>> Welcome to Mississippi Antiques Showcase.

In this episode, we're in Natchez, Mississippi with our expert appraisers to look at your rare finds, family heirlooms, and your quirky collectibles.

We'll see what we can learn about these unique treasures and of course see what they might be worth.

>> Over a thousand dollars.

Does that surprise you?

>> It does surprise me.

Yes.

A lot.

>> Well, what do we have here today?

>> We have an oyster plate, one of 12.

>> One of 12.

>> That has been in the family since the turn of the last century.

Well, the previous century, of course.

>> Late 1800s.

>> We have an old New Orleans family, and we've inherited some of the items from that area-- era.

And, this is one of the items.

>> Right.

They actually have a practical use to, you know, like a lot of things.

Have you ever used it for oysters?

>> No.

We haven't.

>> Yeah.

>> Mainly for display.

>> They used these...

They did use them, I mean like in the 1880s and even earlier than that.

And but I'm looking at this one and I'm thinking this one is probably, you know, the 1870s, 1880s.

And you say you have 12 of them?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> Well, are they all in as good a shape as this one?

>> They are.

>> So you just set them up on the shelf.

And then if the children tried to get them down and play with them, they were probably reprimanded.

>> Yeah.

>> Things like this-- and this has been in your family, so you don't want to sell it, I'm sure.

>> Not really.

But let's see how much it's worth.

>> Yeah.

Okay.

>> If you tell us $1 million, yes we will.

>> I'm afraid we won't quite get there.

But I have sold these sets for quite a bit of money.

But usually the ones that I sold were San L'Moage or something.

And other makers made these.

This one, being 12 of them and all in good condition, I would say probably around $800 to $1000.

>> Is that set?

>> Yes.

For the set.

>> Oh, for the set.

That's pretty good!

>> But yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

>> But how much would one go for?

>> Well you don't have a lot less value because, they're always in a set, you know, because you who would want-- I couldn't get started eating oysters, with just, with just six of them.

But anyway.

Always as a set, and there were some big makers, like I said, L'Moage made them and I sold one once for around $3,000 for the set.

But it was, but it was, it was signed and from France and so but these, these are nice and, I'd suggest keeping them and have some raw oysters.

>> I see.

>> All right.

Thank y'all for coming.

>> Thank y'all!

Thank you very much!

We really do appreciate you coming to Natchez.

>> Hello, Carolan.

I'm Ron, and I'm so glad to see you.

And glad that you're here today with us at this special event.

And you're from Madison, Mississippi, right?

>> Yes.

That's correct.

>> Good.

These are absolutely exquisite.

These candlesticks, a set of four with the Corinthian columns.

And you have the individual little bobeches for each one to catch the drippings, of course, from candles.

>> I had no idea.

>> That's what that is.

Yes, ma'am.

And so, if you look right here on them-- First of all, let me ask you this.

Tell me a little bit about how you acquired them and what you know about them.

>> Well, these were on my grandfather's dining room table, and at meals, they were there.

So I grew up seeing them.

And they have my grandmother's initials on one side.

>> I can see in your face the joy that they bring you.

>> I love them.

>> I think they're beautiful, too.

They are sterling.

And you can see the marks right here.

>> Yes.

>> On them.

And they're, they're-- I have a set of four like these, too.

And, and I do them on my dining room table, and it just makes a beautiful, you know, arrangement.

>> It does.

>> It really does.

They are exquisite.

The work on them, even on the base, is really nice.

They are weighted, because sterling is, you know, is so, so fragile that, you know, you have to have it weighted, pretty much.

>> Amazingly, they are not dented at all.

And that's, that's really amazing because, you know, sterling is easy to dent.

Well, what I would say about these is, as exquisite as they are, and as in perfect condition that they are, and the very fact that they are sterling, I would I would say that the price of these would be somewhere in the in the fair market value, which is what you really want to know, what are they actually worth?

>> Right.

>> And I think that these should be at least $500 a piece, up to probably $700 a piece.

Somewhere in that range >> Okay.

>> for fair market value.

I think you have a treasure.

>> Well, I think I do, too, >> And I think they're a treasure to you.

I can tell.

>> Oh, hey, Bettina.

Thank you so much for bringing this item, to the Mississippi Antique Showcase.

Can you tell the audience what-- What did you bring us today?

>> Yes.

This is some framed continental and reconstruction money that has been in our family for decades.

Probably a couple of-- a century or so, at least.

I got it from my mom's house.

We are the last Stuarts from our family still in town.

And this money probably could have been collected from the Andrew Marshall or Robert Stuart family, who has been in Natchez since the early 1800s.

The Stuarts didn't get rid of anything, so it has all ended up in Mom's house here.

And we are working on getting Mom's stories about all these so we can donate it all to the Historic Natchez Foundation.

>> So sometimes hoarding is not a bad thing, especially when you have items like.

>> This that's right.

And Mom has got some really interesting stories about a lot of the things.

Like this frame was just in one of the storage houses that was at my grandparents' house.

It's probably gold leaf.

It was just stored in with the other broken pots and pottery and other crystal dishes and just kind of all stored in there with everything because she didn't throw anything away.

And it's got the original glass, and Mom can't remember where the money came from, but we've found leather folders of money, steamboat receipts, invoices, letters, documents, pictures from the early 1800s on.

So this is just another example of some of the stuff we've pulled out of hats.

>> It really is fascinating.

And Cory is going to speak a little more about the currency, but I just wanted to point out that even the frame that it's in, as you've kind of mentioned, it would have been-- it's got some condition issues with the gold, guilt.

But it would have originally been a mirror.

But it is, it is, fascinating that it has the bullseye medallions on each corner.

And it is a period, 1830s Federal American mirror, originally.

And so yhe frame is wonderful and exquisite in itself.

There are some of those condition issues, but it's beautiful nonetheless, so.

>> Wonderful.

>> That it is.

And we're talking about value of something like this.

What what do you think it could be worth?

>> The whole thing?

>> Yeah, kit and caboodle >> The whole thing.

Based on the value of the other wonderful family items we found, I would say anywhere from $2.50 to $250.

>> Okay, well, I'm gonna tell you a little bit about why this is a little bit more than that.

If you look at these three top continental.

So you're talking about a period that's an 18th century.

These are your most valuable ones up here.

And they generally have an estimate of about $600 to $800 a piece at auction.

And that's what we've seen recently.

This middle and lower tier, obviously, the reconstruction a little bit, a little bit newer, but you've got one even got an Abraham Lincoln on it.

So you can at least kind of estimate that time period.

And so those are a little bit less probably anywhere from $300 to $500 a piece.

So if you're talking about the whole package, you're, well, probably close to over $5,000.

>> Wow!

>> So that's what makes this valuable.

So that surprised you a little?

>> It does surprise me.

Yes a lot.

>> Well it's really special.

You could you could point out so many different things on these, old money.

And I always like to note how small they were back then.

Obviously they're a little a little smaller than today's currency, but it's truly a special collection that you've got here.

Usually you find one and then that's it, but you've got it all preserved here thanks to the hoarder status of our Natchez folks.

>> Yes, yes.

>> I really appreciate you bringing it in today.

It's a special piece.

>> Oh, thank you, thank you.

That's nice to know the value and that it really is in good condition.

>> Absolutely.

>> Very nice.

Thank you very much.

>> I hope you find some more treasures in your mother's home.

>> Oh, there are.

Some of them are worth $2.50.

But yeah, there are a lot of different things there.

So thank you very much.

This is very nice.

>> I'm here with Anthony D'Orazi from Perkinston, Mississippi.

He has brought, I think, the most adorable piece that I've seen today.

Anthony, welcome to the Mississippi Antiques Showcase.

>> Thanks for having me.

>> Thank you so much for coming in.

I want to know all about what I'm going to call this little baby right here.

>> So this was a samurai art.

Most of them are sumo samurai.

So, the appraiser had never seen a child before.

They were common gifts from the Japanese culture to visitors that came to their home.

Or they went abroad.

And that was the actual case that took place here.

A family friend visited and they gifted this to our family.

>> Awesome, awesome.

So it was gifted.

And talk a little bit about the head that the that the child's holding.

>> He didn't give me too much background on that.

It is a symbolic samurai figure from their culture, from what I discovered earlier.

But I was just surprised that there was so common.

In my house we always thought they weren't as common as they really are.

>> Yeah, it looks like the baby is very proud of this samurai warrior.

>> Yes, it's a it's symbolic of good luck, from my understanding.

>> Okay, okay.

I love that.

That's beautiful.

Okay.

Talk about the glass box.

Are you keeping it in here for certain reason?

>> This is the original glass box.

He was pointing out this backdrop here is gold lame rice paper.

And that was done specifically for the statue and the black lacquer box.

It was all made together as a piece.

So, yeah, they will always stay together.

>> Okay.

This has been one of the most popular pieces here.

>> It has!

>> Been very much talked about.

Tell me a little bit about what the appraiser appraised you for on this piece.

>> He said it was around $150 to $200.

>> Okay, okay.

>> And then, I was expecting more because it was popular.

>> Right?

Right, right.

>> But it is so cute.

He said that he had never seen one of a child before.

But most of them were sumo and or samurai and or geisha girls.

So the uniqueness of that gives it some family value.

I will hold on to it.

>> Right, right.

Have you gotten into the mode of collecting more of these type of items?

>> I do.

Over the years I've had a few other of the Japanese dolls as well, and they all showcase together.

>> Okay.

Well, my last question is, are we going to keep it or are we going to try to sell it?

>> I'm going to keep it, I think.

>> Okay, okay.

Where is it going to live at the house?

>> It has a little kind of a Japanese area in my home, where there's a few items.

I have a bookcase as well.

>> Awesome, awesome.

Well, it's been so great talking to you.

And congratulations on this piece that you got.

>> Well, thank you.

>> Thank you.

>> Okay, Janet.

So you made it to the Mississippi Antique Showcase with a really cool treasure here.

You want to tell me about it?

>> Yes.

This tea set I inherited from my grandmother-in-law.

>> There's a little bit of a story behind it.

These were made for export gifts and things like that, because Americans really were into the Japanese culture and art and things like that.

I think this is a little bit postwar because it's marked Made in Japan, and it's very clean.

If it had been made right after the war, it would have Made in Occupied Japan when US troops were still there.

If it were made any earlier than that, the colors would have been different.

So this one with the pastel colors is indicative of things that were made for the export to the Western market.

If it had been true Japanese style, they'd be more in the orange oxides and the browns and golds and greens and all that.

But they thought this is what Americans would want or Europeans would want with the pastel colors.

They're a little bit less in your face, for lack of a better term.

But anyway, they're done with a dragon motif, which is raised.

And, for the viewers, this is a very rough texture here.

And this is called Moriyagi.

Moriyagi is a layered paint technique with enamel that hardens to give you these raised textures.

So it almost looks three dimensional.

But you can see the dragon has wings and he's got a ferocious face.

And you know, in tea service, the dragon would be, a mythical creature that would keep away bad spirits or bad energy or whatever.

And that's why he was depicted.

Now, this one's a little bit more unusual in the fact that you've got your teapot, which you would have hot water in.

You've got a creamer and you've got a sugar.

That tells me it's for Western Market, too, because the Japanese don't add cream and sugar to their tea, they don't drink it that way.

And then the fourth element is this really cool basket.

And it has a spoon which you can see I'm taking out.

And this would have been for honey because a lot of people do honey in thier tea.

Yeah, these usually get lost.

They're hardly ever with the set you don't see them because people think they use it for something different.

>> Okay, >> This one's unusual in the fact that it's got all that.

And again you know, everything's marked Made in Japan, the little teas.

And these are almost demitasse size where you'd have just a sip of tea.

>> Yeah.

>> You don't gulp it.

You just very politely, you know, have your tea.

>> Have a sip or two.

>> Yeah.

Exactly.

Serving with, you know, crackers or cakes or whatever.

But it's really a delightful set.

And the colors are pretty.

You've got pastel, you've got greens, teal greens and blues and pinks.

And again, that's different.

And then you've also got the 23 karat gold that's fired.

I'll show you the handle here, how shiny it is on the creamer, sugar and teapot.

And then the lid of this, and the two handles, the teacup handles have the 23 karat gold also.

So, what do you do with it at home?

Do you just display it?

>> I have it in the china cabinet.

>> You have any grandkids?

>> I do.

I say hands off.

>> Yeah.

Good for you.

Yeah.

>> We don't open those doors.

>> This is porcelain.

It's very, very fragile and very light.

And a lot of times Japanese art forms like this were done in what they called faience, which is a heavy pottery.

It's much, much heavier than this, but these are very delicate.

And that's why I asked about the grandkids.

Because it is a fragile set.

>> Right.

No touch.

>> Yeah, but I'm so glad you brought it in.

I think it's a real treasure to have.

Do you have any idea what it's worth?

>> I don't, I don't, it's just very special to me.

>> Very sentimental.

Okay.

Well, you know, in a retail environment, it would probably sell the whole set for about, I'd say $250, $275.

>> Okay.

>> And that's because-- it's a little high because this is included in it.

And these are sort of hard to find or rare.

So if this were not a part of the set, I'd probably drop it down to about maybe $175, $200.

But it's a complete set and it's absolutely lovely.

And I hope your daughters appreciate it as much as you do one day.

>> Yeah, >> Thank you for bringing it.

>> Thank you so much.

>> Roy, I like your, I like your pieces here, but you know what I like better?

>> Yes, sir.

>> I like your U.S. Army shirt.

>> Thank you, sir.

I am retired Army, 22 years.

>> Thank you for your service.

>> Thank you.

It was my privilege.

>> Thank you for coming out today, >> I enjoy it.

>> Well, did you come by these pieces when you were serving our country overseas?

>> I did, sir, I picked these up in 2004, in Kuwait, at a bazaar from a gentleman who told me these were Hindu items that he picked up.

And this particular item was a Hindu goddess of dance.

I believe her name was Shiva, if I'm not mistaken.

So both Hindu items.

This one, I believe he told me, was from the 1800s.

And this one, from the 1700s, both in good shape.

This one has one break in it.

But other than that, that's about as much as I know about the two items, Mark.

>> Did he tell you what this one-- what you did with it?

>> I believe it's some kind of ink well where the ladies would, used to put the ink on.

That's a that's as much as I know.

>> Yeah, it could be that I think it's actually probably a lamp.

>> Oh, I see!

>> There's lamps that were used in, like, the colonial America, and they're called Betty lamps.

And they, you take a little piece of string and let it hang over the edge, fill this with oil and you'd light it.

>> Oh, wow!

>> And, most of the time, the fire wouldn follow the string all the way to the bowl.

>> Exactly.

I guess when it did, you had to start all over again.

>> I gotcha.

>> And hope the wind didn't blow.

>> Right.

Right.

>> Yeah.

And when you bought these pieces, what did you pay for them?

>> I paid $200 for the pair.

>> For the pair?

>> Yes, sir.

>> And he said this one was 19th century.

This one was 18th century.

>> Yes, sir.

>> You know, just looking at them, this one looks older than this one.

Considerably older.

And, pick it up and look at the bottom, there's a good bit of wear there.

And it looks to be made of, made of brass.

>> Okay.

>> I think he was probably, probably right with that.

>> Okay.

>> I can believe it is 18th century.

>> Oh, wow.

It is.

>> And, I've heard of Shiva before, and she was a Hindu goddess.

And the back of this piece, was was actually, it came this one came out painted, looked like they had >> Had some paint on it.

>> Had some paint there.

And of course, that's a lot of that is worn away.

This the little one, that you, you know, the sort of thing it's, it's fairly well-built, it's strong, but still, when you're thinking about being over 200 years old.

>> Right.

>> There's not a lot of those that would survive in the kind of condition this one's in.

Because the condition is pretty good for the age.

It's got a little bird here on the back, and, it's almost like there's another little bird down at the bottom.

At the bottom, a tail and the head there.

And this piece at a will advertised auction in today's market, I believe, would probably sell in the $300 to $400 range.

>> Nice, nice.

And, the Shiva piece.

I think she would probably be somewhere in the $150 to $250 range.

>> Okay.

>> I occaisionally see these, you don't see that many in these little lamps that are in that kind of condition.

And, and still with us, usually there's like this bird would be gone or be broken or cracked and and whoever had that one took care.

>> Took very good care of it.

So I'm very happy, then.

That makes my day.

>> Well, it's some, some neat stuff.

>> Thank you very much.

>> Really.

Some nice pieces.

I'm glad you brought them out.

>> Thank you very much.

I appreciate your time.

>> Thank you >> Ron.

>> Yes?

>> They asked me to bring some stuff here today, and I couldn't just pick one item.

I had to pick three.

>> Yeah, I certainly understand.

>> I picked three items that I thought were fun and just a little historical and, whimsical and wild.

So I'm gonna run through them real quick.

But the first one here, this is Clementine Hunter.

So Clementine Hunter, well-known Louisiana artist.

She lived to be 101 years old, and very prolific.

Grew up on a plantation and then lived on Melrose Plantation, Louisiana, and painted all the time.

But this Clementine Hunter is not real.

This is a fake.

Clementine Hunter was being forged, way back.

And so this one is by her grandson, a guy named Frank Hunter, who, when he was caught faking Clementine's paintings, he then had to put FH instead of CH.

And he went to prison and was gone.

And after he went to prison, one of the plantation owners in Natchitoches, a woman named Kimmy Henry, started forging Clementine's paintings.

So again, forgeries popped up all over the place for Clementine.

Well, when you live for 101 years and you become popular, you're going to keep getting forged.

>> Forged.

Absolutely.

>> So most recently, gentleman out of Baton Rouge was caught forging paintings and ended up going to jail and died in prison.

So Clementine Hunter, well known, but there are tons of fakes out there.

And so I thought it'd be cool to show fake and not the real thing, because there are a lot of the real ones out there too.

And a funny, a funny aside is that William Toye had supposedly 100 cats.

So if you ever find a Clementine Hunter with cat hair sticking out of the paint, it's a fake.

>> It's a fake.

>> It's a fake.

>> I'll remember that.

>> All right, well, so that's the first item.

>> Yes.

>> Second item.

Sticking with Louisiana, since I'm from New Orleans, is a Huey P Long for president.

The Kingfish.

Everybody knew Huey P Long, you know.

>> Yes.

>> Still infamous in Louisiana history and lore.

>> Infamous.

>> Infamous.

Yeah, absolutely.

So he, was going to run for president in 1936, and that was the chatter and the talk.

And they made some buttons to support him and to show him, you know, before he announced his run, his.

Well, they only made about 100 buttons or so that we know of.

But before they can make more buttons and before the presidential run, he was murdered in the Capitol.

So this button.

Huey P Long for president.

There's probably less than 100 of them in existence out there.

>> So what do you think they're worth?

Well, the button.

>> That's a it's a great question.

Clementine Hunter here.

She's probably worth-- the fake Clementine Hunter.

If it were real, it'd be $2,500.

Because it's fake, it's probably $250.

You know, somewhere in there.

The button is expected to bring about $1000 or $2000 at auction.

They've showed up at auction as high as $6000 because they're so rare.

Those three examples have ever surfaced.

>> Yeah.

>> And then lastly, I guess I saved the best for last.

Did you notice this?

>> How could I not?

>> You saw it on the table.

I think everybody in the building saw this >> It's phenominal!

>> Okay.

So this is something that I brought just for fun.

And this is a roughly 43 carat emerald barrel and diamond necklace.

And so it's got about nine carats of diamonds and roughly, like I said, 43, 44 carats of barrow emeralds.

And, it's very sparkly, very flashy.

And, a conservative auction estimate would probably be $10,000 to $20,000.

A retail replacement value on this necklace.

Yes.

I have the paperwork, it's about $93,000.

>> Wow.

>> So, got a little bit of Louisiana history for you here.

>> That's unreal.

That's a beautiful necklace.

>> A forgery here, and then.

Yeah, I mean, it's it's a fantastic.

>> Well, you kind of covered the realm right there, I think.

Don't you think?

>> I've got flashy, murder, and Louisiana history?

>> This lady right here just forged on, didn't she?

>> Oh, and puns, we got it all.

We got it all.

>> But anyway, I think we've had a great day here at the Mississippi Antiques Showcase.

We've had a busy day.

A lot of great people we've met in the Natchez area.

And, you know, the one thing that I think really was a strain that ran through all of their visits here, and that is the fact that these things were priceless to them.

It meant a lot to them.

And and they've taken good care of it all.

>> It's always important to remember that people own the stuff, you know?

So big or small, expensive or an expensive, you own it and you got to enjoy it.

You know, they're collectors and they collect with a passion.

And, you know, we get to see that passion all day to day.

>> We sure did.

>> That makes this exciting.

>> Absolutely.

>> Join us next time on Mississippi Antique Showcase.

And see if you have a hidden treasure in your closet.