Carrie Bethel Basket, ca. 1958
GUEST: My mom worked with a lovely little lady who became ill. My mom and dad helped her out a little bit. And when she passed, she had left a note for her landlord to call my mom if anything happened to her. And the landlord called us, and we were sad, she passed away, but he wanted everything out of her house that day. (chuckling): My husband and I took the day off work, and we went down with his big truck and started loading all of her furniture. And one of the last places we looked was up in her bedroom closet. And there was a big hat box sitting up there. And my mom said, "Oh, in the '40s, she was a wonderful fashionista. I bet there's a beautiful hat." So we got all excited, and I brought it down and opened it up, and this basket was in there. And that was July of '88. So 30-odd years I've had it. And I think she got it maybe from the Indian Days that they used to have at Yosemite. There was either three or four ladies that made baskets for those occasions for tourists. And I think that-- it's a different design, but it looks like the one that they have online for, her name was Carrie Bethel.
APPRAISER: I would totally agree with you that it is a Carrie Bethel.
GUEST: Oh, cool.
APPRAISER: This woman was so consistent in her materials...
GUEST: Wow.
APPRAISER: ...that everything had to be just so.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: Everything w, and that is why this basket is so beautifully woven. This design right here is very reminiscent of a medallion. And then she repeats that design. No stitch is out of place. And I would say that she wove it between 1955 and 1960. She lived in the Yosemite National Park area. This woman, who was such an unbelievable weaver, lived in a shack. She had no running water.
GUEST: Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER: No electricity.
GUEST: What?!
APPRAISER: And she just did her weaving when she could during the day, because she had to make money. She was a domestic. The highest price that she got for a basket was $180, and that was maybe for two to four years of work.
GUEST: Wow. Wow.
APPRAISER: This basket took at least two years to make.
GUEST: Sheez.
APPRAISER: And you remember, she wasn't weaving at night, because she couldn't see.
GUEST: Right, she was work... Oh, yes, right!
APPRAISER: The background material is sedge.
GUEST: Sedge.
APPRAISER: Bracken fern, the black.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: And inside each one of those rows are three rods of willow. And the red is redbud. When someone weaves a basket, and then they might want to weave another one, maybe the exact same, it's never gonna be the exact same.
GUEST: Oh, so they're all different, right.
APPRAISER: They're all different. They wanted to weave different kinds of design.
GUEST: Sure, sure.
APPRAISER: Because most of the work, it was done for sale.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: And when, especially with Carrie...
GUEST: For tourists, kind of, like.
APPRAISER: Yes. Yes. For tourists, exactly.
GUEST: Ah.
APPRAISER: And they put out their very best work. Now, after the '60s, they started getting smaller, the baskets.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: Because they cou, tourists wanted something they could carry home.
GUEST: Carry with...
APPRAISER: One of her baskets sold in 2006 for over $200,000.
GUEST: Oh, no.
APPRAISER: Oh, yes.
GUEST: You're kidding!
APPRASER: Her work-- she was a master weaver. There are a lot of basket weavers, but Carrie was one of the major ones.
GUEST: Oh, my gosh!
APPRAISER: This is one that one would say, "Oh, this is a Picasso."
GUEST: Oh! Oh, my...
APPRAISER: If you're talking in...
GUEST: Oh, and now I feel horrible.
APPRAISER: ...artists' work. On this...
GUEST (laughing): It's a decoration in my house.
APPRAISER: Yes, it's a decoration. But you also put plants in it and stuff.
GUEST: I did.
APPRAISER: Which is a no-no.
GUEST: (laughs)
APPRAISER: I would put a price on this basket at auction of a good $75,000 to $85,000.
GUEST: Oh!
APPRAISER: Yes. Now...
GUEST: What?
APPRAISER: You heard me right.
GUEST: Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER: You heard me right.
GUEST: Oh, now I do feel bad, ooh.
APPRAISER: Now, I don't know what it would cost to repair. I would personally pay five grand, because then you could possibly sell it for maybe way over $100,000.
GUEST: Whoa! Oh, my gosh!
APPRAISER: Now, are there any other things you would like to know?
GUEST: (mock-screams) No, I'm freaking out now. Gosh, I mean, I just love it. I love all Native American stuff, and I just feel really privileged to ever even have it.
APPRAISER: I would insure the basket probably for $150,000.
GUEST (yelps) (groans): I just... (exclaims): I can't breathe.
$75,000 Retail
$150,000 Insurance
$75,000 Retail
$150,000 Insurance
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Understanding Our Appraisals
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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."
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