♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Major funding is provided by... Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles online and in person gallery auctions every month, serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

LEX REEVES: Coming up on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

KATHLEEN HAMILL: Well, you have an amazing return on investment on this piece.

GUEST: What this is is a letter from George Armistead from 1811 bragging to his friend that he just put off a flagpole at Fort McHenry.

GENICE R. LEE: Like with fine art, this particular doll is part of a limited number that were produced.

LEX: Now, the neat attribute, which is kind of hard to see, is that on the back of the cane is a Gibson girl.

GUEST: Yeah.

GUEST: I wish I knew.

I mean, I use it as a hat rack, but I'd like to know... ED MORENO: You use it as a hat rack.

GUEST: ...How expensive my hat rack is.

FRANK SHAIA: It's a very special rug.

Across the room, I saw it and said, "I wanna see that rug."

(theme music playing) (overlapping chatter).

ROSS J. KELBAUGH: Well, I'd like to welcome you to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

GUEST: Oh, thank you.

ROSS: You brought in a document here that is one of the most exciting that I have seen, not only this weekend, but in my 12 years on the show.

What do you have here?

GUEST: What this is is a letter from George Armistead from 1811 bragging to his friend that he just put up a flagpole at Fort McHenry.

The park service says that they spent $35 on the new flagpole and about $27 to install it.

But he wants help from his friend now that he has a flagpole as they're rebuilding the fort to go find a new flag.

And about three years later that flag made our national anthem.

ROSS: Now a little later he became commander of Fort McHenry.

GUEST: Yes, he had actually kind of been there...

In some ways, he was very instrumental in getting the Fort rebuilt 'cause it was in a dilapidated state.

It was, uh, a Pentagon shaped fort, one of the early ones in the United States history.

And he helped get this built back into shape so that when the war of 1812 came about, it was in better shape than most other forts.

ROSS: This is an incredible document connected to such an important part of American history.

You had to have a flagpole to put the Star-Spangled Banner on that was strong enough to be able to hold that, such a large flag.

GUEST: Yes.

ROSS: We have the star span banner there at the Smithsonian.

We have Francis Scott Key's handwritten lyrics for the Star-Spangled Banner at the Maryland Historical Society.

We have the flag house where Mary Pickersgill lived.

She didn't make the flag there, but where she lived, set aside as a museum.

And of course then we have Fort McHenry and the flagpole that is there, I assume is they have attempted to reproduce the flagpole that would've been there in 1814 for the attack.

GUEST: Yes, they've done, the park service did a study and they figured out where the remnants of it were and they've reestablished it.

And then that flagpole about 14 years later, deteriorated and they replaced it with yet another flagpole.

So, obviously, flag poles being of wood at the time in the weather will deteriorate.

But they spent, the replacement wasn't $35 anymore.

Inflation took it up to 150.

ROSS: Wow.

Now how in the world did you ever find this document?

GUEST: A friend of mine let me know that he had seen it at a local Maryland auction house.

And it sounded like the Maryland Historical Society wasn't interested in procuring it.

So during the bicentennial time period, I ended up registering and was able to win the auction.

ROSS: So fitting in with all those other things, just an incredible part of the story.

Now have you ever had it appraised?

GUEST: No, I did have one person make a, a generous offer.

He said that this is probably the third most significant document that he had personally handled.

And he was, he was my framer.

He works for the White House and Mount Vernon.

ROSS: Oh really?

Okay.

One thing I might have mentioned, the document actually had-had a hole in it.

How did that happen?

GUEST: Well, if you notice on the backside they have the seal 'cause it's sealed and that hole is from when the seal was-was opened.

So the person who received the letter opened it and made the hole.

ROSS: Well, well, I agree with your framer.

What an incredible document.

I would put a minimum estimation of value on this of at least $30,000.

GUEST: Oh wow.

ROSS: And could very well bring more, considering how it fits into all of that history.

It really is something that ought to be at Fort McHenry amongst the national collection.

If you ever feel generous to be able to donate it to the National Park Service.

But I want to thank you for you bringing this in to be able to share with our audience, and particularly those who love Maryland history.

So, thank you very much.

GUEST: Okay, well, thank you.

ROSS: Thank you.

(cash register ding).

(overlapping chatter).

KATHLEEN: Hello and welcome to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

What have you brought for me today?

GUEST: We brought a painting that I found at our local Goodwill store in the springtime.

KATHLEEN: Which Goodwill store?

GUEST: It's in Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania.

KATHLEEN: Shrewsbury, Pennsylvania.

Okay, and then are you a frequent thrifter?

Do you guys like to go to antique stores and...

GUEST: I stop in the Goodwill every day and we attend some local auctions.

KATHLEEN: That's amazing.

And you've been collecting for a long time then, I presume?

GUEST: Yes, we've been collecting about 40 years.

KATHLEEN: So you're walking into this Goodwill and you see this?

GUEST: Yes.

It was actually flat on a shelf and they had a stack of paintings.

KATHLEEN: Was it on top of the paintings or under it?

GUEST: It was actually on top.

KATHLEEN: Okay.

GUEST: So I lifted that one up and then they had some other unexciting things underneath of it and I wasn't sure, but green's my favorite color and the boat caught my eye.

KATHLEEN: Yes, yes.

What's really fascinating is there is another canvas on the back.

I'm gonna turn it.

So it's got an exhibition stamp on the back, but there's also an unfinished scene of what appears to be the same boat.

GUEST: And it took us a day or so to realize it's the same boat.

KATHLEEN: Just a different, a different vantage point.

And so this is Gerrit Beneker.

He is an American artist of the early 20th century.

He's known for his scenes of industrial life, city scenes, landscapes.

They describe his landscapes and water scapes a little bit in the Impressionist school.

He was very well known in the Provincetown, Massachusetts area.

And this is where this gallery label comes from.

And we can presume that this is in Provincetown on the water.

He did a lot of these boat scenes, dock scenes, water scenes there.

Going forward, you probably need to get a good cleaning on it.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

KATHLEEN: It appears that it's got some staining.

I would suspect the person who owned it first, maybe there was a smoker in the house.

This is sort of like nicotine stains.

And I would imagine when you go to clean it, it's gonna brighten up even more like that green you love is gonna really...

GUEST: Pop out.

KATHLEEN: Really pop.

GUEST: Okay.

KATHLEEN: So have you done any research on the artist?

GUEST: We looked him up online and we found he's a known artist.

KATHLEEN: Yep and how much did you pay for this?

GUEST: $4.

KATHLEEN: $4?

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

KATHLEEN: Well you have an amazing return on investment on this piece.

At auction, a piece of his water scenes in Provincetown, about $10,000 to $12,000 at auction.

GUEST: That's amazing.

KATHLEEN: Yeah, so you had a really, I wanna go thrifting with you actually, 'cause you've got a really, really good eye and I'm so excited that you brought it in.

Like, these are the stories that I really love to hear, where you saw something that spoke to you and you just loved it and you bought it and then you find out that it's got this amazing surprise to it.

GUEST: We've been waiting, we always hoped this would happen.

KATHLEEN: Yeah.

GUEST: And we'd find something.

KATHLEEN: Yeah.

Well you did.

You did.

GUEST: Oh good.

KATHLEEN: Thank you so much for bringing it in.

GUEST: Oh, you're welcome.

Thank you for your time.

We appreciate it.

(cash register bell) (overlapping chatter).

GUEST: ...Machete was presented to him.

LEX: Welcome to Chesapeake Collectibles.

You've brought me three canes.

GUEST: Yes, I did.

Thank you.

LEX: Tell me a little bit about what you know about 'em.

GUEST: The top one I purchased from, uh, a largest state agrarian estate auction in Central Virginia.

LEX: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: Paid $40 for it.

LEX: Well, you certainly did well.

GUEST: Yeah.

The one in the middle I bought on the Eastern shore, Maryland Eastern shore at a consignment auction.

LEX: Okay.

GUEST: And I paid $30 for it.

LEX: Okay.

GUEST: And the one in front, I bought an auction sale in the Eastern shore of Virginia.

LEX: Okay.

GUEST: And it has quite a story behind it.

I bought it and the back bidder came up to me and said, uh, "I know the story behind this cane.

Would you like to hear it?"

I said, "Yeah, I'd love to hear the story behind it."

He said, "Well, I know the guy who owned it."

He said, back in the late seventies, he took it to a Grateful Dead concert.

And as he was walking in the bouncer, whoever, took the cane and snapped it as you can see... LEX: Oh!

GUEST: ...And handed it back to him.

LEX: You know, it's funny, when my colleague who was sitting at the table over came over and said, "This was broken at a, at a Walking Dead..." GUEST: Grateful Dead.

LEX: No, no, she said, "Walking Dead concert."

I thought, well, that's an odd concert.

I'm not sure how zombies play, but, so in any case it's, it's a wonderful cane.

But let's talk about this one at the top.

GUEST: Okay.

LEX: So, so these all fall into the, the folk art cane market and you know, this one which has, uh, an African American head.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: They're pretty desirable.

I mean, you see them pop up here and there.

What's really neat about this one is it's, it's pretty realistic.

A lot of 'em can be folkier, softer.

That's got a pretty good carving quality on it.

GUEST: And that's what drew me to it.

LEX: Right, right, right.

GUEST: When I saw that.

LEX: Well, you have a good eye.

So in terms of the marketplace, I've seen these turn up at auction, not often, but they tend to range between around 400 and 600.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: So you did pretty well.

GUEST: Yeah.

LEX: So then let's move down to this one.

This is kind of a chip carving of an owl.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: This is probably the sturdiest.

GUEST: It is.

LEX: This one isn't gonna break.

It's carving is pretty good, but it's not as folky or as as strong.

GUEST: Right.

LEX: So that's probably $100 or $90 to $120.

But the one up front is the one that we'll talk about.

Now it has a poem on it that's by John Henry Newman who was a priest.

GUEST: No, I did not know that.

LEX: Okay, okay.

Well, interestingly enough, he was beatified, which is kinda like sainted...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: ...By Pope Benedict the 16th in 2010.

GUEST: Wow.

LEX: So it was a poem that was obviously very popular.

It was carved in 1900.

GUEST: Right.

LEX: And has the name of Andrew J. Hobgood...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: ...North Carolina.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: But it has, if I remember correctly, in August of 1900 where it was carved was not where he found the piece of wood...

GUEST: Right.

LEX: ...Because he got it in the playground of his youth.

GUEST: Right.

LEX: So he must have held onto this piece of wood...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: ...Carved it much later, which is kind of neat...

GUEST: Yeah, it is.

LEX: ...When you think about it.

But, uh, North Carolina piece.

These inscripted, or kind of, carved into with, with either poems or patriotic, they, they turn up in Virginia.

There was a carver named Craddock, Thomas Jefferson Craddock, that did very similar ones in Southern Virginia.

I couldn't find anything on Andrew J. Hobgood, but he clearly was very talented.

Has a great patina, too.

GUEST: I do know that he was born in 1858 and died in 1924.

LEX: Just from the doing the genealogy.

GUEST: Yeah.

LEX: Well, I was hoping I'd be able to find some other examples because he clearly was good.

Now, the neat attribute, which is kind of hard to see, is that on the back of the cane is a Gibson girl.

GUEST: Yeah.

LEX: Now, Charles Dana Gibson was one of the more important illustrators in the early 20th century.

And the Gibson girls, which I believe were his daughters or daughter, became iconic images.

So clearly he looked at a print and decided to put a, a pretty woman holding a parasol on the back.

Again, it's kind of hard to see and probably just 'cause, from the wear of his hand being, you know, it obviously was used.

Clearly it was used at the Grateful Dead concert until it wasn't.

GUEST: That's true, right.

LEX: So, in any case, value.

The ones that I've seen turn up, they tend to run anywhere from around 800 to 1500 for this style.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

LEX: North Carolina ones are rarer than the Virginia ones.

I've seen a ton of Virginia ones, but because it's broken, it's gonna affect the value.

GUEST: Sure.

LEX: But it could be more professionally, where you wouldn't even be able to see it.

So it can't be used.

And I don't think it was meant to, it's not really meant to be used now anyway.

GUEST: Right.

LEX: It's meant to be looked at, I'm gonna say probably in the $600 to $800 range as it is.

If it hadn't been broken again, it would've been more.

GUEST: Sure.

LEX: it's a beautiful collection.

GUEST: Thank you.

LEX: And I'd love to see some more next year.

Bring some more.

GUEST: Okay.

Thank you.

LEX: Thanks for coming.

GUEST: Thanks for taking the time.

(cash register ding).

(overlapping chatter).

FRANK: Well, Welcome to Chesapeake Collectibles.

GUEST: Thank you very much.

FRANK: You've got a lovely rug that you brought here.

Tell me what you know about it.

GUEST: What I know about it is it's belonged to my grandmother.

She had it for as long as I can remember and it was something she treasured, and now I have it.

FRANK: Okay.

Did she have a lot of rugs?

GUEST: No, this was, this was the one that she, she did not have a lot of Orientals.

FRANK: Yeah.

GUEST: But this was very special to her.

FRANK: Yeah.

It's a very special rug.

The moment I saw it across the room, I saw it and said, "I wanna see that rug."

GUEST: Well, good.

FRANK: So what you have here is a silk rug.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

FRANK: And it's woven in Kashan.

So we call this a Mohtasham Kashan.

Mohtasham was one of the most famous weaving centers in the city of Kashan, the Mohtasham family.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

FRANK: And they're renowned for the silk rugs that they do, and very finely woven rugs.

What's really pleasing about this, I love the light blue border and all of these decorative colors that you see in it.

So all of those make it just pleasant to the eye, and it's, you know, it's a candy to the eye.

The other thing that's real interesting about this rug is it's not only silk, but there is about 600 knots per square inch.

GUEST: Oh my.

FRANK: So that's like 20 x 30 in terms of the, that's in a square inch.

So, imagine that was one inch.

There's 600 knots in a square inch.

GUEST: It is remarkable.

Wow.

FRANK: And it's just, it's a lovely, lovely rug.

You know, we look at rugs and antique rugs.

I've said it on "Chesapeake Collectibles" before, "Color, color, color, harmony in color."

That's what I look for, and this has all of the above.

It's got just the wonderful colors, the soft light blue, the rust tones, and all of the things that make for a fabulous rug.

GUEST: Right.

FRANK: Now, the downside of this piece is unfortunately it is a little worn...

GUEST: Mm-hmm FRANK: ...In the middle.

It would be, you know, just fabulous.

This, it was in perfect condition.

So it is a little worn.

GUEST: Yeah.

FRANK: Which obviously, as I was explaining to you before, these rugs are only marketed to the very wealthy people and they would rather spend ten times as much and get up rug in perfect condition.

GUEST: Right.

FRANK: As one that's a little low.

So you inherited this so you didn't pay any money for it.

GUEST: Yeah.

FRANK: But just so you know.

GUEST: Yeah.

FRANK: And for your insurance purposes and things, I would probably appraise it for between $8,000 and $10,000.

GUEST: Oh my Lord.

FRANK: It it, in a good auction, it would sell anywhere between $5,000 and $10,000.

GUEST: That's... FRANK: Because it's just, one of the nice things about a rug like this is it has an international value.

So a lot of what we sell is just to the American market.

But a piece like this, Persians would like to buy it back or other people, you know, other countries would like to buy it back as well.

GUEST: Wow.

Oh my goodness.

FRANK: So it drives the market up even higher on it.

But this is just a wonderful piece.

I wish the viewers could feel the silk on it and how wonderful it feels.

GUEST: It's pretty spectacular, isn't it?

It's, wow.

Thank you so much.

FRANK: Thank you so much for bringing this in.

It's a lovely piece.

GUEST: Really appreciate it.

Thank you.

FRANK: Alright.

(cash register dings) (overlapping chatter).

ED: Thanks for bringing this wonderful object to "Chesapeake Collectibles."

Can you tell me a little bit about it?

GUEST: Well, it's a brass candelabra that came down through the family, and I'd like to know more about it.

ED: And how, you were, you were telling me that your father got it where?

GUEST: Well, he was in the Air Force and we were living in Bogota, Colombia.

ED: Right.

GUEST: And he and my mom and some other people flew to Cali, and some guy said to my parents, "Come look what I have in the trunk of the car.

Maybe you'd like to buy this."

And they did.

They put it in the Air Force plane and got it back up to Bogota.

ED: And then from Bogota?

GUEST: Well then, we, uh, a few years later, left for Panama.

It went there, then they returned to Bogota, it went there.

Then my mom came to Annapolis with it.

And after she died, my sister had it outside New York City.

And finally, I have it.

ED: So this kind of is great story in the sense that objects travel and, you know, we never know where they're gonna travel.

This particular piece was probably made, I don't think it was made in Colombia.

It was probably made in-in Europe, probably in Spain.

It is a modern piece, probably first quarter of the 20th century.

And it was made for ecclesiastical, made for churches, illumination in churches are very difficult.

Two or four of these pieces would've been placed in the altar so that people could actually see what the priest was doing.

So a wonderful, wonderful piece.

Have you ever seen it taken apart, or do you always carry it around?

GUEST: I have never seen it taken apart.

ED: Okay.

GUEST: I don't know if in large moves... ED: Mm-hmm.

GUEST: ...It was disassembled or not.

ED: Okay, okay, but the fact is that you've had this in the family for how long now?

GUEST: Since the early sixties.

ED: Sixties, okay.

Alright.

GUEST: It's a long time.

ED: It's a long time.

A nice piece.

It all disassembles actually.

The, the arms do come out and the candle cups, too.

I know that it's a modern piece because there are components that are actually extruded pipe.

So we know that it's not, even though it looks like an older piece, like a 18th century or even a 17th century piece, we actually know that it's being made with modern, modern techniques.

So, but it's still a wonderful, wonderful piece.

And have you ever thought about how much it could be worth?

GUEST: I wish I knew.

I mean, I use it as a hat rack, but I'd like to know.

ED: You use it as a hat rack.

GUEST: How expensive my hat rack is.

ED: How many hats do you have?

GUEST: Oh, well, I have winter hats and summer hats and I, they change by season.

ED: Uh, seasonal changes.

GUEST: Yeah.

ED: I see.

Okay.

Well, as a hat rack, you have a very expensive hat rack, but there you go.

Probably in, on the market, this would probably be in the $1,500 to $1,900 range.

So it's, it's a, it's unusual because of its size.

GUEST: Yes.

ED: Unfortunately, if it had been a little bit older, it would've been nicer.

But it's nice nevertheless, and I'm glad you have it.

And I'm glad that it made all these movements from continent to continent, that really makes the story.

GUEST: Well, coming from the trunk of a car.

That's not a bad life.

ED: Yeah.

Who knows where the person got it from the trunk of the car?

GUEST: I'm sure it was a church.

ED: Thank you for bringing it in, it was a lot of fun.

Thank you.

GUEST: Thank you.

It was a pleasure.

(cash register ding).

(overlapping chatter).

GENICE: Hi, and welcome to the show.

What did you bring in today for us to take a look at?

GUEST: Today, I brought in some figurines that belonged to my mother.

My mother was a traveler, and wherever she went, she would pick up one of these lovely figurines and just display 'em at home.

One in particular is a figurine of Madam CJ Walker, as you know, was a black billionaire.

One of the first African American black billionaires who made her own haircare products.

So I brought them in for you to tell me about them.

GENICE: Okay.

Okay, great.

Well, one of the things that caught my attention about the figurines is that lots of African American families have these figurines.

They're, they're collected, they're loved, and then they're left wondering, when the collector is no longer around...

GUEST: Yeah.

GENICE: What is the value of them?

So I thought this was a great opportunity to talk about these beloved figurines that our families collect and to, to let the audience know a little bit about them.

GUEST: Yeah.

GENICE: And so we've got these two farmers, male and female, from the HOMCO company that was founded by Mary Crowley in 1957.

GUEST: Wow.

GENICE: A little older in the way that they're looking, right?

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: But then again, we had this adorable figurine of Madam CJ Walker.

As we were talking about her, I said, "Well, what is that she's holding in her hand?"

So if we look closely at her, we'll see that she's holding her own product right there in the center of her hand.

The other thing about this particular figurine, which is by Sarah's Attic...

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: ...Is that it is a limited edition.

So it was 2,045 of 3,000.

So there's only 3,000 of these dolls out there.

GUEST: Wow.

GENICE: And so, like with fine art, this particular doll is part of a limited number that were produced, and your mom happened to pick one of them up.

GUEST: Wow.

GENICE: And so when we talk about value, these range for the pair from $55 to $100, and the Madam CJ Walker figurine $60 to about $75.

So it's not tremendous numbers in value.

However, I do find that a lot of families that I meet with collect these, and they are beloved because they show our history.

GUEST: Yes.

GENICE: They allow us to see ourselves in our homes.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

GENICE: And I just was so smitten with the Madam CJ Walker Doll.

GUEST: Yeah.

GENICE: And so I wanna thank you so much for bringing them in today for us to take a look at.

GUEST: Thank you, and thank you for evaluating them for me.

I appreciate it.

(cash register ding).

AMORY LeCUYER: Next time, on "Chesapeake Collectibles."

ROBERT HARRISON: One of the areas that we're always excited about when we see bed coverings or even furniture, it's southern.

And with it being southern, it's added a premium to its value.

ED: This is a wonderful piece I saw a while back.

It's from a theater in the Second World War that most people don't talk about.

GUEST: I brought some identification papers from my late husband's grandmother, and she survived the Holocaust war.

GUEST: I brought some Chesapeake Bay watercraft paintings by Louis Feuchter, an artist who lived in Baltimore.

AMORY: I loved it when you came up to my table, because initially I thought one thing, but then you surprised me with another.

GUEST: The bow ties were actually bow ties that belonged to John Glenn.

NARRATOR: Major funding was provided by... Alex Cooper Auctioneers, appraisers and auctioneers of fine art, jewelry, and collectibles online and in person gallery auctions every month, serving buyers and sellers in Maryland and around the world for over 100 years.

♪ ♪ Second Story Books, celebrating 50 years of dedicated book selling.

GUEST: Today, I had a really great experience.

I thought the appraisers seemed to know a lot about the different items, they were able to take and tell me a little bit more than what I had known before coming in.

GUEST: That was a wonderful experience.

Nice and easy.

Everyone's friendly, and you get to learn a lot of things.

See many different items.

GUEST: I had a great time.

The people were really great and very warm, very personal setting, and just, just had a really good time.

GUEST: Get to talk to a lot of different people about what they brought in, and it was a good experience overall.

GUEST: Would I recommend it?

Absolutely, it was, it was a fascinating learning experience and it was, it was nice to meet all the different people that had interests like mine as well.

GUEST: We are gonna have it professionally restored and cleaned and...

GUEST: And keep it.

GUEST: And keep it.

GUEST: Oh, they'll stay in the family, they won't be sold.

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