Major funding for Arkansas Treasures was provided by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council and the Susan Howarth Fund at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

Additional funding provided by Annette and Phil Harrington, the Arkansas PBS Local Production Fund, and by viewers like you.

What's next on Arkansas Treasures?

Take a look.

As a book dealer, this is just a dream piece for me, which.

Makes the base about 174 years old.

That's an awful convenient date for this face.

You'll see all that and more right now on Arkansas Treasures.

Do you have any idea what the book is worth?

It's uncommon to see this.

I think you'll be surprised that it's a little bit higher.

Said I was not going to say well, but I did anyway.

I should have said what?

It's time for more Arkansas treasures.

Hundreds of Arkansans have brought items through our doors at Arkansas PBS, hoping to find out a bit more about their particular treasure.

Some have left knowing that what they own is worth a small fortune.

Others not so lucky.

Let's see if our evaluators have identified any more of those lucky ones.

Thank you so much for coming into Arkansas treasures today.

Please tell me what you've brought for us.

Oh, yes.

These are items from a friend that came to her family in the 1800s.

They raised sheep.

They shared the sheep.

They spun the yarn.

They died.

The yarn.

And then they made the coverlet.

Counterpane from this book, which has the patterns in it.

Wonderful.

From the 1800s.

From the early 18 early 1800s.

Yes, ma'am.

How big is the coverlet?

It's 72 by 101.

Okay.

Wow.

Okay.

Yeah, it's a double sized bed.

Yes, it would fit a double sized bed.

And what can you tell me about the book that came with the coverlet when it was handed down?

There are some birthdates in the book from 1718 hundreds.

And then there are patterns, several patterns in the book for the counterpane.

And they all have very interesting names.

Yes.

To the pattern.

Yes, I've looked at some of them as a book dealer.

This is just a dream piece for me.

The unique pieces, the handwritten pieces.

The one of a kind pieces you just don't see them that often.

Oh, somebody took great care to make this book?

Yes.

And it was obviously an important book because I usually don't see birth dates and death dates unless there were an old Bible and someone.

I don't know if this was the most important book to them, but they have family, birth date and death dates starting in 1799.

Essentially, it's a draft book for making patterns, woven patterns, and it belonged to a man named Daniel Bedsole.

Right.

And if you and it's falling apart, there's nothing we can do about that that can be really careful with what we had.

Yes.

Not make it fall apart anymore.

And I've got some pages marked here because I want to our audience to see that there are instructions here for how to weave.

And then we start out with some of the names.

I mean, mountain cucumber is a pattern.

Bird is a pattern.

Yeah.

bear owl corn is a pattern.

We just have some really funny pack names, and then, we also have more instructions and more pattern names.

And here you here are given where you put your travels and how you thread right loom.

because obviously this was made on a loom.

And then we start back here with hand written patterns and the whole book is filled with them.

Yeah.

And it was obviously a family's manual for weaving on their sheep farm.

Right.

Yes.

You know, when it comes to valuing something like this, it's it's just invaluable, right?

You cannot put a value on this.

It's, I know it's her family treasure.

Right?

She wasn't.

She doesn't want to sell it.

No, but she was just curious as to what we could tell her about it.

Yes, and I could spend a couple of hours reading this.

But from what I have seen, it is truly a treasure, right?

Yes.

Thank you so much.

I think she'll be so thrilled.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello.

Welcome to Arkansas treasures.

Thank you.

Tell me about your treasures.

Well, these are some pieces that I purchased from an estate sale.

And the significance, I think historically, is for the, prints here that were done by Abel Franklin.

Abel McAlester.

And they were done for the Red cross.

And it was basically for World War Two soldiers who came back from the war and who recuperated through the arts program.

Right.

Wonderful.

Well, I, I've done a little research on him, and he was born in Kansas, but he lived a long time near Chicago, in Illinois, and he was part of this Red cross program, which is a rehabilitation program for soldiers.

And you have a lot of these?

Yes.

But some the neater thing is that you have these have not only his signature and a low number out of 400.

This is a that's second edition out of 400.

And this is notated with the Red cross information which is very important.

It sets it apart.

all of them that have this notation I would think that probably doubles their initial value.

I did a little online research and unfortunately it doesn't have a great value.

But the great story.

And tell me again the story of you finding them.

I was an estate sale in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and an elderly lady was moving to Texas to live with her daughter, and she had a big tub full of artwork.

And I'm always drawn to the artwork and I like to dig.

So she entrusted me for whatever reason and felt like I would do the right thing with this artwork because it was special.

And so I purchased the tub of art from her for $20 and.

And it had how many approximately pieces of art in it?

Oh, probably 50.

50.

Pieces in it.

So I'm still researching the others.

Yeah.

well, what a good, connoisseur you are.

You know, you're definitely taking care of them and getting them here, getting the right research.

I just think they're incredible.

These are great.

particularly with the Red cross notation.

I think, without those notations, I think they would probably be around the 250 each.

Okay.

But I think with those notations, we're going to bump them up to four 450.

Okay.

So I think the $20 investment paid off.

I think so.

Thank you.

Thank you for bringing.

Hello and welcome to the show.

So tell me a little bit about this piece that you brought in for us to take a look at today.

If I remember right, I purchased it, a yard sale with its, other half.

There's a pair of them for probably probably no more than $40.

Okay.

And that's been about 20 years ago.

And I had purchased it to put in my house.

Okay.

And so 20 years ago, you purchased this at a yard sale?

I believe so.

Okay, great.

So what you've brought in for us today is a mid-century modern piece by American of Martinsville.

So just a little bit about the company established in 1906, in Martinsville, Virginia.

And they are known for their, high quality functional furniture.

the thing that we also love about this is this is travertine top marble.

So earlier when we took a closer look at your piece, the underside was stamped Italy.

So that is an Italian type of marble.

Yes.

And it's known, to be travertine because of the poorest top.

So if we take a close look at this, you'll see the little pores in the top of the marble.

See that?

this piece is also stamped on the inside with the name of the maker, which is great.

And so what we love about mid-century modern, it is very hot in the market right now.

And that is because young people love it.

They love the straight lines, they love the simplicity.

And this piece is definitely very elegant.

So only $40.

well, the matching pair currently sells in the market for $3,500.

So I think you found a fabulous find for the pair that you got several years ago at a yard sale.

Yes, ma'am.

So I hope that you'll continue to enjoy them.

And thank you for bringing them in today.

Thank you.

we're.

Walking in, and I mentioned that we were turning a lot of heads with it, and I was like, well, we're also making a lot of noise, so that makes sense.

Hi, Robyn.

How are you?

Good.

How are you doing?

Good.

Good.

Thank you so much for bringing this piece in.

we have a fresh peanut and popcorn machine.

Can you tell me a little bit about this piece?

My grandfather bought it, probably before I was born.

Or, sometime after.

Because I don't ever remember it not being around.

It was in his shop, when I was a kid, and my brother and I used to play with it.

so it's been around a long time, but I don't really know a lot of history of it.

He thought it was from the late 1800s, is what he told me.

And parts do still work.

But parts, parts don't so great.

Well, he was right.

This would be from the late 1800s.

It is such a cool piece.

like you said, some parts are working.

Some parts are it.

but we do have a lot of the original components, which is great.

there are some pieces of hardware here and on the other side that are original and still intact, which is awesome.

And gears on the other side that are original intact, which is great as well.

It looks like we even have some of the original glass with some missing, but that's to be expected with something of this age.

When I actually fell in on the way here.

So good.

So?

So.

Yeah, but there's a couple still standing, which is good.

Now, of course, originally this piece would have been painted red and white colors.

We can see some of that that remains on the wood and the wheels, of course.

in the stage that it's in right now, not, it's not restored.

Right.

It would be.

It would have a marketplace value at about 2 to 4000.

Okay.

If you restored the piece back to its original condition, and, you know, we adhered the parts and things like that, that would be more in the range of 5 to 7000.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Good to know.

Well, welcome to Arkansas treasures.

Tell me about your treasure that you brought here today.

All right.

Well, my parents were building a house in the early 70s, and my mother wanted some new decor.

So she took a friend of hers who knew about antiques, and they went to an estate sale, and she came back with two paintings or pastels.

All right, well, when you brought it in and I took a look at it, even from a distance, I knew who did it.

I've seen this artist's work many times.

He had a particular formula that he did.

A lot of them have this arch top.

It's done in pastel, as opposed to a painting, which is basically a colored chalk.

and you have to be careful with your pastel because it does flake and so forth.

So you want to kind of make sure that it's framed with glass, which I think it is, and not plexiglass, which will magnetically grab the pastel.

Last one, I saw someone put the plexiglass on and and the whole thing affixed to it.

Yeah.

So the artist name is George Douglas Burton.

And again, even if it wasn't signed and we know that this one is signed and it's virtually indecipherable.

His signature was hard to read one because it was done in pastel and it kind of doesn't.

It's not very well delineated, but he had a very specific style.

What's really interesting about this artist, he was he was a Newport, Rhode Island artist, but he traveled west with the military.

And when he was in California, he was sent to Missouri.

But before he left, he met Kit Carson, and he ended up traveling the two of them to independence, Missouri, with Kit Carson.

Later on, he actually published an article in Harper's Weekly about his trip with Kit Carson.

And then he published a book called overland with Kit Carson.

So he was a pastor.

He was an author.

He was a military man.

He had a very interesting past and and an artist.

He didn't have any real significant training for art, but he obviously loved painting.

there are a lot of his works that pop up.

Some are of New York, some are of the West.

This one we're not sure.

And you said to me you had another one.

So it's a pair.

What's the other one like?

Can you.

The other one is also outdoor.

Also has water and skies.

And I think it's it looks like a sunset.

It's a lot more vivid.

It's got a lot more color.

Okay.

But the reason I didn't bring that one is because I can't find the signature.

Right?

I've seen it before.

Right?

But if I don't mark where it is, it's very hard for me to find.

Well, sometimes when the artists would do a pair, they might only sign one.

So.

But, but you said you've seen it before, but you you can't find it now.

Well, you would think with his history, you know, he's he's he's known, artist.

He's a known explorer author that his works would have pretty significant value.

But because he was so prolific and he really didn't have much of an academic background painting, he didn't exhibit or, you know, he basically he did this because he liked it.

it looks like it's in an early frame.

He did do these colored velvets, one of I've seen one with bright red.

My mother did.

Possible, but it may have been she replaced the one that was damaged because a lot of times they end up deteriorating.

So in terms of value, some of his works that are of the New York area that are large and much more detailed have brought in the thousands, you know, 3 to 4000 of these works.

However, for a pair probably in the marketplace, 8 to 1200 for the pair.

So now what you would expect from an artist with such a kind of a background is and writing books, etc.

but they're they're quite charming, quite nice, neat history of the artist himself.

And thank you so much for bringing it.

Well, I'll keep him in my bedroom next time.

So really cool.

Oh, thank you for coming to Arkansas Treasures and bringing what I know is an absolute treasure.

When he came up to my table, you didn't have to even tell me what it was.

But tell me what it is.

This is a Royal Hagar vase that is infamous in my family.

Infamous.

Infamous as the ugliest thing my mother has ever owned.

And it was gifted to her by a family friend who didn't like her.

No, by someone who is absolutely charming.

Julia to Janis of North Little Rock.

She's a little well known.

She's a lovely lady, and.

She she will know.

She wrote a theme song for North Little Rock.

And little Rock has its own themes.

It does.

And it's you can Google it and it's really lovely.

Well, I am not going to sing it because I have no voice.

Listen, the reason I wanted to put this on is because I love Royal Hagar.

I don't know what the people over at Royal Hagar Factory were doing during working hours, but it couldn't have been legal.

The designs they come out with are just all over.

The boards are some of the greatest designs.

I think of the 1950s porcelain industry.

They were very freethinking over there and they saw their own form and they followed it.

Now you also have pieces that don't come out with I've seen, you know, just enormously long black panthers.

you know, and animal forms.

But you get into the vases and they get very voluptuous, very, you know, we we've got a lot of incorporation of, leaf design, floral design often comes into play.

And we can see on the bottom here that it is indeed royal.

Hagar.

it also, is by Royal, Hickman, who is one of the designers, and Royal Hagar.

Yep.

and he wasn't there all that long, but, I took a few years, and, I'm not even sure when this goes into production, whether he's still even working there.

But what has happened?

Royal Hagar.

Yes, it when it came on the market, people were really drawn to it or thought it was the ugliest thing in their house.

But what's happened because of the surge of interest in mid-century modern, these pieces are are actually the ones that are coming up at auction.

are kind of rising.

They've got a rising tide right now, and they're being sought out, with younger collectors who have found them a very affordable way to end in something of great interest to their home decor.

Is anybody have you ever priced it out?

If you ever looked it up yourself?

I haven't priced it.

I never looked for price.

You know, I've seen I've seen individual vases with Royal Hagar, topping at 200 and approaching $300 per piece.

But it's just such a.

Cool.

Part.

Of American.

porcelains that the the the or really, I think a rising tide right now and people ought to be on the lookout for interesting designs.

Royal Hagar.

Excellent.

Well, thank you for bringing this up.

Thank you.

It is not the ugliest piece in the house.

Okay, so, Carol, I know you.

We've talked.

You know, I can't believe this thing survives till.

What do you know about it?

Well, this is a base that I found in a box that I bought for $5 at an auction.

in May of 2022, when I got home and I was pulling the.

Disintegrated bubble wrap out.

I found this postcard inside of the base, and it says it was a wedding gift of this person's grandparents on February 29th of 1849, which makes the base about 174 years old.

That's an awful convenient date for this space, and I'm inclined to want to believe that this is a type of glass called mercury glass.

It's actually a double walled glass.

There's a hole in the bottom, and we looked at it.

There's a cork, and they poured an emulsion, a metallic emulsion of silver nitrate in grape juice or another emulsifier, swirled it around, which created this mirrored effect.

And, then they put a cork in and that a fugitive meaning if that cork falls out, the temperature and humidity changes are going to cause it to start flaking off pretty quickly.

And I've seen a lot of this material, but not so much of it that looks like something someone would want in their house in modern times, because it just ends up looking tattered.

This is beautiful.

and we'll get back to that 1849 de most of these processes and this type of glass came in before 1850 from parts of Europe that we now think of as Czechoslovakia.

and people will call it Bohemian glass.

And they not only, use their metallic emulsion to mirror it, they also have painted on the surface.

And not only is the silvering very fugitive in tends to end up flaking off and looking pretty bad because it's just clear glass, you know.

Right.

Until they had the emulsified metallic oxide.

But in addition, temperature change humidity can cause the painting on the surface to fall off and flake off.

And you found this in a context where there was no humidity control and no temperature control.

And it still looks like this, right?

It's a huge piece for mercury glass.

Most things I see, or six inches or less in height.

And we talked a little bit about how fun it was.

I mean, we didn't have electric light in their houses, right?

Yeah.

They had fire gilt bronzes.

They have silver advances.

They have all sorts of shiny things that reflect a little bit of candle light they had in their home.

And, you know, everybody was walking around basically in the dark most of the time around the houses, you know.

And so these were more popular than people would expect now.

I mean, like most homes had them, but not many survived.

This one's huge.

The market for Victorian and for extremely fragile glass that if that cork falls out, it isn't going to look so nice in a hurry.

It is then it's not, you know, a high demand collectible, on the other hand, it's beautiful, it's large, it's a rare survivor, and I think it still has a market value of 2 to $300 with people who know what it is and care in a fair market situation.

Right.

I can't believe it survived.

I'm so glad you brought it in.

I get excited about stuff that's valuable, but I also get excited about stuff that you wonder how science even let it still exist.

And I wonder, how did this make it so long?

Exactly.

That's what I was thinking when I found it in the box that was in a storage building at an auction.

Let's show them the whole thing, because this is just look at this.

Nothing's flaking off anywhere on this thing.

So, you know, you could search Brimfield for ten years and not find a piece of this nice.

That's awesome.

I.

Know I want to thank you for coming out to Arkansas Treasures today.

And I was thrilled when you came up to my table.

and we're holding this, but tell me a little bit about what you have and where it came from and how it came to be in your possession.

Sure.

It's a handmade double barrel shotgun with a lot of detail, a lot of carvings.

My mother purchased it from the Choctaw auction when they went out of business.

Roughly 25 to 30.

That was a museum here locally.

Yeah, not I said auction museum in Choctaw.

But they went out of business and they had an auctioneer.

Or she just pointed directly out of the deaccessioning.

Well, the collection well was you know, we see we see shotguns with some regularity.

And this we even see European shotguns with some regularity.

But this is an extraordinary shotgun.

It was probably a made to order for a very particular person, in the 1800s.

It's made by Adolf Hitler, it's in Germany.

And the detail on this would almost make it a custom gun for someone of great wealth.

we see a lot, as you said, alluded to, we see a lot of great detail.

This is probably in the 1850s to maybe 1880s.

period.

But we see, everything here from the patch box.

All the way up.

We've got, these are little silver, points that have been embedded in the wood.

Lot of engraving through the receiver, all the percussion.

It is a percussion fired shotgun.

all the triggers we've got, dragons.

We're coming up further up the barrel, and we're going to move it around here to the side and look on the front.

We see even more carving.

We've got a dog's head up here, you know, indicating probably a hunter.

of sorts.

As we turn the gun, we see further carving all the way down here in the cheekbone part.

we've got this flare of of, leaf carving at the end.

this really distinguishes this shotgun, in particular.

Just on a personal note, I love the dog said, They.

Do.

it is, really rarely seen shotguns with this amount of carving and engraving on them.

And have you ever had anybody who looked at and valued it for what did you pay for it do you.

Paid $800 again 25 to 30 years ago?

Well, she probably should have paid more even then.

we've been back and forth on this a little bit, but with all of the great carving, that's on here, mid-19th century, shotgun.

It's got a, octagonal, barrels, insurance.

Conservatively, we think if it were to come up at auction, we're looking at 12 to $16,000.

And and for the right group of collectors, this could really push up a great deal higher than that.

So even when your when your mother purchased it, I think that they were just she just got one hell of a good bye.

And I want to thank you because we don't see artistry coming on in guns like this very often.

Thank you for bringing it out to Arkansas Treasures.

Thank you for looking at it and giving me some information.

Okay.

Well, that's it for this episode of Arkansas Treasures.

We can't wait to bring you more.

So start thinking now about.

What you have.

Do you own something you've always wondered about?

Well, maybe you'll be our next big find on Arkansas Treasures.

See you next time.

My grandmother, who.

Is a first generation Irish-American.

So it came from Ireland or Scotland, where our ancestors came from.

We also found a secret garden.

And so we actually found, some photographs inside of the grandmother and and in question here.

Laura, Sally said that she thought it was worth approximately $2,000, so that's nice.

And we'll know where it was.

pride and, appreciation for our women that came before us today.

And I didn't realize what we're going to be doing today.

my dad just texted me and asked me to help him move a popcorn machine.

He's he's the muscle.

That's why I'm here.

It was fun to find out the interesting stuff.

And also, seeing the background work I'm filming is over there.

Over there.

Major funding for Arkansas Treasures was provided by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council, and the Susan Howarth Fund at the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay.

Additional funding provided by Annette and Phil Harrington, the Arkansas PBS local production fund.

And by viewers like you.