

Also.

You had, uh, Carl Yastremski.

Uh, yes.

Yes, sir.

And he was quite a player when, when I was a kid.

And the list just goes on and on.

Al Kaline, who was a very famous hitter, he's on your ball and, uh, this ball, you know, if, if all these signatures were original, this ball would be worth a few thousand dollars.

Okay.

Um, I noticed another player, uh, Brooks Robinson, and I think he did play third base for Baltimore mm-hmm.

And won a World Series with Boog Powell.

Um, this one, after looking at it under a little magnification, uh, what I could see was some of the signatures run under the seams on the ball uhhuh.

And the only way they could do that would be if the signatures were printed on the ball, uh, before the ball was sewed up.

Right.

Uh, which means the, and if you notice the signatures, they're all kind of uniform and they're all pretty well the same, uh, kind of ink.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so I believe what it is, it's a, it's a nice ball and it's still a good collectible.

Um, but I think, uh, probably those signatures were all printed on there prior to the ball.

Okay.

Uh, being made.

And they weren't signed, you know, after the, after it was, uh, made into a ball, but, uh, still a good collectible.

It's an old collectible, uh, ball and it's probably worth somewhere between maybe 50 and a hundred dollars.

Okay.

Somewhere in right in there in today's market.

Okay.

But, uh, we sure do appreciate you bringing it.

Okay.

Yes, sir.

Thanks sir.

Thank you.

Alright.

Hi.

Welcome to the University Museum.

Theora Hamlet was born in 1895 in Paris, Mississippi.

Her father was much older and passed when she was very young.

She was about, um, nine years old, and this deeply infected her.

She later became a school teacher, and then later a caretaker of her mother.

When her mother passed, she moved to Oxford, Mississippi, where she opened a, a boarding house for students here at the university.

She always had an interest in artwork, so she began to take correspondence classes through the mail, as well as enlisted in classes here at the university in 1950.

She would have been 55 when she started taking classes.

During that time, she experimented with typical student artwork, but what was the callous for what she became known for was some of her memories of growing up in Paris, Mississippi.

Just five years after she started taking classes here, she was, uh, discovered and, uh, added to an exhibit at MoMA.

In our collection, we have about 900 drawings and paintings and glassworks by her, she categorized her artwork into four categories.

There was her dream series, her vision series, her home place memories, and her children's games.

So this gallery that we're in is actually from her children's games series.

She knew everyone because of her artwork in this town.

Um, even today, there's a lot of people who pass on these stories of her.

All right.

George, thank you so much for bringing this down today.

This is undoubtedly one of the stars of the show of today that I've seen so far.

What'd you bring us?

Uh, painting by Theora Hamlet.

Um, she was famous, now famous Oxford artist.

I actually acquired this piece.

Uh, there was, she gave this directly or donated it to, uh, a historic House guild here in Oxford.

Okay.

And it later became the City Ropes Guild.

And they were in need of, uh, funds to do some restoration to the house and became available in, uh, somebody that was involved with them, knew that I was looking for one, let me know about it, and I was able to acquire it that way.

That's fantastic.

Yeah.

And that is unbeatable provenance, you know, in the business.

The provenance is essentially where the piece has been and where it came from.

And this directly from the artist straight to this guild and then to you.

Uh, so I see some writing here.

What does that say?

Wash Day.

Wash Day.

So she titled it.

Yep.

Um, so it's a great story.

She was born in Paris, Mississippi.

Uh, she tried her hand at raising chickens.

She didn't like it.

Um, and she then moved to Oxford in, became an artist and was gonna be a landlord.

She bought apartments and then ended up filling all the apartments with her, works with her paintings.

And she had a very strict painting scheduled, from what I understand.

It was Monday mornings, Tuesday mornings, Wednesday mornings, all day Thursday, and maybe Fridays, but never on the weekends.

So she's pretty prolific, very well known, and is a rising star in the southern art world.

Um, just hands down, I've run some comps.

Do you have any idea what it's worth?

Not really.

I mean, there's been some recent sales that, uh, auctions in the Orleans, right where you operate that, uh, were pretty phenomenal.

So, um, wanted to bring you here today and see what, uh, your expertise, the price that you put on it.

I would say there's one thing a little bit different, because a lot of the things I see, this was really early, uh, 1956, if I'm not mistaken.

I think it was in the very first art show she had here at the University Art Museum.

And the frame itself, the early ones, her husband was still alive and made the frame.

So that's a little extra added bonus on this, I think.

Yeah, absolutely.

And again, it just adds to this wonderful provenance.

The size.

I can't stress enough the size of this.

This could be the largest one that we know of.

I was told backstage that there were four, possibly this size, but we don't know where they are.

Um, and so the scale of this just can't be beaten.

The signature's right there and 56, you're right.

So it's very early as far as the desirability of her work, this is top tier, this is top of the shelf.

When looking at something like this, it has never come to auction.

We've never seen one this size ever come to auction.

We look at it on a price per square inch.

Right.

So this is big.

And the ones that are selling at auction New Orleans right now are, are this big.

You know, they're much smaller.

So strictly on a price per square inch, we're looking at an auction estimate of somewhere between $150,000 and $250,000.

If you factor in all of the provenance, if you factor in, it's the original frame.

If you factor in that this might be the largest one that we have ever seen, then you just keep going north north of those numbers.

So what do you think?

Pretty exciting.

Yeah.

Pretty exciting.

Yeah, it's pretty exciting.

Thank you so much for bringing this down.

This is exciting.

I have goosebumps again.

This is the nicest one that we've seen in a long, long time.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thanks, George.

I'm here today with Cindy and Jeff, and they brought us something that's really, really nice.

It's, uh, of Indian artifacts.

It is, uh, very old.

It is probably 1870 to to 1900.

It's a ceremonial beaded belt, probably Navajo or Sioux.

And, uh, belong, it belonged to your father-in-law, father-in-law.

It was gifted to him.

And then he passed it down to us.

So that's all we really know about the belt.

This belt is a bunch of beads, tiny beads, and they just keep making this thing.

And they, you get the ceremonial, ceremonial belt, but every one of these goes to a tribe.

And, uh, this one, I, I, I'm thinking is either Sioux or, uh, I believe it's Sioux, but which would be out west.

It'll be out in, uh, Arizona or New Mexico.

It's in good shape.

It has some tear and wear on this end of it, but I suggested to them that they put it in a frame of some kind, because it really doesn't need to be handled because of material is already deteriorating on the back.

Um, so it, it's, uh, it's just beautiful the way it is and to keep it.

And, uh, I've sold quite a few of these things over the 45 years that I've been doing auctions.

I would say this one is worth $700 to $900.

And, uh, but, but these type things are, are, they have auctions just for these, you know, in Missouri they do a lot of Native American artifacts and, and they go, uh, some of 'em blows your mind of what the, some of the stuff brings.

Um, but it's usually larger things, um, best and, and such as.

But we appreciate you bringing this by today to us.

And, uh, do you plan on keeping it?

Yes.

Well put it in a frame.

Let's find, find one goes in one of the frame places and find a little narrow frame and frame it so it will keep it out of the air and, uh, moisture variations and just save it.

It goes, it'll stay for a long, long time that way.

But appreciate y'all coming by.

What's the best news?

You had to call and give somebody about doing their sale?

Well they thought it was worth nothing, Uhhuh.

And when you worked your magic and figured out what it was and called a few buyers, and then you got to call 'em and say, guess what, I sold your whatever it is for.

Well, I'll, I'll be glad to start that one.

Um, um, I, I did an estate sale in Columbus, um, in a home called Franklin Square, which was built in 1835.

There are connections to William Faulkner and Estelle Faulkner in that home.

Um, there were over 2000 books in the house, and you quite remember all of that.

And, um, there were all these books and there was a book called Company K, which was printed in Prattville, Alabama.

And they were the PRTs.

They were the Franklins, they were the Pratts and they were the Rosans.

And, um, anyway, so, um, the book was just this little old bitty book.

And so I asked, um, I asked the owner, I said, how much do you think this is worth?

He said, $5.

Well, we sold it for 3000.

And it was, um, it was unbelievable.

Another one, I, um, we had a, a beautiful piece today of pottery, which was a Sophie Newcomb Newcomb pottery.

And I had an estate one time, and I asked, uh, the owners, I said, how much do you want me to put on this?

And they said, $5.

And I said, what about $500?

So to answer your question, you know, I think that's some of the time you give good news to these people.

I was doing a, a auction up in Holly Springs, and there was this big Chinese plaque hanging on the wall.

It was hanging on the nail.

The nail was bent, it was just fixing to fall off.

But anyway, we had the auction going on and we were on live auctioneers, had the monitors going, and Mark's son, Matthew was, was working live auctioneers.

And I started talking about it, and he punched me on a lick.

He said, you got $32,000?

And I said, what?

And he said, no, wait a minute, $36,000.

And then he said, no, $42,000.

And I just told people, I said, watch the tote boards.

Save me having to waste energy.

And it went 90 something or a hundred thousand, $94,000.

Wow.

Yeah.

Well, nobody knew it was worth anything.

Yeah.

I'm here with Nat.

He has got a beautiful sculpture all the way from the Delta first, and then probably of Oxford, Mississippi.

But he has got this sculpture here of this stuff.

And I just gotta know, first off, when I first seen it, I thought it was a soap dish, but then you said it was a sculpture.

Explain it to me a Little bit.

Well, it could be utilitarian, it could be a soap dish, but I look at it as a sculpture.

Yes.

But it's, uh, from, uh, who I knew as Son Thomas.

Okay.

James Ford.

Son Thomas.

And this actually, my mother -in-law bought this at one of the first art vessels here in Oxford.

Okay.

Which eventually became the double decker.

Got it.

There we Go.

I know, it's like back in the eighties.

Yeah.

So we're thinking it's worth a little something possible.

Well, I mean, it's, it's probably worth, it's worth something.

It's not, it's not super valuable, but it's probably worth a few hundred dollars.

But if you get that appraisal, that maybe will blow your mind.

What are we gonna do?

We keeping our duck or we selling our Duck?

We're gonna keep our Duck.

Okay.

Just because my mother -in-law purchased this.

That's right.

You can see the no alarm with us.

It's a good reminder.

Got a sentimental value to it.

So it's got a place of prominence in our, I love this duck, and I thank you so much for bringing it out to the antique showcase today.

Great.

And I'm crossing fingers and toes for a big appraisal, even though you're not gonna sell.

We're here in Oxford, Mississippi with Hanh from Oxford, Mississippi.

And every now and then somebody pulls something out and all the appraisers go, wow.

And you could hear the gas from across the room.

Hanh, what'd you bring us?

I, I found this, uh, gem in the house that I won at an auction four years ago.

Okay.

So you bought a house at auction and in it was this, Right?

Where was it in the house?

Um, everything in, in the house win including in the bid.

Was it locked up in a safe, was it hidden in the back of the toilet?

It, it was, it was locked up in, in the small safe, um, along with, with other small gems.

But this is the, the, the biggest one that I found.

Okay.

Yes.

And so we assume it's a ruby, correct?

Yes.

Yeah.

So, um, this is gonna be one of the largest rubies that I've seen.

Um, and the facets are here and here if, you know, we're looking at it and it's, it's well polished.

We shined a light to it from the bottom side, and there are some inclusions and some striations and stuff, um, which leads us to believe that it's probably natural, um, if it is a Burmese Ruby.

Um, do you have any idea of the value?

I have no idea.

All I know is that, uh, uh, is, uh, pigeon blood, what they, what they call it pigeon blood.

Pigeon blood color.

Pigeon blood color.

Right.

Yeah.

It's a, it's a deep color.

And that's kind of what you look for in Ruby's.

Right.

So, um, what'd you pay for the house?

Let me ask you that.

Um, $150,000.

Okay.

Well that's, that's the start.

If this is right, and we'd have to send it to a lab mm-hmm.

In probably Los Angeles or somewhere in California.

Okay.

But if it's correct, if it is a Burmese ruby of this size, which we're guessing to be 12 to 15 carrots, somewhere in there.

Right.

I think that we're looking at an auction estimate of $70,000 to $90,000.

Wow.

Somewhere in there.

Okay.

And so we'd start bidding below that, but this would be one of the largest Burmese rubies to come to auction ever.

Is that right?

Yeah.

And so if it is correct, if it's, if everything checks out on it, I think you find yourself a real winner.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Join us next time on Mississippi Antique Showcase.

And find out if you've got a hidden treasure tucked away in your closet.