Anishinaabe Man's Beaded Bandolier Bag, ca. 1890
GUEST: I bought this piece back in about 1985 in Athens, Georgia, at a thrift shop.
APPRAISER: Do you know where it's from?
GUEST: No-- I don't know anything about who made it or, you know, what part of the country, or anything.
APPRAISER: It's from the Great Lakes area. It's made by the Chippewa Indians. In Canada, they're referred to as the Ojibwe, and they refer to themselves as the Anishinaabe, the people who were the original ones of that area. It's one of the largest tribes in North America and Canada. This is called a bandolier bag, made by a woman. A man would wear this across his shoulder, along his side. Anybody who saw that man wearing this would instantly know his tribal affiliation. And the man would put all sorts of things in the pouch: fire-making materials, maybe potions to keep him safe. The woman who made this had a, a certain brilliance for design. The color combinations are exceptional. Do you know where the beads are from?
GUEST: No.
APPRAISER: Venice, Italy.
GUEST: Are you serious? (chuckling)
APPRAISER: And all of these cloths were imported from Europe. You have all this white background in what's called lane stitch, and they're just laying down horizontal lines. But notice the pattern on the flowers. It's all what's called contour beading. This is not the first bandolier bag that she made.
GUEST: Yeah?
APPRAISER: This is special. We can date this in a variety of ways. The beads, particularly these clear beads, came into, uh, the Great Lakes region around 1880, 1890. The floral arrangements have developed from very abstract forms to figurative forms, and that, too, helps date it. Maybe right around 1880, 1890. These geometric patterns going up and down the sides and across the top, those are called patterns of power. And in abstract form, they replicate the footprints or patterns of an otter trail. Otters are very special creatures, because they inhabit two domains, both the underwater world and the land world, and that was considered quite special. So this is a protective design, empowering the person who's wearing this. And then all of these floral elements, they're not just decorative flowers, they're representations of herbal healing power. So there's a lot of symbolism going on here. This bandolier was longer at one time, and the lady reduced the size by maybe eight or ten inches. At some point, it got passed on, perhaps to a smaller person. And it, that kind of suggests how much it was a treasured object. It wasn't going to be discarded. It wasn't going to be packed away. Do you recall what you paid for it?
GUEST: I think I paid about $30.
APPRAISER: I think on a retail basis today, this would sell for about $1,800.
GUEST: Okay, okay.
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: Thank you!
APPRAISER: And, and if you were insuring it, maybe about $2,400.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: I love it.
GUEST: Oh, I do, too-- thank you very much. (chuckles)
$1,800 - $2,400 Retail
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Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
