ANTIQUES ROADSHOW is back in Charleston, South Carolina, where host Dan Elias visits the Gibbes Museum, home to an impressive collection of works from the city's talented artistic community, including a number of magnificent miniature portraits. At the Charleston Area Convention Center, appraisers identify other treasures, including a Hawaiian ukulele played by the owner's grandfather in the 1930s; an outstanding 19th-century basket; and a unique collection of folk-art puppets—purchased on impulse with the owner's rent money—now estimated to be worth $10,000 to $15,000.

Edgefield earthenware jug appraised by J. Garrison Stradling of The Stradlings in New York, New York.
 

Earthenware jug

Appraiser J. Garrison Stradling wasted no time letting Shannon know she was "one lucky Charlestonian" when she showed up to the ROADSHOW with an extraordinary piece of pottery. In fact, the special Edgefield stoneware jug almost wasn't hers to bring in. At an estate auction in 1995, where the jug was listed at $600, Shannon's opening bid of $60 turned out to be the winner. As soon as she left the auction, however, she turned around and sold the jug to a man outside for $100. Seeing what her daughter had done—and thinking she may be making a mistake—Shannon's mother convinced her she ought to try to catch up with the man and get it back. Which she managed to do. As it turns out, Shannon was very lucky. Declaring the ash-glazed piece "fantastic," Stradling said it was made in the mid-19th century by a now-well-known slave named Dave. Scrawled onto its surface, the jug actually bears the date—June 28, 1854—as well as Dave's signature and a wry-sounding note that reads "L.M. says this handle will crack." Stradling said "L.M." are the initials of Lewis Miles, who was one of the Edgefield potters for whom Dave worked. Shannon enjoyed the irony of the message Dave etched in his jug almost 150 years ago: to this day its handle is still in tact. "Everybody talks about the best pieces of South Carolina pottery being made by Dave the Slave," Stradling said, estimating the jug's value to its amazed owner at approximately $6,000.

Original article may be found at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/roadshow/series/highlights/2001/charleston2.html. 

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