GUEST: My grandfather used to travel the Southwest, and from what I understand, he picked it up somewhere in Arizona, or New Mexico, or somewhere on the Navajo reservation. He used to travel all over the Southwest in all of his old cars. He would make these old camp cars, if you will, and he would travel all over and just camp out in the Southwest, and he went all over the Navajo reservation meeting all of the locals there, and he loved being into that area.
APPRAISER: I can definitely confirm that this is a Navajo weaving. And we have to understand that a Navajo loom is upright. The weaver sits at the bottom and she works from the bottom up, which really makes this very special because she has no template, she's just weaving. And to have the balance that we have on this is really, really lovely and special. One of the things that we're always concerned about a Navajo's condition. Navajo rugs really don't like the sun, they don't like pets for reasons, they don't like high heels, that sort of thing. Now we notice that we do have some holes and some problems on the edge and the bottom down there. These are concerns for two reasons. Number one: for value. Number two: for stabilizing the piece. So, quite often, you'd want to fix this because you'd stabilize it, keep the damage from getting worse. You don't ever want to fold these, you want to roll them, and roll them in acid-free cotton.
GUEST: Right, right.
APPRAISER: After 1890 they started doing pictorials, and that is various images on
Navajo rugs. This one I believe dates to the 1930s, the 1940s. And it is unique in that it really sort of transcends Navajo weaving.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: It not only is a Navajo that we can appreciate for being a Navajo, but it's also folk art.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: It's really a special piece. Whenever you see something that is as idiosyncratic as this,
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: that is so specific, immediately what comes to mind is you say, "Is this a commission piece?" In other words, did your grandfather go to a Navajo weaver and say, "Hey, I love cars, can you do a great rug with cars on it?" It's speculation, but it's almost more logical that that could happen. Because for a Navajo to come up with all of this imagery without somebody saying, "Hey, I want this kind of car, this kind of house, I want a coffee grinder."
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: So I think that makes the story even cooler.
GUEST: It's a wonderful piece, and, unfortunately, it's the only one left in his collection because the house caught fire and all of the rest of the rugs....
APPRAISER: And you lost 20, didn't you?
GUEST: We lost at least 20 rugs.
APPRAISER: Well, I'm glad this one made it.
GUEST: This is the only one that made it.
APPRAISER: Obviously, when we're doing value we've got to consider condition. What do you think the value would be on this?
GUEST: I haven't a clue. Probably because of its condition probably... no more than $700, $1,000, something like that maybe.
APPRAISER: Okay. In the condition that it's in right now, I would say absolutely with no problem it's $2,500 to $3,500 at an auction. Okay?
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: Now, if you were to spend the money on getting this thing repaired to keep the damage from getting worse, it would enhance the value. I think easily you could be looking at $5,000 to $7,000, or maybe even more
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: at a very competitive auction.
