Antiques Roadshow

Vintage Phoenix 2025, Hour 1

Aired: 10/13/25

RUNTIME: 52:25Antiques RoadshowSEASON 29

Do 2009 ROADSHOW treasures from Phoenix rise again? One vintage musical find hits a high note when its value doubles in today's market!

Transcript

GUEST: My father hated these paintings from the day she brought them home. She'd put 'em up, he'd take 'em down. (laughs)

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: What do you think the value would be on this?

GUEST: What I want it to be, or what do I think? (both laughing)

HOST: Back in 2009, ROADSHOW experts unearthed a gold mine of rare and unexpected nuggets in the Valley of the Sun.

GUEST: Oh, I... (laughing): Oh! I'm so exci...

APPRAISER: Is that good?

GUEST: That's wonderful!

HOST: Let's open the time capsule to see if the values have held steady or sunk to a new low in this episode of Vintage Phoenix.

GUEST: I found this beautiful mirror in a yard sale in, uh, Hurley, New Mexico. I didn't find any marks on it.

APPRAISER: Do you know what it's made of?

GUEST: No-- my guess was maybe, uh, copper and maybe some mother-of-pearl.

APPRAISER: What did you pay for this?

GUEST: Two dollars.

APPRAISER: Well, there are people who collect Tiffany in New Mexico, and they're going to be very sorry they didn't go to this yard sale. Because this is a very rare piece. It's a peacock mirror that Tiffany made circa 1905, Tiffany Studios. It came in at least four different shapes and sizes. This is one of the smaller sizes, one of the less elaborate versions of it. But what is great about it is, you have this beautiful chased bronze work depicting peacock feathers.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Which is consistent all the way around the bottom, and they're inset with Tiffany glass. You have two types of Tiffany glass in there. You have the leaded glass that you'd see in a window or in a lamp, but also you have this beautiful reflective glass that was used in mosaics. The peacock feather design is continued along the edge of the mirror, and then actually, you turn it over, the whole back side has been chased. It's a beautiful object. And the peacock design is the consummate Art Nouveau motif.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: So it's, it was very popular at this time. The peacock motif was used in stained-glass lamps, windows, and also in Tiffany blown glass. This, it's really very special. It is actually signed. It's on the back here. There's a little "Tiffany Studios, New York" stamped on the side. And it's finished in this great green-brown finish. You have the original beveled mirror inset in here, and it has lost some of the silvering behind it, but I would never recommend changing it. How long ago did you purchase this?

GUEST: I bought it two weeks ago.

APPRAISER: Two weeks ago? That's amazing. Do you go to yard sales all the time?

GUEST: All the time.

APPRAISER: Well, something like this could sell in a shop for $25,000.

GUEST: (gasps) My God! (laughs): I had no idea it would.

APPRAISER: Well, It's a really wonderful example. Thank you for bringing it in.

GUEST: Okay, thank you very much, I... I, I had no idea when I bought it. I just loved it.

GUEST: We were visiting my daughter, and she knows I like antiques, so she suggested we go to Nevada City, take a little trip...

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: ...and do some antiquing. And I found this little cradle in an antiques shop. I love the tin lithography and also that it has a little dog on it.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: I, I, I'm a dog lover.

APPRAISER: Uh-huh, uh-huh.

GUEST: The price was right, so I decided to buy it.

APPRAISER: What, what was the price?

GUEST: $32.

APPRAISER: And how long ago was this?

GUEST: A little over a year ago.

APPRAISER: Wow! Well, it is a cradle, and it's a lithograph tin. Beautiful lithography. Lithograph tins started coming into play in the very late part of the 19th and the early part of the 20th century. These are Kleinert's waterproof baby pants. And, of course, it's an advertising piece. It's also a point-of-purchase display piece. That's what they call when they put something right near the cash register, and it would entice people to buy it.

GUEST: Oh! Okay.

APPRAISER: And I'm sure that they had the little baby pants here, inside the cradle, with a picture of the little baby in his waterproof pants to advertise the item. And it actually rocks. It's absolutely a charming thing. Now, I've only heard of one other advertising piece for this company, Kleinert's. Apparently this company, as I understand it, was founded in 1869 by Isaac Kleinert, and he was a major inventor who invented all sorts of things from the shower curtains to shower caps, waterproof pants, to rubberized materials for waterproofing. $32, I think, was an extremely good buy. I'm sort of surprised you got it that recently at that kind of price. What would be, I think, a conservative estimate for auction purposes would be around $2,000 to $3,000.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness! (laughs)

APPRAISER: And...

GUEST: Oh, my goodness! (laughs)

APPRAISER: And frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if it could go for more.

GUEST: Holy moly. (laughing)

APPRAISER: And I just think... One of the things I love about the ROADSHOW is when I see something I've never seen before. I've been doing this now-- the ROADSHOW-- for 14 years. I've been in the business for 40 years, never seen this, and it's a great piece.

GUEST: I brought a Maria pot that has been in my family. My great-grandmother bought it from Maria in 1956, and she met her and she corresponded with her after she bought it.

APPRAISER: It's signed with "Maria" and "Popovi." And Popovi Da was her son. Maria always had a potting partner. She was the potter, and she always had one of her potting partners paint the piece. And a lot of collectors really like these mid-1950s pieces by Popovi. His painting was exquisite, very fine, very refined work. And with the red polished piece and the buff-painted feathers, it's a very collectible piece, as well. On today's market, we are looking at between $20,000 and $25,000...

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...for your pot.

GUEST: (chuckling) Oh, wow. That's amazing.

GUEST: My father had a jewelry store from early 1900s until about 1970, probably. Can't remember exactly when he retired. I worked at it until I was married. And the things that he wanted we kept, and the rest of them, sold them at an auction.

APPRAISER: We're going to start first with the turtle. He's made out of 18-karat yellow gold, but what I love about it is the chasing. Chasing is a different form of engraving, and you see how they chased the feet over here. The relief and the detail, they, they just look so real.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: We have diamonds and we also have what they call Madeira topaz. Now, they're all cut, and it's like a puzzle. They have to fit everything together, so there's a lot of labor in that. And then it's tied together with the little diamonds. We'll flip it over, and you can see, again, the detail on the belly. We still have a little surprise for them, don't we?

GUEST: Yes, right.

APPRAISER: Right, so let's bring it back around. And you push this little button in the front, and as you push that, we push down on the tail. And he opens up...

GUEST: And it's a watch.

APPRAISER: Correct. A woman would wear that on her coat, and then when she would look down, she would be able to tell the time. This piece, I feel, at auction, would bring $8,000 to $10,000.

GUEST: Oh, my. It's unbelievable.

APPRAISER: Maybe you need to start wearing it again.

GUEST: No way.

APPRAISER: (laughs) Let's move on to this. Here we have a beautiful Art Deco lapel watch. You have carved emerald-- a rather large piece, I may add-- beautifully accented by diamonds, black onyx, and enamel. And it's hung from this cord, which we call Hastings cord.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: They actually used, used to use this a lot on watch bracelets.

GUEST: On watch pendants.

APPRAISER: Now, we, we looked on the back, we found hallmarks that identify it as being French. It is platinum, and you also have it accented by old mine diamonds. Now, what I'm going to do is spin it around for everybody... ...and we can see that it's a watch. It has the name of the company that probably sold it at one point in its life. At auction, $30,000 to $50,000.

GUEST: (groans) Gee! (chuckling) (both laugh) That's unbelievable.

APPRAISER: It is numbered in the back.

GUEST: Yes?

APPRAISER: And after showing it to everybody at the jewelry table and talking over with the watch people, um, there is a slight possibility, with research, we feel that it may possibly be Cartier. It's worth looking into, because, let's say it was Cartier, and we could document that, then the price would change, and...

GUEST: It would be even higher?

APPRAISER: Higher, of course.

GUEST: Great.

APPRAISER: So, it could be possibly $50,000 to $75,000.

APPRAISER: It's a piece designed by Frederick Carder, Steuben Glass, in Corning, New York.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And it's an acid cut-back yellow jade lamp.

GUEST: It's not glass?

APPRAISER: It is glass.

GUEST: It is glass, okay.

APPRAISER: Yes, it's a jade glass. You have a Greek key pattern all the way around the base-- this is an original base-- with a double-beaded border. This is an original finial.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And a leaf pattern on the front. It's from about 1925. And the value in a retail antique store would be about $2,000.

GUEST: Okay. I had no idea-- thank you.

GUEST: It's a table that was in my family on my mother's side. It was my mother's mother's cousin's family that had this table. Their side of the family was actually from New England and came over very early-- six, early 1600s.

APPRAISER: All right. This table's a little later than that, but it is from New England. It's actually from the North Shore of Massachusetts. And it's from around about 1805, 1810.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And it's a game table. And gaming was really the height of entertainment, uh, at the turn of the century.

GUEST: Ah, yeah. (laughs)

APPRAISER: It's got a lovely mahogany top, which is actually matched, the grain is matched.

GUEST: Oh, yeah, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And then in addition to that, as we move down, this is a satinwood inlay...

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: ...surrounded by rosewood banding, and then this lovely dentil work, as well, on the front. You have white pine as the secondary wood...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...which is classic New England.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: And this wonderful, it's called a double tapered leg. It moves down, and then below the ba, satinwood banding, you have an additional taper, so it tapers off a little bit more.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: So, really nice quality. That being said, the market for this type of table has shifted in recent years. It's an aging generation of buyers for this type of thing. If I were to see this at auction today, this would bring around about $2,500.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: Had it been about four or five years ago, anywhere from $5,000 to $7,500.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: So it really has shifted.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: That's not to say it won't come back again.

GUEST: Right.

GUEST: My husband's great-aunt gave it to me because I like blue. Blue is my favorite color.

APPRAISER: And you've had it for how long?

GUEST: Mmm, I would say around 20 years.

APPRAISER: Well, this is a different kind of appraisal for me, 'cause I'm not exactly sure what you've got here.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And this is going to entail a little bit of additional research. You saw me looking this over for a mark.

GUEST: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: There is, there isn't a mark on this. I've been all over this thing, and there's no mark that I could find, which would have made life a lot easier for all of us.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: But what I saw initially-- stylization. Not only the, the colors that were used, but the way the colors are applied to this piece. Let's show it in the round. The design is very unusual, and, and...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...to my eye, peculiar to, uh, Shearwater Pottery from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, which started in 1928 and which was destroyed, uh, when Katrina went through there a few years back.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: They're rebuilding it, but it's a very famous pottery, primarily run by Walter and Mac Anderson, who did most of the decorating through the '30s and '40s and '50s. Walter is recognized as an artistic genius. Couldn't really socialize. He was left to himself to decorate and design. But this is what he did-- the colors, the patterns. What also I noticed, where the clay shows through...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...and then the clay color inside looks to me like Shearwater Pottery, so I'm, I'm pretty sure that's what it is. And it's what we have to do when we don't have a mark. I did research, there's not an exact picture of this in any of the books that I found. And so we have to make certain educated guesses. So I'm guessing you got a piece of Shearwater pottery, Shearwater cat. In terms of the decorative style, it's faience technique, background color laid down and then decorative elements in darker colors starkly painted against it. If this is not Shearwater, it's a nice ceramic cat, probably from the '40s or '50s...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...worth $300, $400, $500 at auction.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: If it's a Shearwater cat, at auction, I think it's worth between $6,000 and $9,000. Whoa. It's a big difference, and it's a really good piece. If this is by Walter Anderson and somebody paid between $10,000 and $20,000 for it, I wouldn't be surprised.

GUEST: I was looking for a, a large decorative bedroom chair to match my antique Chinese bed, and I saw this at a pre-auction sale and I couldn't leave without it. (chuckles) I started doing research on it and I found out that it's the right size and shape for a throne, but I didn't know if it was one.

APPRAISER: And did you know where it was made?

GUEST: Well, I'm hoping it's China. (laughs)

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: And what did you pay for it? Either $2,200 or $2,800. I don't remember for sure.

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: I thought it, it might be Qing Dynasty, but I don't know.

APPRAISER: This basic throne shape, where you have a combination of cloisonné and wood...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...developed in the 17th century, early 18th century. That's where you really see this type for the first time.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The feet are the ball and claw, the flaming pearl. That particular kind of motif, for the most part, you see used on furniture in the late 17th, early 18th century. And if you were to examine the foot you'd see this is carved from one single block of wood. It's not laminated pieces of wood.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Which more often you find in the modern version. As you look at the center, this foliate carving on the back...

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: ...that's also carved completely...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...just like the apron. That type of decoration is associated with Western motifs that were introduced into China in the mid to late 18th century.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The cloisonné has a range of colors. But this really kind of mustard yellow and this kind of a puce color, and this green, really, one associates with things that were made in the 19th century.

GUEST: Really? Okay.

APPRAISER: And the decoration overall is of the Eight Immortals.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And there's an island where the Eight Immortals live, and that's what this is depicting. Now, the other important aspect is the wood. 'Cause imperial thrones were generally made of just a, a very few types of wood. And when you look at this, you see it's a variety of Asian hardwood, but it's not the type of hardwood that was used in the manufacture of imperial thrones.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: In China, we would just call this huali.

GUEST: All right.

APPRAISER: Which is a generic kind of name. So all this adds up...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...to mean that this was made not during the Qing Dynasty, but it was made a little bit later.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: I think around 1920.

GUEST: 1920, okay.

APPRAISER: So, it's, it's still a good throne.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: Probably owned by somebody who was a wealthy person.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The footstool is associated with this, but it did not begin life together. It's a very different pattern. It's frankly not as good a quality as the throne.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: If you were to sell this at auction...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: ...I would expect that this throne and this stool together would make $10,000 to $15,000.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: If it were made for the imperial household, it would actually be worth in the $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 range.

GUEST: They all belonged to my mother, and she passed away in 1997, but I've had them and have known them even before then.

APPRAISER: Well, she liked purple.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And one of the most popular purple stones in jewelry is amethyst, and that's what she collected.

GUEST: Well, and we're also both February birthdays, which is the births...

APPRAISER: That's right.

GUEST: …gemstone.

APPRAISER: I'm going to start with the piece closest to you, which is a pendant. It's on a gold chain with a gold setting, and it's a pear-shaped amethyst. Amethyst is purple quartz. And quartz is a stone that can be clear, white, and colorless. It can be yellow, then it's citrine. Or it could be purple, and then it's amethyst. But generally, these stones are produced in great quantities in mines in South America, and they're inexpensive. This I chose as the first one because it's the palest color. Amethyst that is not a deep, dark color does not command as high a price as the more saturated, deep-purple amethyst. So a pendant like this is only worth about $300, even though it's in a gold setting. The next set are her pear-shaped earrings. She might have worn these with the pendant, but again, they're not terribly saturated in color. They're kind of on the pale side. And a pair of earrings like this, again, I would say about $300 for the pair in the gold settings. Suddenly, we move up in quality, to her ring, and this one has very dark, deep, saturated purple and diamonds around it.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Which, of course, add to the value. It's a lovely ring. If it was any darker, it would be too dark. A ring like this with diamonds around it, in 14-karat gold, now we're at about $2,000. That's a big jump from $300. The circle pin has a collection of these oval amethysts that are cabochon. They're not that faceted, they're more polished round. The color is lovely, and they match from each stone to the other. A pin like this, about $1,200 to $1,500.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: This one, it's in a box from Bulgari, and there's a second lesson here, which is, don't always believe what the boxes say.

GUEST: Mm.

APPRAISER: We examined the bracelet. The Bulgari mark is not there.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: And the gold is 14-karat. Bulgari only worked in 18-karat, even during wartime. But it's still a very special bracelet. And it's special because of the color and saturation of these amethysts. These are Siberian amethysts.

GUEST: Really? Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: All of your other amethysts, your mother's collection, came from South America. We never see Siberian amethyst except in old pieces. It has a violet, purplish-blue color that you don't see in any other amethyst from anywhere else in the world except from those mines in Russia. There's no diamonds or anything else to enhance the value, just the stones alone. At retail in a fine jewelry store, this is a rarity. It would bring $10,000 to $12,000. And the person that knows amethysts will know if they don't buy it now, they may never see another one.

GUEST: Mm, goodness. Oh!

GUEST: My father was an architect, and he was asked to remodel or re-engineer a house that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. My father wasn't involved with the initial structure or design. I think it was built in 1951. A few years later, there seemed to be some problem with the house. As you can see in the photographs, I think it almost was falling down. And so it had to be either remodeled or rebuilt, I don't, I'm not sure.

APPRAISER: And this was here in Arizona?

GUEST: This was here in Arizona. In the Biltmore area. And when they completed the house, Mr. Wright gave my father this drawing of the house as a gift.

APPRAISER: It's an original drawing by Frank Lloyd Wright. It's signed with his cartouche down in the lower right-hand corner. This is not a sketch or a hastily rendered drawing. This is a completed piece of artwork and is really quite lovely. We've picked out several photographs here that show various problems with the structure itself. There's cracks in it, there's construction work going on. In this photograph, there's an entire wall separating and moving away from the home. This is more of an overview of the home. And then, f, further on the left here is additional showing damage to the home. So, your father worked on the reconstruction of the home, the rebuilding of it, 'cause it, it still stands to this day here in Arizona.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And the name of the home is...

GUEST: It's the Benjamin Adelman House.

APPRAISER: And it's restored and someone's living in it today.

GUEST: As far as I know, yes.

APPRAISER: This shows a different side of some of Frank Lloyd Wright's genius and vision in that sometimes the homes that he built didn't work out very well for the owners. It's absolutely extraordinary. It's beautiful. And, at retail, it would bring $25,000 to $30,000.

GUEST: Wow. Well, I know my dad would be very pleased. (laughs)

GUEST: Well, I've had it for three weeks. It was actually three dollars, and I had a 50% coupon that took the price down to $1.49.

APPRAISER: $1.49.

GUEST: That's right.

APPRAISER: It's made in the late 1930s. It's an Omega Chronograph wristwatch in a stay-bright steel case. The dial's a little worn. At auction, it's going to be, sell for around $2,500, $3,000.

GUEST: You're kidding me.

GUEST: My parents collected antiques when we were children, and we're helping them get ready to move out of their house into a retirement home, we found these, wanted to find out a little bit about them.

APPRAISER: Let's start with who did 'em.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: The guy's name was Wilhelm Schimmel, and he was a German immigrant born in 1817. He died in 1890. And he was an itinerant who did all sorts of things, but mainly he made these carvings and he traded 'em for supplies, and apparently he traded 'em for a lot of liquor, because originally, a lot of these were found in alehouses and taverns and stuff. He's known as one of America's foremost 19th-century folk sculptors. He's mostly known for his eagles, but he's also known for the other animals that are down here. Let's start with the dog. The dog is $1,000. Okay?

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: The chicken is probably $2,000. The parrot is $3,000.

GUEST: Wow. I just have 'em in a paper bag over there.

APPRAISER: (laughs) The eagle is $9,000.

GUEST: Wow! There’s my sister over there. (both laughing) I can't believe that, wow-- wow.

APPRAISER: Uh... So the two of you got these together. How are you going to decide who gets what? (laughing)

GUEST: Eagle's mine!

GUEST: Well, this shaving stand's been in our family for about 110 years or so.

APPRAISER: It has everything in a piece of Victorian furniture that you'd like to see. One, it's a shaving stand. This is just sort of an unusual object that we don't run across.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: Two, it's tall, it's sculptural, it's beautiful. This piece is made out of solid walnut. Has wonderful legs, curves, and, and arches. Very, very sexy. It just screams Victorian when you see it. We have a drawer-- fantastic. Put your razors in, put your accoutrements in. We have a great marble top. A lot of Victorian furniture has marble tops, and a lot of it has a, a, a wonderful beveled edge, just like this. It's very difficult to tell exactly where it was made. Indiana, New York, Pennsylvania-- those were all places where this type of furniture was made with some regularity. This piece is probably worth, at auction, $3,000 to $5,000.

GUEST: Wow, okay, wow. That's, uh, very good. (chuckling)

GUEST: These paintings were purchased by my mother I believe in the late '50s, early '60s at an antique store for $120. I have the receipt. My father hated these paintings from the day she brought them home. She loved 'em. She'd put 'em up, he'd take 'em down, she'd put 'em up, he'd take 'em down. (laughs) And it was sort of just a running joke with the two of them. And they finally compromised on placing them in an obscure place in the house where my dad didn't have to look at 'em. After they passed, I chose to keep them and don't even know if they're real. I always loved them, I just thought they were fun.

APPRAISER: These are really terrific. They are indeed original oil paintings. They're executed on canvas.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: Now, you may have noticed both of them are signed. The one by you is signed up here in the upper left. The same is true over here in the lower left, "E. Zampighi." Eugenio Zampighi was Italian. He was born in Modena in 1859 and he was somewhat of a young prodigy. By the age of 13, he was enrolled in the local design academy.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: And he very quickly won a scholarship and traveled to Rome to study further. By the early 1880s, he was set up in Florence in his own studio. And these were probably done in the early 1900s, and these two works are quintessential examples of what he would do. He loved to depict images of peasant life-- interior scenes of happy families. The one closest to you shows the single figure, who is seated, jovially laughing with his cup. It's a fairly simple composition for him. He's more noted for more complex compositions, such as the one that's closer to me. The hallmark of these genre paintings was getting the textures of the elements. And if you look here, you're very aware, for instance, of the texture of the fur on the cat. And contrast that to, you can pick up the sheen on the edge of the porcelain cup up here. So you're very aware of all the different textures of...

GUEST: That's why I actually thought they were prints, because they almost look too smooth to be oils.

APPRAISER: They're painted very carefully with thin glazes. There's not a lot of what we call impasto, heavy paint, and that's what allows them to create that sense of the tactile qualities of things. The frames are approximately period, and are actually hand-painted in terms of this rinceau-like motif around the middle. Although they're period, they're not particularly special as frames go. It's very probable that originally they had liners inside that have now been replaced at some point with these linen liners. The one closest to you, at auction, you could reasonably expect that to bring $6,000 to $8,000.

GUEST: Oh, my God.

APPRAISER: The one closer to me would probably bring $7,000 to $9,000 at auction.

GUEST: Whoa! (laughing)

APPRAISER: So, not to get in the middle of a family squabble, but I think Mom was right.

GUEST: I guess she was. Dad, I'm putting the paintings back up. (laughs)

APPRAISER: She's looking down and smiling. (laughs)

GUEST: It actually belonged to a friend of mine's mother. She lived in California.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And her mother passed away some time ago, and, when they were going through her mother's things, they came across a number of items-- this, some, uh, some clothing and things-- and they passed 'em on to me. They said, me being the flamboyant person I am... (laughing)

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: ...that possibly I might enjoy it, and I just love it. I don't know anything about it other than it was given to my friend's mother by her next-door neighbor many, many, many years ago.

APPRAISER: The piece is from India. We might characterize this as what we call Mughal jewelry, although this wasn't a piece owned by the original Mughals from the 17th century. It's hard to, many times, date these because these types of pieces are still being made today in the same style with the same design motifs. It's based on the quality of this piece, the level of craftsmanship, and the intricate interweaving of motifs and symbolism that leads me to believe that it is from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. We have a number of plaques here, and these plaques have enamel on them, predominantly white, red, and green enamel. We have some spheres that also have the enameling, with the same color motifs. And we have some pearls here, as well. Now, these pearls are natural. That means that they were not cultured. These pearls probably came out of the Indian Ocean. If you notice, there are these motifs of tigers in the jungle.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And these pendants they're in the shape of what would be a traditional tiger claw.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: In Mughal jewelry, sometimes you find the actual tiger claws mounted into the pieces. The tiger claws themselves were used as a symbol for protection. So we've got a great combination of symbolism and shape and form in the piece. Now, the great part, this piece is reversible. This is actually the back of the necklace.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: This is the front side of the necklace. And on this side, we have a collection of gemstones set into the piece. The red stones are rubies. We have topaz, colorless sapphire, emerald, sapphire, diamond, cat's eye, coral, and ruby. These type of necklaces were, many times, worn during a wedding ceremony. This would have been part of the dowry that was created for the bride. But this is a particularly fine example. Do you have any sense of the, what the value of this would be?

GUEST: Well, when you asked me if I'd consider going on TV, my heart kind of jumped. And I thought either it's really cheap costume jewelry or it's a really nice piece of jewelry, so... (laughs) I'm hoping it's a really nice piece of jewelry.

APPRAISER: Well, it is a really nice piece of jewelry, and value, for retail replacement, would be between $12,000 and $15,000.

GUEST: Oh, wow. Oh! I... Oh! I'm so exci...

APPRAISER: (laughing) That good?

GUEST: That's wonderful! Thank you.

APPRAISER: It's a beautiful, beautiful example.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

GUEST: This painting was painted by Chuck Close when he was a student at Everett Junior College. He was just a young man. My husband was a drama professor, and Chuck approached him, saying that, "Doc, I need eight dollars. I'm going to be evicted from my apartment tonight." And so my husband said, "But you have eight dollars worth of paint on it." And he said, "But I've got to have eight dollars, Doc." So, Boyd gave him eight dollars, and in 1960, that was, eight dollars was quite a bit for us. And brought it home. It's been hanging in my front room ever since.

APPRAISER: Well, it was a very kind thing for him to do. This is dated, I mean, we can see it's signed here, "Close, 1960."

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: So he would have been what, around about 20 years old when he painted it?

GUEST: Well, I would say 18, 19. That's about the age of students in, in junior college.

APPRAISER: Right.

GUEST: And he went from there to, uh, the University of Washington and Yale.

APPRAISER: Mm.

GUEST: And then he just, all of a sudden, he was famous.

APPRAISER: Yes, he certainly was...

GUEST: But none of it looked like this.

APPRAISER: That's absolutely right. But when he painted this, he was still very much in thrall to the influence of the Abstract Expressionists.

GUEST: Oh, yes, very much so.

APPRAISER: Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, and, clearly, in this particular case, Willem de Kooning. I love this painting. I think it's a fantastic painting. Particularly for a young artist.

GUEST: My husband asked him, "Well, what is it?" (laughs)

APPRAISER: And what did he say?

GUEST: And he said, he said, "It's Man Walking" And he said, "Well, how do you figure that?" And he said, "This is the way I feel in the spring of the year when I'm out stepping in, in the bright sunshine and the flowers and the spring of the year."

APPRAISER: Well, obviously this is very different to what he's better known for.

GUEST: Oh, yes--

APPRAISER: I, I, he…

GUEST: portraits now.

APPRAISER: Indeed. He really became a prime mover within the Photorealist type or Realist movement.

GUEST: Oh, definitely.

APPRAISER: And famous for doing the very large portrait heads. I, I believe he felt that he wasn't a good enough painter to follow on from the Abstract Expressionists, so he changed tack. I think on the evidence of this, he could have been. I think it's fan, a magnificent painting.

GUEST: Oh, yes.

APPRAISER: This is an early work, work of a young man, but still, I think, a very impressive piece. Have you ever given any thought to what it may be worth?

GUEST: I would expect it to have some value, but what it is, I really wouldn't... I couldn't fathom a guess. Well... It must be in the thousands. I don't know.

APPRAISER: I would say it was in the thousands. Would you be surprised if I said $100,000 to $150,000?

GUEST: How much?

APPRAISER: At auction, $100,000 to $150,000.

GUEST: Oh, wow. That, that is a, that is a great deal. It will make my son very happy, because it's in the will for him.

APPRAISER: This is an interesting painting in terms of his development. And who knows? It may even make a little bit more. And not a bad return on the eight dollars that saved him from being thrown out of his digs.

GUEST: Oh, I would say not. (chuckles) My daughter's been saying all day, she says, "And they'll tell you that it, that it's worth eight dollars."

GUEST: I bought it at an estate sale and I paid $20 for it. And I'm not really, wasn't sure if it was a real Gibson, but thought it'd be good for my son to play, 'cause he plays the guitar.

APPRAISER: It was your lucky day, 'cause it is a real Gibson.

GUEST: Oh, good.

APPRAISER: Uh, it's, it's an L-00 model from about 1937.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: In recent years, these particular Gibson guitars have appreciated more in value than probably any other acoustic model that they make.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: Today, the guitar would easily have a retail value of around $4,000.

GUEST: Wow! That's great!

GUEST: This was part of a collection that I bought from my mentor.

APPRAISER: Well, it certainly is a significant book. It's Francisco de Gamboa's, um, commentary on the mines of Mexico. Printed in Madrid in 1761. It's in absolutely original condition. Beautiful, original vellum binding. Conservatively, we could estimate it at auction at $3,000 to $5,000.

GUEST: Wow, well, that's, uh, certainly makes it the most valuable in my collection.

GUEST: It was a gift from a friend that I have. She met her husband in France. He was military. Two years later, he came back and they married in France, they moved to Peekskill, New York, and he sent this piece of souvenir to his mother.

APPRAISER: It's a piece of metal with a little note that says, "This is a piece of a bomb that fell in the state of Oregon. It was shot from a Jap submarine that was off the coast of Oregon. Keep it. Love, Joe." Well, the first thing we gotta say is that the term "Jap" was something that was used during the time of the Second World War.

GUEST: Yes, that's correct.

APPRAISER: But today, it's offensive, so we would say, "Japanese."

GUEST: The Japanese.

APPRAISER: Well, also, a lot of folks don't know is that, in 1942, a Japanese sub surfaced off the coast of Oregon with a seaplane attached in a special waterproof hangar. The seaplane took off from the submarine and bombed areas in Oregon. American, uh, submarines chased it, it went under, underwater for about three weeks, surfaced later, did the same thing. Conservatively at auction, I was thinking maybe a few hundred dollars.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: In a well-publicized auction, with a lot of history supporting it, maybe as much as $1,000.

GUEST: Wow, very nice.

GUEST: It's a piece that's always been a part of my family. I remember her in the living room when I was a little girl. I'm just guessing that my grandfather purchased it at a European art exhibit, perhaps, and brought it back to the United States. Probably in the '20s?

APPRAISER: Well, it's a sculpture by a very prominent artist. His name is Paul Troubetzkoy. And the piece is signed and dated, and it has the foundry mark right here of the Valsuani foundry. And Valsuani was one of the most prominent foundries of this time.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: Troubetzkoy was from a very, very famous Russian family. The Troubetzkoy family were princes going way back, and he was self-taught as an artist. He worked in Russia, in Italy, and also in the United States, and he sometimes signed Pavel Troubetzkoy's, or Paolo, and this is signed Paul Troubetzkoy. This piece is actually a portrait.

GUEST: Is it?

APPRAISER: And it's a portrait of Mademoiselle Svirsky. And an example of this was exhibited in 1912 at the Chicago Art Institute, and it's listed in the catalogue...

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: ...of that exhibition. So it's a portrait of a specific dancer. Troubetzkoy was known for portraits of various dancers, of celebrities. He did a portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. But he particularly liked dancers, and I think what's so wonderful about his work is how it captures this whole spirit of the dance. This is the time of Isadora Duncan and this much freer kind of dancing, rather than classical ballet. And I think that's exemplified in the way her costume is rendered, in this almost impressionistic fashion. Usually, you think of bronzes as cold, hard surfaces, but you have all these wonderful surface embellishments that I think make the piece very, very exciting. Now, his work has become very, very popular. It's particularly popular because it now appeals to Russians, and, as you know, the Russians are a very active part of the art market.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: Work by Troubetzkoy sometimes is sold as American, and it's also sold as Russian. I did find the identical sculpture coming up in a sale this spring.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: And it sold in New York for $62,500.

GUEST: (laughing) Oh, my God, you're kidding.

APPRAISER: So in a gallery setting, I think this would easily bring in that $60,000 range, if not more.

GUEST: She's just been a very strong part of all of our lives, and so we've just loved her.

GUEST: This was a family piece. It belonged to a grandmother from Shenandoah, Iowa, and we inherited it in about '86.

APPRAISER: Well, you brought in a New Hampshire high chest of drawers with cabriole legs. This is attributable to the Dunlap family...

GUEST: Oh!

APPRAISER: ...of Southern New Hampshire.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: There's a whole group of Dunlaps. This was probably made by Major John Dunlap. Made about 1780 or '85. Now, Major John Dunlap is a jack-of-all-trades. He was trading cattle, he was bartering bushels of corn for furniture. He was a house builder-- I mean, he was doing everything. And this is a more remote area of the country, so he used local maple. And see that striping? That's tiger maple we see. The great thing about a tiger maple tree is, you don't know a tree is a tiger maple tree until you cut it down. If you go in the forest and pick 20, then one might be a tiger maple. He was also working in a purely American style in terms of the l, very low cabriole legs. See the angular knees.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: You see that beautiful shape there, with this wonderful returns, shaped skirt-- signature John Dunlap. Pinwheels. This is signature John Dunlap, these fans, which are on the bottom section and the upper. So, he's got a great style. Beautiful proportions. In terms of condition of this, these handles are bigger on the bottom.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: And they're actually original. I looked inside.

GUEST: Oh!

APPRAISER: They got the original nuts on the inside. These are, these are smaller.

GUEST: Are these original?

APPRAISER: These are original, too. This is a top of a high chest of drawers from another high chest.

GUEST: Oh, really?

APPRAISER: And this is the bottom of a high chest of drawers from another high chest. And they were married together, married in unholy matrimony. One way we can tell that is to look at these moldings here. The back of this molded edge, it's fresh wood, and the top is totally original, oxidized, nut-brown color.

GUEST: Ah, yeah.

APPAIASER: So somebody had to put a new molding to accommodate the shape. That's one way we tell-- the other is, the bottom section is dark.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And very oxidized pine, the backboard, and the top is light. So they had different environments they were in. What do you think the value would be on this?

GUEST: What I want it to be, or what do I think? (both laughing) $20,000, maybe?

APPRAISER: Okay.

GUEST: Well, at... At the most?

APPRAISER: Okay, as a marriage, because it's associated, I'd put a fair market value on it of about $5,000.

GUEST: Aww. But!

APPRAISER: But... But, but had it been originally top and bottom together...

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: ...it would be about $25,000 or even $30,000.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: And it's been refinished.

GUEST: Oh!

APPRAISER: Now, and if we look up here on this edge, you can see, there's the original red stain. And they...

GUEST: Oh!

APPRAISER: They would actually stain this red to make it look richer, like a mahogany?

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: If, if that red had been on there, it'd be worth $100,000. And if, if it were all original.

GUEST: Well, it is what it is, though.

GUEST: We lived in the Black Hills in South Dakota. My parents ran a private museum and a Wild West show. And my dad was born in Deadwood, South Dakota. Apparently, some Lakota Native American ancestry on his mother's side. A lot of the Native people would bring him pieces that they wanted preserved, that they were afraid would be lost in their family, and things like that. And so, to the best of my knowledge, that's where this came from.

APPRAISER: This is a Lakota bag, and it is a doctor's bag. And as you can see, it's beaded on all sides.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: What's a bit unusual is, a lot of the bags are white background, and this is a blue background. I want to show how this opens, and, as you can see, it has a trade cloth lining on the inside. Now, there are a couple of ways that we can date this.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: If you look right here in the center, these are metal-cut beads. Now, metal-cut beads really date into the 1890s.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: So this bag is 1885 to 1890.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: And it's not thread, it's sinew. Again, that's one of the ways that we date, uh, Native American material.

GUEST: I see.

APPRAISER: One other thing that is an issue of condition, do you see this area here?

GUEST: Yeah, I think there's another little small spot near the bottom with no beads.

APPRAISER: Exactly, you have a few areas that, that need to be repaired. Now, that does impact on value.

GUEST: Uh-huh.

APPRAISER: A lot of collectors would look at this, and because it has this blue background and because it's basically in great shape...

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: ...it would be highly desirable for them. And you have almost this transition from Native American into the early settlers in the West.

GUEST: Yeah.

APPRAISER: And you have the blending of those two cultures...

GUEST: Yeah, it's fascinating.

APPRAISER: ...right in this bag.

GUEST: Juxtaposition.

APPRAISER: What I want to do is, I want to give you a realistic value, and I think you can use this for insurance.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: In a gallery, I think you would expect to see this sell f-, between $5,000 and $7,000.

GUEST: I'm... I'm flabbergasted. For a thing that was just commonplace to me growing up, it was just a family item, that, that's quite a shock.

GUEST: My uncle played the violin, and I think I was earmarked to have this violin as the, the person to bequeath it to. I got a little violin when I was seven years old and was coerced into playing. He dated the violin teacher. So I played all those years, and I started to enjoy it when I was in high school, and then I played it through college. And recently I've just played it in my daughter's preschool and grade school, and last December, I made an attempt to play at a community "Messiah" program.

APPRAISER: Good for you. Tell me a little bit more about your uncle.

GUEST: My uncle played in an orchestra.

APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: And he was an optometrist, and this is what he did on the side for entertainment. And he went on this quest for the best violin he could find. And I always heard about this great violin, but nobody knew if it was really great or if that was just a rumor.

APPRAISER: It's from the Gagliano family of Naples, and it dates from about 1800 to 1810. Now, the Gagliano family was a huge dynasty of makers that went from the early 1700s all the way to the late 1800s. They were really the prevailing family in Naples. And with this particular violin, I think that it was probably a collaboration between two generations. The label inside reads "Nicola Gagliano," who was the most famous and maybe the most prolific maker in the family. The work on this violin, I don't see only the hand of Nicola, but I do see the work of his sons Joseph and Antonio. It's worth just a little bit less than if it was purely by Nicola. It's a little bit later than his prime time. The violin is in wonderful condition, it's a typical Gagliano model, a very powerful, broad arching. It projects a huge sound. That's what makes this violin always a favorite for professional players who are kind of on a budget or just starting. The top's probably made of Italian red spruce. As we go up, we see a lot of wear to the front of the scroll, and that gives us a clue to its age. And we see that on the back, too, where it used to be sliding in and out of the case. It's almost worn flat in that area. But you see the more protected areas are quite crisp and clean. The sides and the back are made of Yugoslavian maple. This is a very high grade of maple, very light and very strong, the best violin-making wood in the world. This is a beautiful two-piece back. And you see a lot of the original varnish still on there. All in all, it's in very, very good condition. This bow was made in France at the shop of Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, who was the most famous violin dealer of his day. He had a whole crew of bow makers. Among them, which was his favorite, was François Nicolas Voirin. All of the bows from Vuillaume's shop have his stamp on them, and the head's bell shape is what helps us to identify it as the early period of François Nicolas Voirin. And these are the favorite bows of musicians nowadays, because they play fantastically. The way to identify further the origin of this bow is to look at the actual stamp on it. And for that, we have to turn it upside down, because that's the way the French stamped their bows. So, this being an early work of François Nicolas Voirin, because of its condition-- it's a little bit worn, it's got some cracks in the frog that have been repaired-- I'm going to value the bow at $12,000 to $14,000.

GUEST: Really? (laughs)

APPRAISER: And the violin at $60,000 to $80,000.

GUEST: Really?!

APPRAISER: Very conservatively. And that would be an auction value.

GUEST: Wow! (laughs) I would have never guessed. (laughs)

HOST: You're enjoying ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, Vintage Phoenix. Get more ROADSHOW at pbs.org/antiques, watch on the PBS app, and follow @ROADSHOWPBS for exclusive content, updates, and special features. Watch more now, from the Feedback Booth, right after this.

HOST: And now it's time for the ROADSHOW Feedback Booth.

GUEST: We, uh, found this in the dumpster. So it pays to dumpster-dive!

GUEST: We came today to bring our great items out, all the way out to Phoenix. Found out that the greatest thing out here is the Grand Canyon. (both laugh)

GUEST 1: And we brought our buddy today to ANTIQUES ROADSHOW. We thought we'd try to bring the largest item here.

GUEST 2: And he was! And everybody loves him!

GUEST: And we came to the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW today to, uh, find out about our 150-year-old Chinese plate. We found out that it's worth about, uh, the price of an expensive Chinese dinner, so we're gonna go home and eat on it. (laughs)

GUEST: And I brought my father's senior cords today. And found out that they're a, a local specialty of just Indiana, probably his school, but had a blast.

GUEST 1: My entire family has been really...

GUEST 2: (chuckles)

GUEST 1: ...on my back about picking up junk. Well, according to the ANTIQUES ROADSHOW, this is not junk, they're worth about $250 a piece, and we loved the experience, it's been a lot of fun, and thank you very much.

GUEST: And today I brought in prehistoric art that's 1,200 years old and worth nothing. And a necklace that's 50 years old and worth $300. Thanks so much!

GUEST 1: And we brought this vase.

GUEST 2: Which, we've learned our family is a bunch of liars. Because they said it was from unoccupied China, and that this marking was very important. Lo and behold, it's from Korea and it's worth, like...

GUEST 1: 40 bucks.

GUEST 2: …40 bucks.

GUEST 1: (laughs)

GUEST 2: Whoo!

HOST: Thanks for watching! See you next time on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

GUEST: Yeah, I know it was, uh, given to my grandfather for payment due to him.

APPRAISER: It is a double-armed lamp, which is nice, that makes it more desirable to collectors. They used a, a device here where the wick was around the c, circular force here. By turning this up, they would use this Argand gas to basically increase the flow of the fuel, so that it really enhanced the lamp. This was a technique developed in the, uh, 1780s. It required a high-quality fuel that would burn much more efficiently and brightly. Whale oil was the fuel of choice. It became commonplace in all homes. You've got a beautiful one done in bronze, with lovely, original etched globes. This dates to about 1840. It's a real treat to see. Easily, at auction, this piece would go from $800 to $1,000. Collectors love this because it hasn't been cut down.

GUEST: The two people are my grandfather's grandparents.

APPRAISER: Now, the man and woman are American folk art paintings, they're on board. They'd probably be $5,000 for the pair in a retail setting.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: This is the prize of the three.

GUEST: Right, right.

APPRAISER: And in a retail setting, I think a conservative price would be $20,000 to $25,000.

GUEST: Oh, my Lord.

Do 2009 treasures from Phoenix rise again? ROADSHOW discoveries include Art Deco lapel watches, a Lakota Sioux doctor's bag, ca. 1895 and a Tiffany Studios peacock mirror, ca. 1905. One musical find's value doubles in today's market!

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