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Article | The History and Legacy Surrounding "The Well of Loneliness"

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Related | John Fery Oil Painting, ca. 1895

Related | John Fery Oil Painting, ca. 1895

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Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Hotel Del Coronado

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17th-Century Ottoman Miquelet Gun

Value (2016) | $7,000 Auction – $10,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
It initially belonged to Commodore Thomas Macdonough, who was a prominent naval officer in American history. When he was 16 he received a warrant from John Adams, the president at the time, to join the Navy. Shortly thereafter, he ended up serving on the U.S.S. Constellation, which went over to the first Barbary Wars over in the Mediterranean in Tripoli, which is now modern-day Libya. There, he was transferred to the U.S.S. Philadelphia, and shortly thereafter the U.S.S. Philadelphia ran aground and was captured by the Tripolitians. The crew was repatriated, Thomas Macdonough was reassigned to a smaller boat, the U.S.S. Enterprise. And about a year later, after being over there, the decision was made to try to recapture the U.S.S. Philadelphia from the Tripolitians or to destroy it-- sink it or burn it-- so that it couldn't be used against us. So since Thomas Macdonough had served as a crew member on the Philadelphia, he was selected to lead a party. They invaded the ship, were able to get fire set that burned it down to the water line. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to a first lieutenant. As was the tradition in the Navy and I still think is to this day. They bestow some sort of thing like a sword or a gun, a rifle, or something like that to the officer at the promotion. That's when he would have probably received this. And then they returned back to the United States and subsequently went back over a number of different time and he served very well until he was about forty two years old and passed away. When he passed away his possessions went to one of his brothers. When that brother passed away to another brother and so on and so forth till it finally ended up with a great-nephew, whose father was friends with my grandfather. My grandfather then gave it to my father, and then my father gave it to me.

APPRAISER:
So who do you think gave it to him?

GUEST:
Whoever would have been the officer that would have made their promotion in the field.

APPRAISER:
So we don't know if it was his commanding officer, Stephen Decatur, or not.

GUEST:
No, we don't.

APPRAISER:
Because Decatur, of course, had gotten a gold sword presented by the United States Congress for his activities in burning the Philadelphia.

GUEST:
The Philadelphia, yeah.

APPRAISER:
During the first Tripolitan War in 1804. Would it surprise you to know that the gun is Turkish?

GUEST:
Not at all, no.

APPRAISER:
Many of the features like this very tall elevation sight at the back, and also this very thick butt, and the way it sort of tapers here and comes down here are very characteristic of Turkish guns.

GUEST:
Is this jade, by chance? Do you know what these stone inlays are?

APPRAISER:
I think it's bone.

GUEST:
Bone?

APPRAISER:
And that has been dyed green.

GUEST:
Oh, okay.

APPRAISER:
There's numerous marks on the gun, as you know, here on the top of the barrel. One on the Miquelet lock. And one here in the brass decoration. It's called a Miquelet lock because the lock mechanism is actually on the external portion. And this was a very common feature amongst Ottoman guns.

GUEST:
Really?

APPRAISER:
From the 17th through the 19th centuries. Have you given any thought to value?

GUEST:
I really have not and I would hate to speculate.

APPRAISER:
One of the key desirable features of this gun is this thick butt which would indicate to me that the gun is probably 17th Century.

GUEST:
Wow

APPRAISER:
So it was actually antique when it was probably given to...

GUEST:
When it was given to him, it was already an antique.

APPRAISER:
...Commodore Macdonough, yeah. Because it was well over 100 years old. It does have some condition issues. There's losses to the brass, losses to the wood. But the market for this type of Islamic material is very strong. At auction I would estimate that it would make around $7,000 to $10,000.

GUEST:
Oh, my Lord. I absolutely had no idea, that's amazing.

APPRAISER:
It's a beautiful piece and quite early.

GUEST:
Well Thank You. Thank You.

Support provided by: Learn more

Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Paul Carella
Arms & Militaria
Bonhams, San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Appraised value (2016)
$7,000 Auction – $10,000 Auction
Featured In
Salt Lake City, Hour 1 (#2110)
Event
Salt Lake City, UT (August 13, 2016)
Category
Arms & Militaria
Period
17th Century , Islamic
Form
Gun
Material
Brass , Wood
October 17, 2017: Correction: After this segment aired, appraiser Paul Carella determined he had misspoken during the appraisal: this gun does in fact have rifling.

Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.

Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."

Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.

Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.

Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.

Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.

Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.

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