American Powder Horn, ca. 1800

Appraised on: July 9, 2011

Appraised in: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Appraised by: Marybeth Keene

Category: Folk Art

Episode Info: Minneapolis, Hour 2 (#1617)

Originally Aired: May 14, 2012

IMAGE: 1 of 1  

Appraisal Video: (1:35)

GUEST: It belonged to my father. And he passed away about 13 years ago. And he acquired it at a rummage sale for $15. I did have it appraised, and they said it was authentic. And I also took it to a gun show, and they said it was possibly the War of 1812. They were able to identify a couple of the ships on there as a schooner and a frigate.

APPRAISER: Frigate.

GUEST: And they thought possibly it belonged to somebody up in a crow's nest, because it was larger than normal, or possibly for a cannon.

APPRAISER: Well, what interested us about this piece is the fact that-- it's a large size, so it could have been for the crow's nest-- but that it was wonderfully scrimmed. Almost every square inch of it is scrimmed. On this side, there's the ship, a lighthouse, a weeping willow tree. There's an American flag on it. The date is actually... it's probably in the late 1780s up until the 1820s. One of the most unusual and nice things about it is this carving right here at the end. And I think your father did very, very well. Do you have any idea what it's worth today?

GUEST: Well, the first person said that it was about a couple thousand.

APPRAISER: We think that it's probably worth between $5,000 and $6,000 on today's market.

GUEST: Wow.

APPRAISER: In a retail setting.

GUEST: Wow.