GUEST: Well, it's a pitcher
that's been in my family for
a number of years. And I knew

my great-grandfather
was in the Civil War,
and it belonged to him.

APPRAISER: Well, do you
know who the young man
is that's on the bottom?

GUEST: Oh, is he the man
that took the flag down?

APPRAISER: May 24, 1861, there's
a inn called the Marshall House
Inn, in Alexandria, Virginia.

There's a Confederate flag
flying up there. It can be seen
from Washington, right across

the river. They're, like, "We've
got to get this down." A man
that was friends with Lincoln,

Elmer Ellsworth, sent over
to get that flag down. He and
his men go up the stairs. They

take the flag down. And
as they're coming down,
the proprietor of the
house, James Jackson,

shoots Ellsworth and kills him.
The man that's with Ellsworth,
Private Brownell, he shoots

Jackson and then runs a bayonet
through him. And that's the
scene that we have here.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Brownell would later
receive the Medal of Honor
for killing Jackson. We have

Ellsworth fallen, with the
Confederate flag partially
visible on the side, the bayonet

going through Jackson.
It's a stoneware pitcher.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And what's cool
is, it was made in 1861.

GUETS: Really? The beginning
of the war. (chuckles)

APPRAISER: Many people believe
that this is actually the first
commemorative pitcher that

was made by an American
potter. Even though these are
unmarked, we know that they were

made in Trenton, New Jersey,
by a firm named Millington,
Astbury and Poulson. This one

is very pretty. They made them
a couple of different ways.
They actually made them with

a white color, and this is the
polychrome version. They're
the most desirable because

they're beautiful. You just
look at it, and it's stunning.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And at one time,
they would have been embossed
with Brownell's name, right

through there. And on the other
side, it's embossed-- it's
nearly impossible to see--

but it's embossed with Jackson's
name, and just below that,
"The Traitor." As we turn

it around, the imagery
continues. We have a beautiful
large Union eagle, and it has

the snake, representing the
Confederacy, in its talons.
And along with that snake, we

have the palmetto tree,
representing South
Carolina, which was the
first state to secede,

and that first national
Confederate flag, like the one
they took down off the Marshall

House that day. It's just a
great piece, and it has the
stack of arms with the flag.

GUEST: Hmm.

APPRAISER: And on the front,
we have a presentation in gold
that was added after the fact.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And... We'll have to
do a little bit more homework
to figure out who those

two guys are.

GUEST: Right, oh, yeah. I
couldn't find anything on that.

APPRAISER: But it's a wonderful
piece of history, representing
a very important time at the

outbreak of the Civil
War. Ellsworth is actually
referred to as the first
officer killed during

the Civil War. This moment
was a rallying cry for Union
soldiers. There would later

be the Ellsworth Avengers.

GUEST: (laughs)

APPRAISER: And they would make
photographs of him, depicting
this scene. He was the first

true martyr for the Union Army.

GUEST: Wow, and being a friend
of Lincoln on top of it.

APPRAISER: Exactly. And
actually, after he was killed,
Lincoln has his body sent for.

They bring him to the White
House, and they put him lying
in state in the East Room.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: Of the White House.
That's how important this
man was to Lincoln. Lincoln

actually referred to Ellsworth
as "the greatest little man I've
ever met." They actually cut

the flag up that he
brought down off of the
house and took it home as
souvenirs. And occasionally,

you will actually see pieces
of that flag for sale. It's a
wonderful stoneware pitcher.

It's got the age, it's got
the crackling, and to some
people, that will detract from

it. I think it just
gives it extra character.

GUEST: (laughing)

APPRAISER: In this condition,
it's a piece that would probably
retail somewhere between

$1,500 and $2,000.

GUEST: Okay, wow, that's great.

APPRAISER: In mint condition,
they can sell for up to $3,000.

GUEST: It's great to know.