Case is good quality and unusual to have a crucifix. 19th c. Canton 

Brushpot appears Japanese as you suspected. Not particularly interesting.

Hi Johnshoe, 

Sorry I couldn't answer earlier. I was arguing with someone about President Reagan signature on a different forum. 

Unfortunately your pictures are not conclusive with the card case. It looks maybe ivory with some age. Or it could be bone or worse resin. 

The brush pot is most interesting. Once again the pictures are too blurry to determine what it made from. It looks like possibly bone. The only concern I have is the base. Notice it is completely round. It should be oval. 

The lines on the base as well as the top don't look authentic to me. But I can't say 100% because of the blurry pictures.

It's could be Japanese. However I can't confirm etc. It's blurry once again. 

What is the seller saying and or the price please? The price may indicate what it  really is etc. 

Regards, 

Mark 

@imperialfinegems  The auctioneer thinks the pot is bone and maybe the case is ivory but he doesn't seem totally certain.

@imperialfinegems  It is also interesting to learn that while you might be an Asian antiques enthusiast by day, you dabble in arguing about US presidential signatures by night. Quite a nuanced life you have there. I know nothing about Reagan's signature, however I did meet Gerald Ford once and had him sign something for me. I did have to get frisked by the secret service to earn the right however. 

Hi Johnshoe, 

Yes back in the 80's and 90's I was dealing a lot with presidential memorabilia. As well as Bruce Lee. 

My friend in the USA obtained for me these signed cards by Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, GH Bush and Gerald Ford at the opening of the Ronald Reagan museum and library in 1991. Carter and Ford were always willing to provide signed pieces etc. Reagan was always difficult. 

I think it's probably a good idea to have a punt on the card case. As greeno107 has suggested it's unusual for the crucifix. But there are numerous examples that have been sold etc. 

I think the brush pot maybe resin. 

Mark 

@johnshoe Apparently I'm the baby among the group...you met Gerald Ford? Hmmm... I met Jimmy Carter at his book signing in Orlando around 1997-98, well after his presidency.

Ivory, due to the manner that it grows, keeps a polished appearance and can be intricately carved vs. bone which is porous and brittle, and does not hold up well to multi-level carving as the card case shows.  

Prior to the ivory ban in the USA, those cases could bring $800-1500, and the overall good carving with the biblical motif certainly would draw some interest.

I still buy ivory, but only for my personal collection, and mostly Japanese pieces (netsuke and okimono), unless it's a really fantastic Chinese piece like a plaque, or unusually good figure.

Are you up for a story? Hope so.

In August 2011, while I was still quite a newbie with Chinese antiques, I came across an estate sale for country music legend, Charlie Rich (The Silver Fox). He had passed a few years prior, and his wife had just passed, so Rich's children were selling his remaining collection of art, guitars, and a sizable Chinese ivory collection. 

The sale was not releasing the address until 6pm the night before the sale, which was scheduled to start at 9am the following morning.

Among the ivory objects was a large carved ivory plaque, a 20" long section of tusk, cut in half, then carved depicting an elaborate battle scene. It was spectacular. 

The company runnng the sale would not presell or tell me the address, but the disclosed the price to me, a whopping $6500. It would be far most I had spent on a single item at the time, but I figured I could double my money, but I also knew if I was to have any real chance at getting the piece, I had to be first in line. They also gave me one clue - that the house was in Memphis on Mud Island looking out to the Mississippi River.

The sale was beginning in just 2 days, so without an address I booked the earliest flight I could the day before the sale, which unfortunately was not going to touch down until 8pm, 2 hours after the release of the address. Bad news.

Furthermore, there was a hurricane passing between Tennessee and Georgia, right when I was suppose to fly, so it was going to be a rocky ride on top of all that.

So, for the remaining hours before my flight, I worked tirelessly to figure out where the sale was going to be in hopes I could maybe get on an earlier flight, and get their before anyone else would know the address.

My background in banking was helpful. Tennessee, like many other states, have public records for property tax payments. So, I dug up Charlie Riches property records.

Two properties came up, but neither on Mud Island, and neither on the Mississippi River. I was screwed, but I went to the airport anyway.

About 30 minutes before boarding my flight, I decided to read the obituary on Mrs. Rich, so I did a quick Google search. What came up changed everything.

The local Memphis newspaper had a big right up on the passing of Mrs. Rich, her late husband, and the up coming estate sale. The paper did not disclose the address, but they did give the final clue I neede. The paper said the sale was being held at the mansion of a local CEO of one of the major manufacturing companies in the area, rather than at the Rich's home.  BINGO!

I searched the company, found out the name if their CEO, cross referenced the tax records, and there it was.....the address was on Mud Island!

I had only 15 minutes before boarding, so I texted my wife the address and did the only thing that came to mind...I searched the job seeker section of Craigslist in Memphis to see if I could hire someone to go to the address and hold my spot in line.

It was a good idea, only all of the 'odd job' folks thought I was crazy when I offered them $200 to wait at the front door of a mansion for 4 hours until I would arrive and take their place.

So, when I ran out of 'odd job' listings to call, I called plumbers, figuring they take 24 hr emergency calls. Finally, I reached one plumber who said he couldn't do it, but his son could for $300. Naturally I accepted and gave them the address, and crossed my fingers that the son would actually show up.

The flight through the hurricane was the scariest I had ever been on, and I've flown in broken down planes in the Amazon, so it was really bad, but I arrived in Memphis at 9pm, and it took an hour to get my rental and to drive over.

When I arrived, there was a young man in his twenties sitting with his back to the front door and 4 Chinese people sitting in chairs just behond him. I parked, discretely wadded the $300 in my hand, walked up to the young man, said hello, shook his hand (giving him the money), and took his spot.

The group of Chinese buyers were a bit alarmed at first, but I explained I had asked my 'brother' to hold my spot until I got out of work, and that he wasn't coming back...I was the only one there to buy.

The group seemed satisfied, and since I look more like a country bumpkin than a Chinese art collector, they seemed pretty content that they would be getting what they came for.  Unfortunately, that was not to be for the,

Five minutes before the sale, the line was about 200+/- people long, I had been cursed out a dozen or more times for being #1 in line and for not sharing what I was there for, but that's the way thus business is sometimes.

When the door open , the gentleman running the sale came out, asked me if I was the one who called about the ivory panel, and when I affirmed, he signaled to his staff to set aside the piece along with the other ivory pieces that I had indicated I wanted to buy.

He then says, 'a lot if people called about these, but your first. So, just pay up and go so that there's no trouble'. He was clearLy referring to the group of 4 Chinese buyers who had told me they drove 14 hours to come to the sale to buy the ivory plaque.

As I was told, I paid, collected the pieces, and left was quickly as possible.  

Upon returning home, I scheduled a visit with Sotheby's to show them the plaque. I had shown it to one of my clients who offered me $40,000, which was an extraordinary amount. But, I really wanted to take a shot at auction, and despite an estimate of $15,000-20,000 with a $10,000 reserve, I consigned the piece for the 2012 Asian week sale in New York.  And then disaster.

About a week or two before the sale, outcry over illegal elephant ivory pouching hit the news and the USA and China reacted quickly and harshly by imposing bans on the sale and transport of ivory.  Even though the ba would not be enforced until after the March sale, the impact on prices was immediate, and the prices fell like rocks.

In the sale were several other plaques, wrist rests, brush pots, and famously the 5 rhino horn libation cups appraised by Lark Mason on the antique Road Show that were expected to bring millions as a group.

My plaque was lotted  in the middle, and as the first ivory lots came up to the auction block, one after the other either were passed for not meeting the reserve, or barely made their low estimate.  Now came my plaque...

The auctioneer made a grimace, then announce to my much needed relief, 'we've had a lot of interest in thus piece, so we are opening the bidding at $20,000.'  Amen!

The bidding was fast and furious, and the end result was a staggering $95,000 hammer ($116,500 with premium).

As for the rhino horn, only two actually made their reserve, the others fell way short.

Aside from the great sale result, the experience has been a model for how I've conducted myself to this day.  You have to be relentlessly persistent, you have to be first in line, and you have to keep your mouth shut until you have the piece in your hand, or the deal can and will fall through. Even then I've lost some....its the nature of this business.

It is a pleasure to share my story, I hope it provides inspiration, and I wish everyone a 2021 that brings peace, health, and prosperity!

Happy New Year!

https://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/lot.167.html/2012/fine-chinese-ceramics-and-works-of-art-n08834

@imperialfinegems I have a White House photo of Jacqueline Kennedy, the result of having written to her when I was in grammar school. Someone had one like it on Antiques Roadshow, had more value than I thought it would have and I have a signed Nixon biography, but it is signed with his monogram.

I had a signed recipe by Louise Fluke, the lady who designed the Oklahoma state flag (on permanent loan to an Oklahoma DAR museum). 

Lastly as the result of an estate sale, I have the autograph of Yogi Yorgesson (Harry Stewart) who had a hit Christmas song in 1949, I Yust Go Nuts at Christmas. Happy New Year! Sharon

@Greeno What an exciting story! My afternoon tea got cold while I read it. Thanks for sharing and a Happy New Year to you!

@greeno107  Your story was by far the best I've heard in ages. Lots of gems in there but I have to say the plumber guys son sitting with the four Chinese guys behind him is my favorite part. I have yet to get to the sales I've attended before those Chinese fellas, but your story inspires me to keep trying. As for my meeting with Gerald Ford, it happened when I was a little kid in the early 80's, so hopefully I'm not as old as it sounded. My mother was a news reporter and she was covering a fundraising event he was doing not too long after he left the presidency. She managed to get me into the event. So I got to skip school and go sit in a banquet room with a few hundred people. I was about ten years old and was very into autographs at the time. After Ford's speech they allowed questions. There was a mic set up in the room so people could go up and get in line and then ask a question to Ford who up on stage. The teacher's aid that came along with me that day helped me come up with a question to ask. I can't remember what it was, however it doesn't matter because that was just a ruse to get my foot in the door. I remember being quite nervous going up to the mic, but my ulterior motive was stronger than my fear. When it was my turn I stepped up to the mic and asked my question which I had memorized then patiently waited for Ford to finish his answer. Then I sprung my surprise. "I have one more question. May I please have your autograph?" Of course he couldn't refuse in front of all those people, so he said that I could come up. Of course everyone thought it was quite cute and as they all chuckled I made my way up to the stairs to the stage. That is where I encountered the secret service who kindly "helped" me up the stairs, giving me a thorough frisking. I remember being surprised by that because I was just an innocent kid and so I had no comprehension of such a concept - that a little boy wanting an autograph could possibly be considered a potential threat to one of the most powerful people in the world. In all the excitement I had not thought to bring anything for Ford to sign, which he seemed to be a little frustrated by. But he managed to find a leaflet for the event under the podium, signed it and sent me off as everyone applauded the kind gesture. I was happy enough just to get the autograph at the time, but years later I've reflected on the memory I have of the look on Ford's face as I approached him. I might be wrong with my memory, but I can honestly say that to me he looked fearful. I think I just tried to ignore the awkwardness of it, but when I think of it now, I can't help but realize how much it says about the world we live in.   John  

Wow, what a beautiful plaque and a great story !

Regards

Michael

@Greeno107,

Fascinating story. I remember that ivory plaque. 

Mark 

I wish it was put into a public collection so I could see it again. But, Sotheby's kindly sent me the catalogue photo file, so I had a life size image printed of it for my home.

@Greeno107,

You certainly have purchased some extraordinary items at good prices. 

Do you or have you purchased much jade?

Mark 

Thanks. I have been fortunate.

I have not bought much jade in comparison to other typed of works.

As you know, real jade, nephrite and jadeite, is rare by nature, then add the manner to which other stones are faked...I really dont understand how collectors of jade (like you) keep from pulling your hair out from your head.

The few times Ive bought jade, most has been mounted in wall and floor screens because it is easier to date based upon the carving and mounting. I have bought a few jadeite jewelry pieces, but only when the price was nominal since the chances of enhanced jade is so high, and a few white jade pendants when the carving has been exceptional.

Aside from the jade inlaid screens, nothing i've bought has been high enough quality for a major auction.

I do have an interest small jadeite pendant of peaches that someone turned into a ring around 1900-1920 (based upon the ring design). Would you like to see it?