NARRATOR: Major funding is provided by, Alex Cooper Auctioneers, since 1924 has been serving the Mid-Atlantic states, featuring monthly gallery antique auction sales, our staff can assist clients with the disposition of their valued possessions.

Alex Cooper Auctioneers.

P RAAB CHRISTHILF: Coming up on Chesapeake Collectibles.

I don't need to ask you what you brought today because we can see them right next to us.

ED MORINO: This set is even more interesting, because you have two pieces that are from one maker, and then this one is... the sugar is made by Bailey.

GUEST: And he took this picture in May of 1960, when John F Kennedy was running for president in the Maryland primary.

GUEST: Going through his materials I just have hundreds of documents and hundreds of photographs and it covers the entire Martin Luther King Civil Rights era, Rosa Parks.

GUEST: I brought a complete 1956 Topps baseball card collection and an almost complete 1957 Topps baseball collection, it's just missing two cards.

(theme music plays).

♪ ♪ (studio chatter).

P RAAB: Well, welcome to Chesapeake Collectibles, nice to see you all.

I don't need to ask you what you brought today, because we can see them right next to us.

Can you tell us a little about the story of how you got them, what they mean to you, etcetera.

GUEST: Yes, this is John Bozman Kerr and Lucy Hamilton Stevens Kerr, they're married.

They are my grandfather's grandparents from Tal, Talbot County uh, Maryland.

He was a Chargé d'Affaires in Nicaragua and while they were down there they had their portraits painted.

Um, they were then shipped back to Washington DC, and where they were and then they traveled to, with the family to New York, where her daughter was living with her husband.

And they wound up in Gloucester City, New Jersey where their grandchild was living, and then to my mother's house also in New Jersey.

And when my mother passed away they came to me.

We then had them um, redone, uh, restored...

GUEST: Yeah.

GUEST: Um in, in Annapolis at McBride Galleries.

And uh, they've been hanging on our wall in Columbia, Maryland since then.

P RAAB: Well they really are beautiful paintings.

Now you've have told me that the artist is a William H Coutant.

He was, from what we've been able to find, he was born in New Orleans in 1803.

So these paintings, because you said that he was Chargé d'Affaires about 1851 something like that, in Nicaragua.

So apparently Coutant was born in New Orleans but also painted in California.

They were itinerant artists, as most of these portrait painters were.

Uh, I do not see a signature, which is not unusual for portrait, portraiture especially of the 19th century.

It would add value if it were, but nonetheless.

I also did a bit of work on the website, art price, art fact, invaluable, etcetera to try to find out what values were, uh, as far as auction values, what they brought.

But I wanted before we got into ideas of value, I wanted to point out that the gentleman's book mentions that he indeed is a diplomat.

So that would tie in with the family history that one of your ancestors wrote.

GUEST: He wrote.

P RAAB: He wrote.

Oh that's...

GUEST: He wrote this in this, this is a we call it the Family Bible.

Um, it was um, he bought it used in the early 1850s, and then added, had it rebound with extra pages so he could write down all of the family history in the in the family Bible.

The Bible was actually printed in 1599.

P RAAB: Yeah, well it's, it's very interesting and he's written a pretty detailed history of the Kerr family, K-E-R-R, Kerr family, which as I mentioned before there's a Kerr mansion in um, Onancock, Virginia.

Which apparently is a different strain of the family, but nonetheless it does have local interest, because of its Talbot County, uh, connection.

Uh, not only does he have a book which uh, tells us that he is a diplomat that's what the lettering on the book binding says, but also she is, uh, you know, this, this date at mid-century, mid-19th century, there was a movement called "Sentimentalism".

And sentimentalism is when uh, the women feigned, literally feigned this kind of drooping look and they pulled their hair back straight and you see, she, her hair is pulled back very straight.

But these paintings are really a proclamation of their importance, obviously some money is involved, you see her uh, jewelry there is pretty, pretty snazzy.

Whatever you say.

GUEST: Yes.

P RAAB: And so these are really status symbols.

GUEST: Right.

P RAAB: If you consider the people of that time, not a lot of people had the money, funds, to be having their portraits painted number one, and this is really pretty early for photography.

Uh, this is a very birth of photography at this period, so uh, you know, these are status symbols it's showing that these are important people that they had the money, they had the wherewithal, they were educated, etcetera.

So they're kind of vanity pieces, in a way.

As I said they're unsigned, which again is not unusual but they're in excellent condition you just had them redone.

They've been re-backed, so that there's no more uh, danger of their losing paint or becoming uh, damaged as far as that's concerned.

Now, have you had these looked at before?

GUEST: Never.

Never uh, we've you know we got them from my mother's house took them out to have them restored and they've been hanging in um, in my living room in Howard County since then.

P RAAB: Well I know they're of enormous sentimental value to you and I certainly understand that uh, 'cause they've come down from the, through the family for so long.

As I said it was not able to find uh, prices for in past auctions for Coutant.

Uh, so we have to discuss them as unsigned portraiture in 2023.

So the market you have two ideas of value one is a sale, sale value and the other would be an insurance evaluation and I know that's what you're interested in with sale and with the accompanying book which is very important to have, at sale at auction, nowadays portraits are not as as desirable as they were 20 years ago.

Especially if you put them on sale and people, unknown... people who are unknown to these people would just be buying them to hang them as nice portraits but, uh... so that's market has softened a bit but I would say that each painting because she especially is a uh, a lovely woman, and somebody you'd want on your wall...

GUEST: Yeah.

P RAAB: Um, the paintings would probably sell at auction for about $2,500 each, including the book which is really important as far as pulling this all together, you know, you might have $5,500, that's might be a little high, but still $5,500 at a sale price.

For an estimate for insurance, you're really talking at least double or more than that, so you're talking 10 to 15,000 as far as an insurance evaluation, meaning if they were stolen or lost or damaged what kind of money would you get back from that.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

P. RAAB: So, that I think is is a pretty good return on a free gift.

GUEST: Well, well yes.

But as you mentioned they're invaluable to the family.

P RAAB: They're invaluable.

GUEST: Yeah I would expect some days are going to be hanging in my daughter's house... P RAAB: I know she loves it, I know, I know already that she's very involved.

GUEST: I do, yes.

P RAAB: Well thank you very much for bringing them to us here at Chesapeake Collectibles.

GUEST: Thank you very much, thank you.

P RAAB: Nice to see you all.

(studio chatter) ED: This is a wonderful, wonderful tea set, can you tell me a little bit about how you got it?

GUEST: Well it's been part of the family for a long, long time my dad said, always said it was colonial but it's been sitting in a suitcase on the closet shelf for a long, long time um, but you helped me today with the, the letters on it so it actually instead of being the Horners that we were here from 1740s it actually dates back to the Stouthaus which is another line and they go back to New Amsterdam, New York um, in the 1600s, um, they came over in 1620.

ED: Well, you know, your, your father was right, it is colonial.

This is neo, typical neo-classical, uh designs, particularly the sugar urn.

The Helmut creamer is also typical neo-classical, the interesting thing is at, at this point in time, uh, previous to this the teapots were often times in ceramics, and you had a sliver creamer or silver sugar.

But they weren't sold as sets.

By about 1790 neo-classical, you're starting to get people that have the affluence enough, in the states, colonials, to buy it as a set.

This set is even more interesting because you have two pieces that are from one maker, in other words the creamer and the teapot is made by Van Buren out of New York, and then this one is, the the sugar is made by Bailey and it was sold as a set, it was engraved as a set all the engraving is original, and the condition is absolutely fabulous and it's nice that it went down through the family.

you have a lot of uh, oxidation, this is normal for period, you'll have some fire scale but you can clean this thing gently uh, put it into plastic bags, we're not going to use the suitcase anymore, and you can enjoy it.

it's really a fabulous set of this period of American silver and can really starting to get quite unusual.

have you ever had this appraised before?

GUEST: Uh, no we have not.

ED: Okay well at auction, seeing you have provenance and seeing that it's such a wonderful neo-classical form and no dents, no dings, no rust but a little there's a little repair right here at the handle but other than that it's almost immaculate.

Uh, this piece would probably be bringing at auction it could bring anywhere from 3,200 to $3,500, so it's a, it's a very nice set, and it's something I'm sure you're not going to be selling you're gonna keep in the family...

GUEST: Yeah.

ED: Uh, and pass it down the line.

The other thing I did wanna say is it's not, the condition is, is almost pristine, with an original handle really makes a big difference as well, so.

Thank you for bringing it in to Chesapeake Collectibles, this is a real treat!

GUEST: Thank you, thank you very much.

ED: You're quite welcome, I love it.

(studio chatter).

ROSS KELBAUGH: Thanks for coming into our studio today, I've always been interested in the history of photography in Maryland, and I've been particularly interested in the history of professional photographers and you brought in some stories today that I think all of us should be interested in, what did you bring in?

GUEST: Well, first of all I brought a picture of my father, professional photographer Jack Kennedy who ran Kennedy Studio in Frederick, Maryland and he took this picture in May of 1960, when John F Kennedy was running for president in the Maryland Primary.

Um, my father had been taking pictures with John Asbury, a reporter for the Frederick News Post all day, and he had one sheet of 4x5 film left, and he went and grabbed the candidate and said "listen I have one sheet of film left, I've been taking your picture all day, can I take my picture with you?"

And he brought Kennedy in, and as he handed uh, the flash which pulled up his collar, and the camera to John to take the picture, as he was giving him instructions on how to take the picture and before he could be told to put his collar down, and take the film holder out of his pocket, and as Kennedy his buttoning his jacket, getting ready for the shot, he took the picture.

And it's the only, last, last sheet of film he had.

So we have a picture of Kennedy not ready for the shot buttoning his coat, and my father obviously not ready as he's giving instructions, and his collar's turned up, and the film holder's in his pocket.

So then um, uh, years later in 1968 at the Frederick Touchdown Club banquet in February 3rd of 1968, my father took a picture of Johnny Unitas and Brooks Robinson together at, at the uh, banquet and then the next year um, uh, he was invited into the locker room after the game of a football game, and talked to Johnny Unitas, and gave him that picture, and Johnny Unitas said he had never had a picture with, with Brooks Robinson before, and my father had a second picture, which he asked Johnny Unitas to, uh, autograph, and um... Then many years later, I'll let my wife take over.

GUEST: So, many years later I was the shopping mall manager in Laurel and Brooks Robinson was invited to be our guest, our guest at a sports promotion, he was giving and doing autographs, wonderful, wonderful gentleman my husband brought two pictures.

The one you see here, and he gave him the other picture and he said the same thing, he said "I've never had a picture of me and Johnny Unitas."

So, we brought uh, those items here today.

So, both signatures are on the picture.

ROSS: Have you ever had these appraised, in any?

GUEST: No they're just uh, cherished things we've kept in our family, all my brothers have copies, you know, more copies of these pictures, uh, and we're very proud of that one, and uh, no I've never, never shown it outside the house, except today.

ROSS: Well your, well your uh, father was uh... an excellent photographer, being able to capture that critical moment, and he certainly captured two really incredibly, incredible uh, critical moments here together, uh, what a joyous picture between two Maryland icons uh, in that photo, then to be able to get the autographs to go along, and then have them tell you that was the only time they were ever photographed together like that.

and then John Kennedy, uh, an iconic photograph of the young Mr Kennedy uh, running for president, and campaigning here in Maryland, and to be photographed with your father.

I don't how, know how often he was... as, as many as photographs are ever taken of him, really I bet there's not very many photographs of him with the actual photographers that, uh... who took the shots.

So in my opinion I would think I would put at least a value on these, uh, the pair together I would say $1200 to $1500 for the pair.

GUEST: Wow.

ROSS: Uh, and then you got a cross over between the sports, politics, can sometimes even add a premium on top of that.

So I have to thank you very much for bringing these in for us to see, and our audience, and to be able to share the stories of your father.

GUEST: Well thank you very much.

GUEST: Thank you, we're very proud of Jack.

Thanks Jack.

(studio chatter).

GENICE LEE: Hello, welcome to the show, you've brought some significant objects for us to take a look at, why don't you tell me a little bit about what you brought in today?

GUEST: Okay well, what I brought today was to share my Martin Luther King Resurrection City, uh, Poor People Campaign information.

Um, my dad was uh, vice, regional vice president of SCLC so I have a picture of him in one of the diagrams here, um, but going through his materials I just have hundreds of documents and hundreds of photographs, and it covers the entire Martin Luther King Civil Rights era, Rosa Parks, uh Bernard Lee, uh, Jesse Jackson uh, just... Dr Joseph Lowry, they're just so many photographs and information but this particular piece here uh, was on the Resurrection City and the Poor People's Campaign, and dad did uh, uh, I guess uh, a journal of the whole entire Poor People's campaign.

GENICE: Okay.

GUEST: So what we have here is a document of, of the entire event and also just some literature from the campaign itself and a couple of, this is an original booklet from the Poor People's Campaign.

GENICE: So you say these things belong to your father, can you tell us a little bit about his role in the organization?

GUEST: Okay, um, my dad was regional vice president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, um, under Dr Joseph Lowry and he was also a pastor and minister of several churches in the Baltimore area, so uh, during church services and different um, programs that they would have at church like Martin Luther King program, or um, men's day and different occurrences, he would have the civil rights leaders to come up and speak to the church congregation.

Uh, and I enjoy going to the, the African American Museum because looking at what they have on file, then I'm able to come home which is the best part, and match up photographs with what I've seen, and a lot of my photographs are these civil rights leaders when they were young.

And it's just fascinating looking at them and their families when they were young.

Like I said here what you have here is just a very small piece of it, but this is the Poor People's Campaign, and everything that they were trying to do back in that time.

GENICE: Okay, well I thank you for bringing this in to share with us, as you said a lot of people are quite familiar with the March on Washington, which this brochure talks about but I was very intrigued when you begin to tell me about Resurrection City, which this brochure talks about.

And then how your father documented it himself in his own words, and even his role in the organization.

And so I think it's just gives us a broader perspective on some other movements that were going on during the Civil Rights times that people may not be as familiar with this so this will be something for people to go and take a look at and learn a little bit more about.

So if I were to put a value, at a minimum, because there is so much that you're still sorting through, I would start at a, um, amount of $5,000 to start with.

GUEST: Wow, okay.

GENICE: And then we would have to of course look at the condition of the photographs and who are in those images.

And that could um, elevate the value even more.

But I just want to thank you so much for taking the time to share your father's legacy with us and bringing it in today.

GUEST: Thank you, thank you so much.

(studio chatter).

(studio chatter).

ALLAN STYPECK: Hi, thank you for coming to Chesapeake Collectibles, what did you bring us?

GUEST: I brought a signed baseball from all the New York Yankees, and a complete 1956 Topps baseball card collection, and an almost complete 1957 Topps baseball collection, just missing two cards.

ALLAN: Which cards are they missing?

GUEST: Uh, Jackie Robinson and Sandy Koufax.

ALLAN: Oh, pretty important people, but you know, a nice collection of material.

How did you come in possession of this material?

GUEST: Well the baseball is for my mom's side of the family, um, her cousin was married to Moose Skowron, Bill Skowron from the, first baseman for the New York Yankees.

ALLAN: Mm-hm.

GUEST: And my dad was an avid Baseball Card Collector, um, he would have been about 12 years old in 1956, which is a good age to collect baseball cards... ALLAN: And he, and his mom didn't throw them out, which is a first right?

GUEST: No.

ALAN: Because that's the old axiom, don't ever let your mother throw out your baseball cards.

So the collection was accumulated by your, your father... was Moose Skowron uh, an influence in him collecting the cards by any chance?

GUEST: No, because it was different families.

ALLAN: Oh different families, so this is a kind of a collaboration of both sides of your family.

GUEST: Right.

ALLAN: You were born for baseball.

GUEST: Right.

ALLAN: This is really a great collection, we're going to start with the Moose Skowron baseball, this is a mid-50s baseball of the Yankees with four Hall of Fame baseball players on it, most of the signatures are legible and it has um, clarity throughout.

Um, it's, it's not an uncommon ball, but is a collectible ball.

Now the core collection, the um, '56 Topps complete, and the '57 Topps almost complete, are exceptional.

You have so many Hall of Fame baseball players on these cards.

I mean, over here we have Yogi Berra, and a uh, over, and we have uh, Luis Aparicio on the bottom, who is the only rookie in 1956, which is an aberration with baseball cards, only to have one rookie.

You have Don Drysdale over here, and you have Jackie Robinson, you have Sandy Koufax, you have so many players here that are in the Hall of Fame and are highly collectible.

The condition is extremely good, I really think that they should be graded, because they determine, that's how you determine the market value.

It is a collection that is significantly well protected, which will probably enhance the grading level I cannot tell you how each card will be until the grader is but if we made an average grade of six to seven to eight, which looks like it would be, I will assign a value according to that.

Have you ever had the material appraised?

GUEST: Not in it's entirety, no.

ALLAN: And did you have any part of it ever appraised?

GUEST: Not appraised per se, um, some of the cards were purchased by my father as an adult, so he would have gotten them from a baseball card shop so some of them would have already been graded.

ALLAN: Well, that's great because then he increased the value of the collection by hand selecting the fill, that's, that's, that's really good to hear, that's, that's a good point.

So, we're going to start with the ball.

This is a ball that we would probably appraise for between $800 to $1,200 depending on the grading that would come back on the signatures.

Now the Topps cards, the complete set of the Topps '56, if they grade out at the level that we assume they will, will probably be worth in the range of about $10,000, and the 57's probably close to, um, what the fact that you're missing two key cards.

So in all, you have a collection here that I would estimate a value of anywhere between $15,000 and $20,000.

GUEST: Wow.

That's great.

ALLAN: So, good?

GUEST: Yes, yes it's wonderful.

ALLAN: So thank you very much for coming, appreciate it.

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

ALLAN: Thank you.

ED: Next time on Chesapeake Collectibles.

GUEST: The members of the village come up and they spin one of these... DENNIS HARTER: Right.

GUEST: For how they thought of the person as they speak.

And if you thought of the person as maybe a bit devilish, you would show the devil here.

GUEST: Starting at the bottom is Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Ernie Banks, Eddie Matthews, Reggie Jackson, Mike Schmidt, Carmen Killebrew, Frank Robinson, Willie Mays, and number one is Hank Aaron.

ALLAN: Hank number one.

GUEST: So this is a, uh, Civil War pistol that my father got from his father, Christmas in 1945.

GUEST: I brought discharge papers from my great granddad and my great uncle's service in the US Colored Troops they served with the US Colored Troops in regiment 58 from 1864 until 1867.

G AMORY: It's absolutely spectacular, and the fact that it came out of a dumpster I think is even more important.

You just never know what you're gonna find when you dive a good dumpster, you know?

GUEST: That's right.

NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by... Alex Cooper Auctioneers, since 1924 has been serving the Mid-Atlantic states, featuring monthly gallery antique auction sales, our staff can assist clients with the disposition of their valued possessions.

Alex Cooper Auctioneers.

GUEST: I really had a good time today, we're already thinking about stuff we're gonna bring next season.

GUEST: I loved today.

It was on my bucket list, and when we got the notification from MPT, I told Patrick, "we gotta do this!"

GUEST: Uh, my father worked very hard on building the collection starting when he was a child all the way through adulthood and so I think it would have meant a lot for him for someone to hold on to it.

GUEST: I will store it better because I was told four times by the expert um, how I am not handling it well, um, so we'll be taking care of it, um, storing it, maybe putting on display in within the house, but it's a family heirloom that generations from now we'll still be appreciating it.

GUEST: I also learned that the collection was worth less than I thought it was.