GUEST: When I was in my...sophomore in high school, I went to get a haircut. And the barber had these behind the counter. And he brought them out and wondered if anybody wanted to buy them. So I says, "Yeah, why not?" I wasn't married, I didn't have anything to do but go to school. So we arrived at a price, and I took them home, and I've had them ever since.
APPRAISER: So what did you pay for them?
GUEST: It was either eight dollars or $20.
APPRAISER: So at least... the max investment is $20.
GUEST: Yes, it is. We've shown them in our house for all of our married life on a wall in the family room.
APPRAISER: Well, what have you told people they were?
GUEST: Well, I said these were boat oars, I thought, and… maybe even for real shallow water they could be used in the mud. And then this I thought was a war club.
APPRAISER: All right. This group of objects are all from the Marquesas, which is Polynesia, in the Pacific.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And I can tell you now that these pieces... let's start first with these paddles. And I want to point out the carving we have down here, and I've never seen a paddle that has this extension on the bottom.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And actually it's a functional thing. It's to push off the rocks.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: So this was made... definitely made to be used. You have these two Marquesan figures up here, and they protect the individual that owns the piece. We see the same thing on the club. This form really dates back to Cook's second voyage, 1772-1775. Now, this one is a little bit later. I think this is late 19th century. It certainly started out as a war club. And again, we see the head. This would protect the individual holding this piece. Now, the wood is an iron wood. The wood is called “toa”, okay? Toa, which also means "warrior." Now, the club itself is called “U'u”. And as we said, we've seen this form before. It is started out as a club, but then it becomes more ceremonial, an indication of status and power in the group. And I can tell you that your investment probably paid off.
GUEST: Oh, good.
APPRAISER: These two paddles, they would be $500 to $700 each. And then this club in the center is $1,500 to $2,500.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And those would be good retail prices.
GUEST: Okay.
