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Interview With Keno Brothers

Aired November 25, 2003 - 15:19   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Ever wonder if that vase -- or is it vase -- we'll ask these guys -- that your great aunt left you or that old couch from your grandmother is worth anything? Well, and where can you turn to find out exactly how much? Well, of course, if you watch PBS, you already know the answer, the Keno brothers. They were antiques appraisers for the hit series "Antiques Roadshow." And they now have their own PBS series called -- what else -- "Find!."
They join me live from New York City.

Leigh and Leslie, good to see you both, Leslie screen left, Leigh screen right, right, gentlemen?

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I've got a couple of Post-it notes just to keep it straight here, thanks to our director, Roger (ph).

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: All right, gentlemen, first of all, you've had some great adventures finding serious treasures. And this story you're about to tell has got to take the cake.

Leslie, you go first. Tell us how it all unfolded.

LESLIE KENO, CO-HOST, "FIND!": Well, Miles, we went into a home north of Boston and met a lady there. And in the attic, she had a painting that has been there for 80 years, a masterpiece by one of the great American painters, Martin Johnson Heade. She had no idea what it was worth. So we had it authenticated. And it turned out to be a real Martin Johnson Heade signed.

Leigh -- worth what, Leigh?

LEIGH KENO, CO-HOST, "FIND!": Well, the thing is, Miles, that we sat her down on her couch, along with a local auctioneer who is going to sell this. His name is John McInnis.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: And, by the way, are we seeing the painting here? Is this it right here?

(CROSSTALK)

LEIGH KENO: Yes. That's the painting here. That's the being looked at by Ted Stebbins, who is the great expert on Martin Johnson Heade who has written all the books. And he authenticated it an air for the first time as a Heade.

And we ended up telling the lady that this is a real Heade and worth easily $200,000 to $300,000.

O'BRIEN: Oh, my gosh. Wow. And she was sitting down, right?

(CROSSTALK)

LEIGH KENO: Yes. And tell Miles what it could bring. And we're even being conservative.

LESLIE KENO: First of all, and I think she said, you're kidding me, aren't you?

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Yes, this is "Candid Camera" or something, right?

LESLIE KENO: But this painting could be worth probably over -- possibly over $500,000.

O'BRIEN: So, depending on how the auction goes, right?

LESLIE KENO: Right.

O'BRIEN: And is she going to auction it off?

LEIGH KENO: Yes. John McInnis is going to auction it off up in Amesbury, Mass., on December the 7th. So we'll be there with Pat, the owner, sitting in the audience with the "Find!" cameras to do the follow-up and holding her hand.

O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness.

LEIGH KENO: And I hope she buys us some champagne afterwards or something.

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: We'll buy her something.

O'BRIEN: Something.

But I think just about everybody in our audience is now making plans to go clean out their attic just to make sure. Of course, that is an extraordinary thing. That's once-in-a-career type find, isn't it?

LEIGH KENO: That is pretty much once in a lifetime.

We wanted to mention that that does air, Miles -- it's going to air on PBS stations nationally, the show, starting the end of December.

(CROSSTALK)

LEIGH KENO: And early -- very early January. And then we're going to be up there for the auction. And that's going to air, Leslie, the follow-up.

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: I think the follow-up is later in January. Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Check your local listings. Will you do us a favor, though, when that auction comes up, give us a call. And we want to find out how that goes.

LEIGH KENO: Will do. Will do.

LESLIE KENO: We will.

O'BRIEN: Let's get into some -- maybe one of our viewers will find such luck, maybe. We have a cuckoo clock here. This comes from Linda. Let's take a look at it.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: First of all, just based on this picture, an electronic picture that came in, can you really judge something like this?

LESLIE KENO: Well, we can actually tell a lot from photographs. This looks like it was probably made in the Black Forest in Germany, probably in the late 19th century. And before that, they had chimes. But, actually, the cuckoo clock, of course, actually, of course, has little bellows in there. And the bird comes out.

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: It has pine cone weights and probably worth in the range of about $800 to $1,200. Very handsome.

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: Very nice. All right.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Leigh, you with us on the $800?

LEIGH KENO: I agree. I'm always a little lower than Les. I would say it's closer to the $800. But $1,200 sure sounds better than $800.

(BELL RINGING)

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Why are you always lower? Are you just tougher?

LEIGH KENO: I don't know. I'm just -- I think I'm more conservative with the estimates. But that's what works. Between the twins, you end up with the right price.

LESLIE KENO: He's the evil twin. I'm the good twin.

(LAUGHTER)

LEIGH KENO: That's a good comment.

O'BRIEN: Good cop, bad cop, all that stuff.

All right, let's go to Patricia's bookcase now. Patricia says she's never found one like it and would love to get the value on it. Once again, to me, I would have no idea. That could be something that you found at Ethan Allen.

LEIGH KENO: Well, Miles, the nice thing about this is that it's an empire revival or classical revival piece. They were made from the late 19th century through the early 20th century.

And the pouffe and the columns are all characteristics of the empire style. Now, pieces like this turn up a lot. We used to see them a lot on the "Antiques Roadshow." We still do. And we see them in people's houses on "Find!." And a piece like this, it's popular to display China in or carnival glass or something like that. And on that, I would say that has a value of about $700 to $1,000, wouldn't you say, Les?

LESLIE KENO: That's right.

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: Seven hundred to $1,000. You're not going to go a little higher, Les?

LESLIE KENO: I think he's right on the mark on that one.

O'BRIEN: All right, now, an empire is a fairly common thing to find, right? That's not...

LEIGH KENO: Not real rare. But sometimes, again, we get pictures of something like this and then, three feet off the picture is the piece worth a half-million that's next to the couch that didn't come in

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You've got to know where to look.

LEIGH KENO: We say, what's that in the corner of the picture? That's when we get the cameras out and go to the house.

O'BRIEN: And our final item from our viewer, hoping to make them as rich as we can make them, Nicki's (ph) drop leaf mahogany parlor table. It looks like a nice piece.

LESLIE KENO: Well, actually, this is a very affordable collecting area. This is made in the empire period, American classical period.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: And, once again, empire is out there, yes.

LESLIE KENO: About 1830, with all the carved ornament and leafage and the gadrooning on the base. It's made in Philadelphia.

O'BRIEN: Gadrooning. Gadrooning is such a good word.

LESLIE KENO: Gadrooning.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I don't know what it is, but I love it.

LESLIE KENO: That's that little bit of ribbing near the plinth, close to the legs.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Very nice .

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: That's right. It's a drop leaf library table made in Philadelphia. And it's about 1835. The thing is, these are about -- I wish I could tell Nicki that it was $1 million. But, unfortunately, it's about $1,500.

O'BRIEN: Fifteen hundred dollars.

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: Leigh, what do you say?

LEIGH KENO: The nice thing, Miles, is that, again, as Leslie said, these are pretty affordable. You can find nice center tables for as low as $500. And they're real antiques. And they look great in a home. So a young couple can have it. And it's a nice thing to have. So -- but it's not $1 million.

(CROSSTALK)

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: We are out of time. And I'll bring you my baseball card collection next time. I'm sure you'll enjoy that very much.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: The brothers Keno, Leslie and Leigh, thanks very much. We'll see you in another month or so.

We'll have them drop by periodically. Send us your photographs when we call for them.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired November 25, 2003 - 15:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Ever wonder if that vase -- or is it vase -- we'll ask these guys -- that your great aunt left you or that old couch from your grandmother is worth anything? Well, and where can you turn to find out exactly how much? Well, of course, if you watch PBS, you already know the answer, the Keno brothers. They were antiques appraisers for the hit series "Antiques Roadshow." And they now have their own PBS series called -- what else -- "Find!."
They join me live from New York City.

Leigh and Leslie, good to see you both, Leslie screen left, Leigh screen right, right, gentlemen?

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I've got a couple of Post-it notes just to keep it straight here, thanks to our director, Roger (ph).

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: All right, gentlemen, first of all, you've had some great adventures finding serious treasures. And this story you're about to tell has got to take the cake.

Leslie, you go first. Tell us how it all unfolded.

LESLIE KENO, CO-HOST, "FIND!": Well, Miles, we went into a home north of Boston and met a lady there. And in the attic, she had a painting that has been there for 80 years, a masterpiece by one of the great American painters, Martin Johnson Heade. She had no idea what it was worth. So we had it authenticated. And it turned out to be a real Martin Johnson Heade signed.

Leigh -- worth what, Leigh?

LEIGH KENO, CO-HOST, "FIND!": Well, the thing is, Miles, that we sat her down on her couch, along with a local auctioneer who is going to sell this. His name is John McInnis.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: And, by the way, are we seeing the painting here? Is this it right here?

(CROSSTALK)

LEIGH KENO: Yes. That's the painting here. That's the being looked at by Ted Stebbins, who is the great expert on Martin Johnson Heade who has written all the books. And he authenticated it an air for the first time as a Heade.

And we ended up telling the lady that this is a real Heade and worth easily $200,000 to $300,000.

O'BRIEN: Oh, my gosh. Wow. And she was sitting down, right?

(CROSSTALK)

LEIGH KENO: Yes. And tell Miles what it could bring. And we're even being conservative.

LESLIE KENO: First of all, and I think she said, you're kidding me, aren't you?

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Yes, this is "Candid Camera" or something, right?

LESLIE KENO: But this painting could be worth probably over -- possibly over $500,000.

O'BRIEN: So, depending on how the auction goes, right?

LESLIE KENO: Right.

O'BRIEN: And is she going to auction it off?

LEIGH KENO: Yes. John McInnis is going to auction it off up in Amesbury, Mass., on December the 7th. So we'll be there with Pat, the owner, sitting in the audience with the "Find!" cameras to do the follow-up and holding her hand.

O'BRIEN: Oh, my goodness.

LEIGH KENO: And I hope she buys us some champagne afterwards or something.

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: We'll buy her something.

O'BRIEN: Something.

But I think just about everybody in our audience is now making plans to go clean out their attic just to make sure. Of course, that is an extraordinary thing. That's once-in-a-career type find, isn't it?

LEIGH KENO: That is pretty much once in a lifetime.

We wanted to mention that that does air, Miles -- it's going to air on PBS stations nationally, the show, starting the end of December.

(CROSSTALK)

LEIGH KENO: And early -- very early January. And then we're going to be up there for the auction. And that's going to air, Leslie, the follow-up.

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: I think the follow-up is later in January. Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Check your local listings. Will you do us a favor, though, when that auction comes up, give us a call. And we want to find out how that goes.

LEIGH KENO: Will do. Will do.

LESLIE KENO: We will.

O'BRIEN: Let's get into some -- maybe one of our viewers will find such luck, maybe. We have a cuckoo clock here. This comes from Linda. Let's take a look at it.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: First of all, just based on this picture, an electronic picture that came in, can you really judge something like this?

LESLIE KENO: Well, we can actually tell a lot from photographs. This looks like it was probably made in the Black Forest in Germany, probably in the late 19th century. And before that, they had chimes. But, actually, the cuckoo clock, of course, actually, of course, has little bellows in there. And the bird comes out.

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: It has pine cone weights and probably worth in the range of about $800 to $1,200. Very handsome.

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: Very nice. All right.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Leigh, you with us on the $800?

LEIGH KENO: I agree. I'm always a little lower than Les. I would say it's closer to the $800. But $1,200 sure sounds better than $800.

(BELL RINGING)

(LAUGHTER)

O'BRIEN: Why are you always lower? Are you just tougher?

LEIGH KENO: I don't know. I'm just -- I think I'm more conservative with the estimates. But that's what works. Between the twins, you end up with the right price.

LESLIE KENO: He's the evil twin. I'm the good twin.

(LAUGHTER)

LEIGH KENO: That's a good comment.

O'BRIEN: Good cop, bad cop, all that stuff.

All right, let's go to Patricia's bookcase now. Patricia says she's never found one like it and would love to get the value on it. Once again, to me, I would have no idea. That could be something that you found at Ethan Allen.

LEIGH KENO: Well, Miles, the nice thing about this is that it's an empire revival or classical revival piece. They were made from the late 19th century through the early 20th century.

And the pouffe and the columns are all characteristics of the empire style. Now, pieces like this turn up a lot. We used to see them a lot on the "Antiques Roadshow." We still do. And we see them in people's houses on "Find!." And a piece like this, it's popular to display China in or carnival glass or something like that. And on that, I would say that has a value of about $700 to $1,000, wouldn't you say, Les?

LESLIE KENO: That's right.

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: Seven hundred to $1,000. You're not going to go a little higher, Les?

LESLIE KENO: I think he's right on the mark on that one.

O'BRIEN: All right, now, an empire is a fairly common thing to find, right? That's not...

LEIGH KENO: Not real rare. But sometimes, again, we get pictures of something like this and then, three feet off the picture is the piece worth a half-million that's next to the couch that didn't come in

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: You've got to know where to look.

LEIGH KENO: We say, what's that in the corner of the picture? That's when we get the cameras out and go to the house.

O'BRIEN: And our final item from our viewer, hoping to make them as rich as we can make them, Nicki's (ph) drop leaf mahogany parlor table. It looks like a nice piece.

LESLIE KENO: Well, actually, this is a very affordable collecting area. This is made in the empire period, American classical period.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: And, once again, empire is out there, yes.

LESLIE KENO: About 1830, with all the carved ornament and leafage and the gadrooning on the base. It's made in Philadelphia.

O'BRIEN: Gadrooning. Gadrooning is such a good word.

LESLIE KENO: Gadrooning.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: I don't know what it is, but I love it.

LESLIE KENO: That's that little bit of ribbing near the plinth, close to the legs.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: Very nice .

(CROSSTALK)

LESLIE KENO: That's right. It's a drop leaf library table made in Philadelphia. And it's about 1835. The thing is, these are about -- I wish I could tell Nicki that it was $1 million. But, unfortunately, it's about $1,500.

O'BRIEN: Fifteen hundred dollars.

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: Leigh, what do you say?

LEIGH KENO: The nice thing, Miles, is that, again, as Leslie said, these are pretty affordable. You can find nice center tables for as low as $500. And they're real antiques. And they look great in a home. So a young couple can have it. And it's a nice thing to have. So -- but it's not $1 million.

(CROSSTALK)

(BELL RINGING)

O'BRIEN: We are out of time. And I'll bring you my baseball card collection next time. I'm sure you'll enjoy that very much.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: The brothers Keno, Leslie and Leigh, thanks very much. We'll see you in another month or so.

We'll have them drop by periodically. Send us your photographs when we call for them.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com