Ancient Art

Wooden Native Alaskan Bowl, ca. 1800

Appraisal: Wooden Native Alaskan Bowl, ca. 1800

Transcript

GUEST: I bought it on a wedding trip 22 years ago on the island of Kauai. I fell in love with it. I think it's an effigy bowl, I'm not really sure.

APPRAISER: Do you have any idea where it's from?

GUEST: I always called it Pacific Northwest, maybe Eskimo.

APPRAISER: I think you're right.

GUEST: Really? Oh, good.

APPRAISER: I think it's definitely Eskimo, and it's a remarkable object. First of all, it's made out of spruce. It's a fairly soft wood. And it's quite extraordinary. I mean, I have never seen, and my colleagues also, one that has this head fixed on the top. The Eskimos don't really do decorative art. Everything they do has a function. And they also believed that each of these objects has a spirit in it, the yua, and I think that the head probably represents the spirit of the bowl. Mostly, you see these as finger puppets, and it's a strange notion. I mean, maybe this is meant to look like a mask and this is the body. One is inclined to think that it would be ceremonial. I mean, we don't really know.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: The back, you can also see, it's actually hollowed out, which makes me think it is a mask in miniature. Very nice grooved carvings around the side here, traces of pigment. There's been some damage, which has been repaired. I don't know when-- before you got it, I think.

GUEST: Right.

APPRAISER: The bowl I think is probably the beginning of the 19th century, which is early for this material. It could even be earlier-- 1780s, 1790s. How much did you pay for the group?

GUEST: $400.

APPRAISER: Okay, so do you have any idea, what do you think it's worth?

GUEST: I'm going to throw out a number: $1,500, maybe?

APPRAISER: I will put a price of, say, between $18,000 and $20,000.

GUEST: Oh, my goodness.

APPRAISER: And I think with more research... That's a retail price, and I think at auction, it possibly could go much higher.

GUEST: Oh, my Lord.

APPRAISER: But I like to be conservative about this, and I think $18,000 to $20,000 is a conservative price. It's really a remarkable object.

GUEST: This is my wedding gift. Makes me want to cry because of the history of where I got it and how I got it.

Appraiser

Anthony Slayter-Ralph

Anthony Slayter-Ralph Fine Art
Taghkanic, NY

APPRAISED VALUE (2016)

$18,000 - $20,000 Retail

Event

Fort Worth, TX

Theme

Cultural Art & Objects

Form

Decorative Objects, Container, Tableware, Bowl

Appraiser Speciality

Ancient Art

Material

Decorative finishes, Carved, Wood, Spruce

Period

19th Century

Update: April 3, 2024

It is ANTIQUES ROADSHOW's intention to use culturally respectful terms when discussing the history of items being appraised on the show. We acknowledge that terms that describe a person or group’s identity regarding race, ethnicity, religion, or culture can change over time, or have different meanings to different people. In particular, "Eskimo" has various connotations depending on where you live in the Northern Hemisphere, but many Alaska Natives consider the term offensive. In Canada and Greenland, "Eskimo" has negative connotations and is no longer an accepted term. "Inuit" is preferred, but that term is not as commonly used in the United States. To the extent it is still used, "Eskimo" only properly refers to two main indigenous cultural groups collectively: Yupik (a culture group from Western Alaska) and Inupiat (a culture group from Northern Alaska and St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea). When one of these groups is being referenced, however, the more specific terms "Yupik" and "Inupiat" are preferred by Alaska Natives. The term "Alaska Natives" includes all indigenous peoples of Alaska.