GUEST: My mother, when she was about 13, went with her family out to Colorado. And I believe that's when they purchased it.
APPRAISER: Uh-huh.
GUEST: So, that's all I can tell you about it.
APPRAISER: So, have you ever looked into what it is, or who made it, or... I assume you know it's Navajo.
GUEST: Well, I don't even know that.
APPRAISER: You don't even know that? Okay.
GUEST: I just... that's the reason I'm here. I don't know anything about it. It's always been around, and I thought this would be a great time to find out what the deal is.
APPRAISER: Okay. Well, it's quite a nice Navajo weaving, from about the 1870s. There are several things I like about it. One is that it's a woman's wearing blanket. Much more rare than a men's wearing blanket. The way you can tell the women's blankets is the stripes, the smaller stripes cutting through the diamonds. It's got beautiful indigo color in it. It's got beautiful red bayeta. And it's a great piece to hang up on the wall. I understand there was some cleaning done at one time.
GUEST: About seven years ago there was some smoke damage, and so it was cleaned. Um, but that... you know, that's basically it.
APPRAISER: Do you know how they cleaned it?
GUEST: I have no idea.
APPRAISER: The nap up here has a fuzzy quality. There are actually... there are several places, but particularly up here. Probably by cleaning, and I suspect they scrubbed it a little too hard. And I don't know... from my knowledge I'm not sure if that can be restored or not. It's still exceptional weaving, and it's a great classic, done in a Third Phase chief's pattern. But whether or not that can be restored, I think remains to be seen. Do you have any idea what it's worth?
GUEST: I have absolutely no idea. Now you've really perked my interest. So, I don't know.
APPRAISER: Well, I'm going to kind of go under the assumption that something can be done with that fuzziness. But, even if it can't, I feel very strongly that, conservatively, it's a $15,000 to $20,000 weaving.
GUEST: You're kidding me.
APPRAISER: No, I'm not kidding.
GUEST: (laughs) Holy mackerel. $15,000 to $20,000?
APPRAISER: $15,000 to $20,000.
GUEST: (laughing) Thanks, Doug!
APPRAISER: You're welcome.
GUEST: What can I say?
