APPRAISER: Martin, I understand you're the owner of the piece.
GUEST 1: Yes, that's right.
APPRAISER: And you are a sixth-grade schoolteacher.
GUEST 1: Yes, I'm a...
APPRAISER: And you've been using this in school?
GUEST 1: Yes, I take it to school when we study countries that use headrests, and let my students pass it around and look at it so they can be familiar with what a headrest really is.
APPRAISER: Well, now, before I get into this, are you all willing to go out on a limb? Is it real, or is it a reproduction?
GUEST 1: Well, sure, that's why we came. We want to know.
APPRAISER: Okay. This is a real piece. As you know, a neck rest is like a pillow. It goes under the back of the head, and quite often, it is used by women who have these very elaborate coiffures that are assembled with mud and oils, and they keep the same coiffure for months.
GUEST 1: Yeah.
APPRAISER: So this keeps their head off the ground, and their coiffure intact. Now, as we can see on this, there's a wonderful patination here, where it's been used, down on the edges. And as we lift it up, we can see that this has, indeed, rested on the ground. Now, one other thing that we should note: these are Islamic designs, and you have a wonderful blending of Africa and Islam. The country is Somalia. It's probably 1920s, 1930s, so it's not very old, but it definitely has been used. Now, a neck rest like this, this would be worth $500 to $700.
GUEST 1: Wow.
APPRAISER: So was that a reasonable investment?
GUEST 1: Sure, I paid a couple of bucks for it.
APPRAISER: I'd say two bucks to $500 to $700 is a good investment.
GUEST 1: Thank you.
APPRAISER: Well, thank you so much for coming in.
GUEST 2: Thank you, John.
