GUEST: My great-great-grandparents were missionaries in Hawaii in 1828, and they had, like, eight children, and I think seven of them all became missionaries. And when Japan opened to the West in 1868 or whenever, then three or four of them went to Japan as missionaries. And I think maybe one of them acquired this while they were in Japan. But they also were going into China, so I've always wondered is this Japanese or is it Chinese? And that's all I know about it.

APPRAISER: Well, I can tell you that it's Japanese and that it may have been painted in the 18th century, okay? And it is a parinirvana of the Buddha, which is translated as the death of the Buddha.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: And it was once quite a bit bigger than it is now. It's been cut down on the top and on the bottom. Here we have the Buddha, the dying Buddha, being mourned over by all of his colleagues, mythical figures, monks, animals. You have a white elephant down here. And the Buddha mother, Queen Maya, above in the clouds. And it was once mounted as a hanging scroll or kakemono, okay?

GUEST: We've always called it the kakemono, but I thought that meant it was in three pieces.

APPRAISER: No, kakemono just means hanging scroll.

GUEST: I see.

APPRAISER: Okay? So, 18th century Japanese. It's a kakemono ink and color on paper and at auction is worth about $12,000 to $18,000.

GUEST: Okay, it's nice to know.

APPRAISER: If it had been in its full size, it would have been worth as much as $30,000 to $50,000 in the current market.

GUEST: Okay. Well, thank you.