- What do we have here? - An ugly piece of artwork. - Okay. So, it's done by... - [Woman] Snowden. - [Rick] M.L. Snowden. - Mm hmm. Got it from a former in-law and I'd like to get rid of it, just like I got rid of them. - All right, all right. It sounds like you're a little
bit bitter. - [Woman] Just a little. (both laugh) Today I brought in a
sculpture by M.L. Snowden that I'm looking to get rid of. It's a female artist and I
know that she's pretty popular. My personal opinion of this
sculpture is, I think it's hideous,
it's a little bit bizarre, violent-looking, it's very
sharp, almost like, you know,
if you accidentally fell you'd get impaled on it and, it just doesn't fit in my home. - It's different. I sorta like it. I know about her. M.L. Snowden, she's in her 60s. She's been doing this ever
since she was a little kid, she worked with her father. Her father was a pretty famous
sculptor. It's not the art everyone
likes, you know what I mean? Some people like a little more
traditional or a little different, but, she is a really famous artist and a lot of people like her
work. I mean, she's won a ton of
awards, and she actually owns some of
the tools that Rodin used and she uses
those tools when she sculpts stuff. And, it's signed in the
sculpture there. And it's 14 of 25. Do you know the name of it? - No I don't. But you can buy it and call
it whatever you'd like. (laughs) - Even though I'm not familiar
with this exact piece, I've seen a lot of Snowdens
before in galleries around the country, and they can go for a lot of
money. And, even though it's
not the art for everyone, I got to admit, I sorta like it. It's neat. I mean, how much were you
looking to get out of it? - $50,000. - 50,000. (exhales) Normally, I got a friend
who I usually call in the expensive artwork,
but he's out of town. (exhales) It is nice, this is very
collectible, people love this stuff, um... I'll tell you what, I'll give you 20 grand. - Deal, I'll take it. - Whoa. (laughs) That was easy. Okay, um, 20 grand. - All right, thanks so much. - I just massively overpaid for
this. Let's go do some paperwork.
- Sweet, all right. (both laugh) Well, I was actually pleasantly
surprised with the negotiation. I seriously thought I was
gonna end up with, like, five grand and walk out
of here disappointed. But I'm very happy with the 20
grand and it's gonna be well spent. (cash register dings) - Earlier, I bought an M.L.
Snowden sculpture for $20,000. I've dealt in art my whole life. And I think I'm pretty good with
this and I think I got myself a good
deal. But Corey and Chum seem to think that they're absolute geniuses and know so much more than I do. So I'm calling in Chad just to
show them that I know what I'm doing. So what do you think? - Wow! M.L. Snowden. That is Photon from the Elements of Light
series. - [Rick] Okay. - M.L. Snowden. She's one of the most
significant international sculptors
in the last 100 years. She's carrying on the tradition
of Rodin. Aesthetically, I think it
follows along with the traditions that were passed down
from teacher to student for 50 generations. Elements of Light. This is one of 10 pieces that
were in the series originally. It's supposed to represent a
photon going through the vacuum of
space. - Okay.
- [Chad] That's why he's all, you know, kind of displayed like
this. - Yeah, I got it off a lady and I paid her 20 grand for it. I figured I couldn't go wrong. - Wow. That's, now, This piece, this series originally sold 58, 60,000. - Okay. - Now, she parted with her
publisher, so a few pieces have come onto
the market. - All right, the big
question, what's it worth? Because I paid a lot of money
for it. - Uh... I would put this one probably at
about... 36,000. - Okay. - But the thing about Snowden
is, this is investment quality art. And this kind of stuff,
it's only going to go up. - $36,000? - I think that market'll bear
that, yeah. - Hold on one second. Corey, Chum! - Rick paid $20,000 for it. I think that's a fair market
price. I think he can do much better
than that upon selling it. But he definitely, he didn't
overpay. - Chad thinks I can get
right around 36,000 for it. - [Corey] You want to buy it,
Chad? (speaks foreign language) (all chuckle) Yeah, we still have to sell it,
it's... - It'll sell. - [Chumlee] Well, it's...
- [Rick] You guys are not exactly interior designers. - No, we're more of a beer
crowd, not a fine wine crowd, and it's still ugly as hell. - Yeah, it's, I am good interior designer, and I would not put that in any
interior. It's horrible. - [Rick] He'll never get it. - [Chad] Not art lovers. - [Rick] Chum's idea of art is
a velvet painting in a
black light. (laughs) <i> ♪ </i> - Okay,
you've piqued my interest. What do we got here? - Well, this is
my crazy fish sculpture. I think it's
a Jim Henson original. - Okay, I mean,
how many famous puppeteers do you know? I can only think of one,
Jim Henson. - [laughs] <i> I'm looking to sell
my crazy fish sculpture</i> <i> made by Jim Henson.</i> <i> My husband purchased them
about 20 years ago in Utah.</i> <i> There's a base, and there's
three crazy-looking fish.</i> <i> I'm ready to sell the fish
because they're big and bulk,</i> <i> and they're hard
to fit in a living room.</i> I'm looking to get $15,000
today for my possible Jim Henson fish sculpture. - Okay, that's pretty cool. I got to figure when you're
a puppeteer like Jim Henson, it's something you're just
kind of born to do. I know he was doing it
before he was even a teenager, and the guy had
a career since then. I know he made the Muppets, and then "Sesame Street"
came along, and he made "Sesame Street"
from the '60s all the way up until he passed. I mean, we're talking about
the guy that made Oscar the Grouch
and Cookie Monster. I think it was syndicated
in over 100 countries. There's just something
wrong with you if you don't like
"Sesame Street." <i> ♪ </i> So is it from a Jim Henson movie
I've never seen or-- - Well, it's dated 1974,
and my husband was actually in
an electronics store that was going out of business. He was told by the salesman
that it was a Jim Henson. - Okay.
- Yeah. They just, to me,
resemble a lot of his work, like, in the "Labyrinth"
and that kind of thing. - I mean, I can tell somebody
obviously spent a lot of time and effort and work into this. Would you mind if I take
a look around it a little bit? - Sure, go ahead. <i> ♪ </i> - I mean, is it made out--
it's, like, papier mâché or something? - It feels like
a rubberized papier mâché. - It wouldn't shock me
that it was made by him. It looks like
something he might do. I mean,
the guy was pretty creative, but I've never seen fish. - [laughs] - And I've only seen puppets.
- Right. - Any idea of what you're
looking to get? - Well, I was thinking,
like, 15,000. - $15,000?
Okay. I'm just struggling
to find a connection here. I just so happen to have met
a vice president of the Jim Henson Corporation,
and she would probably know a lot of stuff about this. Do you mind if I snap
some pictures of this and send them to her and see
if I can get her down her? - That'd be great.
- Okay. <i> - I'm excited for the expert
to come in today to solve</i> the mystery of the fish,
whether or not they're really a Jim Henson original. Hey, Nicole. - Hi, Corey. - So these are
the fish sculptures that she believes may have
been made by Jim Henson. - Interesting.
- I figured you would know? - Yeah. Jim started
his career so young. He was a graphic artist first. We have great references
of his work that he did
when he was in college, and there's a lot of sketches
that you can look at and go, "that became Cookie Monster,"
or "that became Big Bird." So there are some
really beautiful pieces from the early time
in his career that then are kind of
the cousins of things that you know later. <i> ♪ </i> - Okay.
Ever seen anything like thi? - So Jim Henson's work
is really not out in the public. Because we have such
careful records of everything, we know where his stuff is,
and most of it is in museums. He made so many characters,
so many creatures. So you know, we really want them
to be out where people can see them and enjoy them, and you know, I was really glad
that you sent me those photos because we were able
to really take a good loo. I sent them to our archivist. She has been working
and maintaining our archive for 30 years, so she really does
know everything, and I also spoke
to the Henson family-- - Oh, wow. - To see if they had any
memories of seeing these before or anything like that, and we really looked
through all of our record, and I can say, with certainty, these are definitely not
part of any of Jim's work. <i> ♪ </i> - Okay, well, thank you so much
for coming down. - Absolutely, thanks so much.
Nice to meet you. - Thank you.
Nice to meet you, too. - So how much
do you love your fish? - [laughs] - I really kind of
had my hopes up that Jim Henson made them.
- Yeah, me too. - Unfortunately,
I'm just going to have to go ahead and pass. Thank you so much
for bringing it down. Let me get one
of my guys to help you bring it out to your car, okay? - Okay, thanks.
- All right, take care. - Bye. <i> I'm disappointed
to not make a sale today,</i> <i> and that it's not
a Jim Henson original.</i> <i> So I don't know what I'm
gonna to do with the sculpture.</i> Probably take it back home
and put it in our houseboat. - Whoa.
That's freaking awesome. Hey, Big Hoss,
check it out. This guy brought WALL-E
into the shop. - That is not WALL-E, Chum. That is Johnny 5
from "Short Circuit." You've never seen
"Short Circuit"? - I've seen "WALL-E,"
and that looks like him. - [chuckles] <i> - I'm here
in the pawn shop today</i> <i> to sell my Johnny 5
recycled metal sculpture.</i> <i> The sculpture is based off
of the robot</i> <i> in the "Short Circuit" films.</i> I'd like to get $25,000 for the sculpture today. <i> ♪ </i> <i> - This is pretty cool, man.</i> <i> "Short Circuit" was
that typical '80s comedy.</i> Basically, he was made
by a scientist, and he was supposed
to be the super soldier. <i> Never got tired,
no battle fatigue.</i> <i> And he ends up
getting struck by lightning,</i> <i> and for whatever reason,
he short circuits</i> <i> and becomes, like,
a living thing.</i> It did, like, $40 million
at the box office. And I don't think
they actually expected it to do as well as it did. <i> ♪ </i> So where'd you get it? - Well, I got him
at an estate sale. - So this is just a replica of what he looked like
in the movie? - Right, he looks similar
to the one in the movie, but he's bigger and heavier, <i>made out of car parts
and motorcycle parts.</i> - And do you know
who the artist was that did it? - I believe it's
Alexander Kalifano. - Okay. - And he has welders
who work underneath him. He comes up with the designs, and then the welders
put it all together. <i> - Does it have any markings
on it?</i> <i>- I haven't been able to find</i> <i>any signatures
or anything on it.</i> - All right, well, what are
some key parts on this guy? 'Cause I don't know nothing
about Johnny whatever. - Well, if you look,
he's got some piston rods that are making up his neck,
and like I said, he's completely made
out of car parts. So you'll have brake calipers
and things like that. - What do you want
to do with it? - I'd like to sell it. - What are you looking
to get out of it? - I'm asking $25,000 for him. - Wow. - That's a lot of money
for a robot that doesn't talk. - [chuckles] <i> - Here's my issue--
this particular artist has</i> a little bit more than people
that work underneath him. He's got a factory. <i> ♪ </i> It wasn't made
out of car parts. I mean, that's supposed to be a
motorcycle chain or whatever. It's hollow.
It's made of pot metal. That would snap apart. So your asking price is just,
I mean, completely out of
my realm of possibility on it. It's not original.
It's not signed. - Well, it's gonna be
the centerpiece of your store. It's gonna just sit here
for a little while before somebody comes in
and snaps it up, with the same thought
that I had that it reminds them
of their childhood. - Yeah, man, unfortunately,
I'm just gonna have to pass. I apologize. Thanks for
bringing it in, though. That was fun.
- Thank you. - Well, that was pretty cool,
but I still think it's WALL-E. - It's not WALL-E, Chum. <i> ♪ </i> - No offer was made today.
It's pretty disappointing. So I'm just gonna take him home and put him back
in my living room. <i> [robotic beeping]</i> <i> ♪ </i> - Jeff, how's it going? - Doing pretty good, Rick.
How are you doing? - Okay.
What in the world is this? - Well,
usually I bring you coins, but this is coin-related. This is original artwork
made by James Earle Fraser for the Buffalo nickel. I brought you some nickels
so that you can refresh your memory about
what coin we're talking about. - Okay.
It is one of the most beautiful coins we ever had. The nickel before this one had
a lady with her hair in a bun. - Yeah. That was it.
It was pretty boring. <i> I'm at the pawn shop today
to sell</i> <i> my unique sculpture
by James Earle Fraser</i> <i> for the Buffalo nickel.</i> <i> It's a plaster cast,
part of the original design</i> <i> process made in 1912.</i> <i> This piece is in
excellent condition.</i> <i> I bought this from the
James Earle Fraser estate</i> <i> down in Missouri.</i> I'm trying to get $20,000
today for my sculpture for the Buffalo nickel. - This is pretty cool. A few years after Teddy
Roosevelt became president he basically went to the
mint and said, like, "Guys, we have the ugliest
coins in the world." Roosevelt basically
tells the mint, "Design some beautiful coins." I mean, time period from 1908 through the 1930s, you know,
we had the mercury dimes. - Mercury dimes, right. - We had the walking liberty,
the standing liberty, and the Buffalo nickel. We carried artwork
in our pocket. - A lot of people actually call
this period the Renaissance of American coinage. <i> ♪ </i> - And then for some reason
the United States men decided, like, "Let's just put
old dead guys on the coins. [laughter] - Yep. - You know,
it's a beautiful portrait. And James Earle Fraser,
really famous Western artist. - Correct. - It's a combination of men
from different tribes, correct? - Yes. I think there was
an amalgamation of three different individuals.
- Okay. So do you know how many
of these exist? - Just that one.
It is totally unique. - All right. So how much you want for it? I would part with it
for $20,000. - What about 10? - I would not part
with it for 10,000. It's really museum-quality,
so I guess I would sell it for 18. - I mean,
here's the tough part. It's plaster of Paris. It's not, like, something by
Fraser that was done in bronze. - Yep. - Plaster of Paris
is not made to last. I mean, I'd go 15.
That'd be it. - I think I'll pass. I really think
it belongs in a museum. And for the meantime,
I'll leave it on my desk. - Okay. Well, Jeff, usually I spend
a lot of money with you, but maybe next time. - We'll try again.
- Okay. - Thanks. - This should be on a coin. Really.
[laughs] <i> ♪ </i> - Hey, how you doing?
- I'm good. Um... So I have some, um,
Mayan Aztec sculptures. - What exactly do you know
about them? - It's a male and a female, and it looks like
they have been, like, hunting and gathering. - Looks like a couple
Oompa Loompas if you ask me. - [laughs] They are definitely
interesting-looking. - The song is playing
in my head right now. - Exactly.
- You know how that goes. - We can sing it later.
[laughs] <i> I have a pair of Mayan Aztec
sculptures.</i> <i> Something about them seemed
very special.</i> I'm looking to sell
these set of sculptures for $15,000. - They're definitely
pretty interesting. Not a lot of art survived
from these time periods. It's really cool to actually
see them into the shop. I'm trying
to overlook 'em here. <i> [percussive music]</i> They look really interesting. But... I don't think
they're Mayan or Aztec. I think they're from the pre-Columbian
Mexico time period. They had the hairless dog
in the time period, and it was one of the few domesticated animals
over there. - Mm-hmm. - So it kinda has that
look to it up here. That's what's leading me
to believe it's from that period in time
in that region. This one looks to have
a scroll in his hand and some type of, I don't know,
potato or something. - [laughs] - And they would make
these clay figures out of, like, terracotta clay, and they were believed
to be left in the tombs and kind of, like,
a guide for the soul, you know,
into the afterlife and so on. How much are you looking
to get for the pair? - Um, for the pair, 15K.
- Okay. This stuff can be worth
a lot of money. - Mm-hmm. - It, you know, all depends
on where it was from, the condition it's in. But... they look to be in
pretty rough condition here. - Mm-hmm. - Did you repair these?
- No. - Okay, because
it looks almost like they were glued back together
with some plaster or something. - Oh, okay.
- It looks very modern. That could drastically
affect the value, you know? It's a lot of ifs for me, so I'd like to have someone
come down, take a look at 'em,
check 'em out, and see if they're authentic,
where they're from, and then go from there. - Okay. - Hang out for a few minutes
if you have some time and I'll get someone down here. - Sure, no problem.
Thanks. I'm excited about
a expert coming in because that way I'll know if
it's actually worth something or if it's just
a conversation piece. - When you said you had
a couple of little statues, I was thinking this, not this. [laughter]
Good gravy. Wow. So just looking at these hefty
little things... these would
be from west Mexico, so they would date
to about 2,000 years old. - Wow. Mm-hmm.
- Made out of clay, of course. Would've gone into a tomb and accompanied the deceased
into the afterlife. - Mm-hmm. - Do you have any idea what
these are supposed to depict? I was trying
to figure that out. - Yeah.
Well, it's always tough. Because there's
no written record of any of these
ancient cultures, so you kind of just get a sense
based on what they're carrying, what they're wearing. This appears to be a weapon
and a little shield, so he's a warrior. - So you're telling me
these aren't Oompa Loompas? - They are not Oompa Loompas.
- [laughs] - I was wrong.
- Well, maybe they are, but they're an early variant
of that. [laughter] Now we want to see
if it's authentic. - Okay. - So I brought my
little bag of tricks. Do you mind
if I play a little bit? - Yeah, please.
Play. [laughter] - When water hits these, it
should do a couple of things. So I'm gonna spray
a little bit of water. Won't hurt it.
- Okay, okay. So I'm looking at how fast the water absorbs
into the outer surface. - Okay.
- Kind of a medium absorption. And then I smell it. - Okay. - So what I'm trying to smell
is, does it smell like earth? Does it smell like it's been
in the earth for 2,000 years? - Yeah.
[chuckles] - So let me
give you an example. I've got an authentic piece
in here, and if I do that
with this guy... The water is absorbing
very quickly. - Mm-hmm.
- This water is still showing. In about ten seconds,
this water is going to be gone. - Oh, okay.
- Really earthy. - Yeah, really earthy.
- Smell this. - Slightly earthy.
- Slightly earthy. - Yeah, okay. - I'm gonna do one more thing.
- Okay. - My business card.
- Okay. - Let's look at the feet, okay?
- Okay. - I can almost not get my
business card under those feet. - Mm-hmm. - That means
this was made on a table that was about
as flat as this glass. - Okay. - Guess how many flat tables
there were in pre-Columbian America. - Not many.
- Zero. - Bingo. So there were no flat tables
around to make these. - Right. - So based on water absorption, lack of that deep earthy smell, and most especially
the flat feet, I hate to say it. They're modern. - Aw, okay. - So what do you think
the value is on 'em? - You guys like to shoot things
out on the range? Take these. - [laughs] - I hate to say it, no value.
- Okay. Well, I appreciate
you coming down and being the bearer
of bad news. - Oh, I'm so sorry.
- No worries. Thank you so much,
I appreciate it. - You bet. Of course.
- [chuckles] <i> ♪ </i> - So Bob's my guy
when it comes to this. With what he says, I'm gonna
have to take it for value, and I'm gonna have
to pass on these. - No problem,
thank you so much. I appreciate it. - Thanks for bringing
them down, and I hope you learned some
stuff about 'em today. - I did, thank you. <i> So no offer was made.</i> <i> He did make a comment</i> about taking them out
to a gun range, and I thought, "Well, maybe
we should also take the shirt you're wearing
to the gun range." But I'm gonna take 'em back, I'm gonna put 'em
back on my mantle, <i> and they're gonna continue
to be the conversation piece.</i> - Hello. What do we have here? - I have something fantastic. - I've owned horses in my life,
and I've never seen one with their head
and neck in that position. [laughs] <i> ♪ </i> <i> - I'm at the pawn shop today</i> <i> to have my turquoise
horse head looked at</i> <i> and to possibly sell it.</i> <i> This turquoise horse sculpture
is rare because it's large.</i> <i> Probably weighs five
to eight pounds.</i> <i> It's one solid piece
of turquoise</i> <i> that's been
meticulously carved.</i> <i> And it's just
a beautiful piece of art.</i> <i> I'm asking $50,000 for it</i> because I can't find anything
even similar to it out there. - All right, I'm interested.
Where'd you get it? - I bought it
about 22 years ago from a lady. And I've had it ever since. - So do you know much about it?
- I don't. I know it's turquoise.
- And? - And its origin is unknown,
and its age is unknown, and the carver's unknown. - Okay, so 20 years ago,
you just basically had a friend selling this,
and you purchased it. - Yes, I love horses. - It looks like it's turquoise.
This is a very large chunk. They've been carving things
out of turquoise for thousands of years. Think of it
as really expensive marble. Generally, the less
imperfections, the better. Turquoise is like a composite, So there's a lot of different
material that gets into it. When it's formed, it could be anywhere from
a blue color to a green color. It's just the way
it's formed in the Earth. I mean, it's not a pure stone. It's not like diamond
that is solid carbon. It's gonna come out
in one color generally. This right here has a lot
of different shades on it. It looks like we have a bridal
going down this side, but I'm not sure. You have one chipped up ear. All in all, I guess
it's in pretty good shape. Have you done any research
trying to figure out how old it is
or anything like that? - I have no idea how old it is. I think it kind of looks
contemporary to me from, you know,
art loving standpoint. But I don't know for sure.
That's why I'm here. - I mean, it's a big chunk
and it's worth, you know, money just
for the turquoise itself. How much do you want for it? - 50 grand.
- $50,000. - 50,000.
- Okay. I don't know
if that's gonna happen. But let me call my buddy, Bob.
He'll come down here. He's got a lot
of very expensive equipment. He might use on it. So if you could just hang out
for a little bit, I'll get my buddy down here, and he's gonna
take a look at it. - Absolutely, thank you. - All right,
I'll be right back. And when Bob comes down,
he's gonna tell me yay or nay. [laughs] - Whoa, you said you had
a big piece of turquoise. That's a monster. - Yeah, it's
a very odd-shaped horse. - It is
a strange looking beast. Can I take a look?
- Yes. <i> [soft music]</i> <i> ♪ </i> - So as I'm looking at it, I'm not seeing
maker's marks or signatures. Obviously a sculpture,
but it's an unsigned sculpture. I'm thinking it's
in the Chinese style. It kind of has that
Tang dynasty look to it, which is kind of angular
and sweeping, but it's not ancient. Time period,
last 50 years probably. Best guess
it's Chinese turquoise, which is probably
the most common. But the problem in China is they've been faking
turquoise since the 1970s. There's a substance
called magnesite, which is a fake turquoise
made out of magnesium. So I'd like to make sure
that this really is turquoise because the difference between turquoise
and magnesite is tremendous. So do you mind if I-- - No, absolutely, go ahead.
- Zap it with some X-rays? - I'm looking for specific
elements, and in this case, it should be copper,
aluminum, and phosphorus. Okay, machine is done. It's 7% aluminum,
6% phosphorous, 5% copper. So it is turquoise. - Okay.
- Great. - Do you have any idea what something
like this is worth? - Turquoise is sold
on a per gram basis. So not sure exactly
what this weighs, but I'd guess five, six pounds. $3 a gram, 450 grams per pound. 7,000 bucks in turquoise.
- Ugh. - And then if there's
any artistic value, you'd throw that on top. - Okay, well, I appreciate it. - My pleasure.
Thanks. - Okay. It's a contemporary piece.
There's no signature. We don't know the artist,
and you can't sell something for thousands
and thousands of dollars where you don't even know
the artist. So you basically
got the turquoise. I think you're gonna have
a really hard time selling it. And I really wouldn't want it. Maybe a rock shop would give
you a couple thousand dollars. - Okay.
- All right, have a good one. - Okay, thank you. Even though it was a nay, I'm still happy because
I didn't pay a ton for it, but I still have a beautiful,
beautiful piece.
