John,
The top institutions, and auction houses, regularly present items that they do not have all the firm answers to.
The market determines a value based on the uncertainties.
Here is your King Tut questionable item -
http://www.herkimercommunitymuseum.c...ed-Catalog.pdf
54. Ankh Mirror Case. Found in the Treasury where it had been stripped by the grave robbers
of the silver mirror it once contained, this regal mirror case was fashioned of wood covered in
sheet gold and embossed with both the royal and personal names of the pharaoh. Since the
hieroglyphic ankh symbol for life (represented in the form of sandal straps) was also the symbol
for mirror, the witty artisan who crafted this unique case was indulging in a playful pun. Within
the loop (as in a cartouche), a hieroglyph of Tutankhamun’s throne name, Nebkheprure, is
incorporated into a sacred motif inlaid with carnelian, quartz, and colored glass. The design
ritually depicts the creation of the universe with the birth of the sun god (Re), rendered as a
scarab (kheper) rising forth from the primordial lotus (its corolla crowned by the neb basket).
Although it might have been intended exclusively for funerary purposes, this delightful amulet
may well have been one of the pharaoh’s treasured personal belongings.
(one of his most treasured personal items? or used at his funeral?)
Christies auction lots -
http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/b...d-848efd22183f
... cowled saint behind St Margaret is probably Gerard, the patron saint of their eldest son. One of the daughters, probably the eldest, is Margareta, wife of Georges Sersanders, whose fourth child was born in about 1502. The use of the feminine form for one prayer may mean that the book was intended for Margareta ...
http://www..christies.com/lotfinder/...d-848efd22183f
Examination of a limited number of metal objects, which have survived from the Western Zhou dynasty (1046-771 BC), suggests that the use of small amounts of enamel inlaid into metal may have been current in China from this early date. An iron axe blade in the collection of the Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C., and a bronze ladle in the collection of the British Museum, London, appear to have reddish brown glass-paste inlay, while the axe also has green glass-paste inlay. Technical analysis revealed that these were siliceous enamels coloured with cuprous oxide [1]. Both the axe and the ladle have been dated to the 11th century BC, and it has been confirmed that the siliceous enamels are original to the pieces. The use of what would have been applied as molten glass to provide decoration on metal also appears on items of the Warring States period, the Han and the Tang dynasties, albeit that objects thus decorated have not survived in great numbers...However it appears to have been in the Yuan dynasty that Chinese craftsmen began to produce fully developed cloisonne enamelled wares and their wares reached a high standard [4]...