Ivory Chess Piece Worth a Fortune

Constant Wonder - Radio Archive, Episode 226 , Segment 1

Episode: Job Humor, Toni Morrison, Phages

Aug 7, 2019 8:00 pm
13:49 mins

Guest: Alexander Kader, Senior Director & Head, European Sculpture and Works of Art Department, Sotheby’s London Interested about its value, a family in the UK brought their mother’s prized ivory chess figure in for appraisal. In a shocking turn of events, the appraiser Alexander Kader immediately recognized the piece as one of the Lewis Chessman and estimated the piece’s worth to be as much as £1m, a pretty good return on investment for a piece that the family’s grandfather had purchased for only £5. What are the Lewis Chessman, then? And what makes them so valuable?

Other Segments

Other Segments

Illustrations

11 MINS

Guest: Rachel Wadham, Education and Juvenile Librarian, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU Pictures are worth a thousand words, and that's what publishers of children's books are counting on when they pair illustrators with authors.

Toni Morrison: An American Legacy

26 MINS

Guest: Kristin Matthews, Professor, English, BYU Sometimes a person comes along who writes and speaks things that so many people want to say, and does it so well, that they deserve to be remembered with reverence. Toni Morrison was such a person, and deserves such a memory.

Phage Therapy Saves Teenage Girl

25 MINS

Guest: Graham Hatfull, Professor, Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Phage therapy could be solution to fighting bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. We investigate a breakthrough case that could signal a new direction in fighting infection.