GUEST: My mother found this in, in an attic when her parents bought a, a shore house north of New York City.
APPRAISER: Okay.
GUEST: And it's been in the family ever since.
APPRAISER: This was an object that was created in the woods of Maine, deep in the forest. It was made by Penobscot Indians, who are the traditional tribe who inhabited most of Maine.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: And, and beyond, frankly, right? Well into Nova Scotia and Canada. In the olden early days, prior to colonization, clubs such as this were used as war clubs, and smaller versions with creatures from the forest were used by shaman or holy men, uh, during their ceremonial rites. As local Native life changed over the centuries, and, uh, men were no longer able to go to war or to hunt widely, they began to work with, uh, travelers and fishermen and hunters who would come up on vacation, and they would make objects such as this to trade. So this became a cottage industry for Indigenous men in Maine, and there were thousands of these made. You can probably go back to maybe the, uh, mid- to early 18th century and find ones that were made for Indigenous purposes. I think by the late 19th century, it was pretty much a trade item for non-Natives. This is typical chip carving that the Natives of the Woodlands did as a decorative technique. They would take a knife, hit one side, hit the other side, a little piece of wood would pop out, and they would make these floral elements. These little three-leaf designs are typical of the Eastern Woodlands. Everything was about trees, which were reverent. Indigenous people actually felt that the spirits of their ancestors resided in trees, so they had a great deal of reverence for them.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: So this face is interesting. This is almost like a portrait. We'll never know, of course, of whom.
GUEST: (chuckles)
APPRAISER: But it looks like an Indigenous person. There is facial paint, like war paint. So this undoubtedly represents a man, perhaps a, a warrior of legend amongst the Penobscot. You'll notice in here, the bark...
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: ...is what we would identify as birch bark. It's relatively early-- I would date this to the 19th century. These are still made today. Up here, facing you, is an animal, maybe a, a lizard or a newt, a salamander. Something that would crawl along the forest floor. Lizards, salamanders are very important because they inhabit two domains. They can both be in the water and on the land. Somebody took very good care of this. There are no abrasions, there are no scuffs. It's been handled enough so that there's been patina applied...
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: ...either through body oils, oxidation, dust, dirt, attic.
GUEST: (chuckles)
APPRAISER: This is not the individual's first effort. This is really a well-accomplished carving. The face is dramatic, it doesn't look cartoonish. It has a certain stern or severe aspect to it.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: I think on a, uh, retail basis, this club would be very much appreciated. I think perhaps in the range of $2,000.
GUEST: Whew.
APPRAISER: Uh, if I was going to insure it, I would appraise it at $2,500. It would be very, very much sought by people who collect this sort of thing.
GUEST: Wow! My entire life, this has been a big... Excuse me. (chuckles) It's been a big part, a big part of my life. It's a voice. I've always had it around. It touches me, because it was really, it was my mother's. She had it, kept it. So it's part of her, it's part of me.
APPRAISER: I can't tell you how meaningful that would be to the gentleman who made this. That would... He's, he's somewhere. He'd be so pleased to have heard that.
