Appraisers at the Kansas City Convention Center encounter a vase made for the Imperial household of China between 1736 and 1795; a wild collection of memorabilia, including a T-shirt with bullet holes, documenting the life and antics of Beat Generation writer William Burroughs; and an 1880s Pennsylvania dry sink, made of poplar and decorated with a fantastic painted-grain finish, estimated to be worth $8,000.