Calm and grinning, Army Capt. Jon Holland wheeled his bright orange lion into Hannah Community Center on Sunday.
Holland's lion, a former carousel fixture, was one of many unique items brought to the center for appraisal during the Arts & Antiques Appraisal Fair at the center, 819 Abbott Road.
While stationed as a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) serviceman in Belgium, Holland bought the item at a flea market for his wife and sent it to America. His wife, who has a passion for carousel-related items, has since started carving her own carousel figures.
Holland said he has been living as an Army recruiter in East Lansing for 18 months since his return, but had yet to get an estimate of the lion's value. He said he bought the lion for about $180, but Lansing proprietor Philip Siebert valued the piece between $800 and $1,000.
"I knew it was worth more than what the gentleman was asking," said Holland, adding that he haggled with the seller for an even cheaper price.
Other items brought to the fair included silverware, a hand-woven tapestry and Chinese porcelain.
"Sometimes, people own things and they didn't realize they even had them," Siebert said.
Most appraisers charge $50-200 per hour to place value on various items, and researching the item is usually more costly than the actual inspection, he said.
But area antique enthusiasts got a deal Sunday, paying only a $10 admission fee and $5 per item they wanted to get verbally appraised by experts, Siebert said. Written documentation often is needed to report values to insurance companies.
The market for antiques has slowed in recent years, but Siebert said people still are spending money on older items.
"It's cheaper than buying them new," he said, adding that materials used to build some new wooden items are akin to cardboard.
One item that largely impressed event attendees was a large Burmese wall hanging brought by MSU teacher-education Professor Lois Bader.
"I've had it rolled up under my bed for 30 years," said Bader, who bought the blanket-sized hanging in Thailand. She added that similar pieces are usually much smaller.
Antique and art dealers were unable to fairly assess the value of the hanging because of its size, she said, but added that 25 years ago, she saw a similar hanging in San Francisco valued at $3,000.
Most visitors came and went quickly after getting their items appraised, but others donated plates and glassware for purchase. All the proceeds of the event will go to help fund programs headed by the Capital Area Literacy Coalition.
Every year, coalition programs teach about 500 adults and children to read, write, and speak English. About 300 MSU students participate in the organization's Read to Achieve program, said Bader, the coalition's volunteer executive director.
