Cochiti Pueblo Figure, ca. 1895
Appraised Value:
$3,000 - $5,000
IMAGE: 1 of 1
Appraisal Video: (2:00)
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: I have a friend who had birds in her attic, and she asked me to help her clean it out, and I volunteered, and she told me to throw everything out. And I decided that I'd go and ask her and make sure, because I saw some things up there, and she said, "No, it's all trash. Throw it out." So I kept this and a few other pieces.
APPRAISER: Was there any reason why you kept this one?
GUEST: Not really. I just kind of liked it. It was kind of different, and it looked old, but I couldn't tell if it was old or not, so...
APPRAISER: Do you know if she bought this?
GUEST: No, I don't think she bought it. I think that there were things that had been up there for a while, 'cause there was old newspaper articles in there with it, too. Early, earlier newspaper articles, so...
APPRAISER: Okay, it's from New Mexico, and it's from a Pueblo village near Santa Fe called Cochiti, and these figures were made strictly to sell to the tourist. And they started making them pretty early. This one was probably made 1890, 1900, right in there. It's hard to come up with an exact date. What's neat about this is it's a full-sized figure, and the design on it's great, the birds on the front. And what I really like is, the back. It's got this full pattern that goes all over it, and really has a nice design. The bad part is, the foot's broken. These have gotten real collectible, even though they're like tourist things. I mean, the Cochiti people literally stood beside the railroad track at the train station and sold these things for, like, a quarter. If this was to come up for sale in a gallery in Santa Fe, it would bring somewhere, $3,000 to $5,000.
GUEST: You're kidding, right?
APPRAISER: No, I'm not kidding. And there are some bigger ones, but this is a great one, and I mean, I'm even talking with a broken foot, it's worth that.
GUEST: Wow. It was a hot sweaty day up there, I'm glad I did now.
APPRAISER: Yeah. Paid off in the end, huh?
GUEST: Yeah, it did. Thank you. I appreciate it.
