1885 Kiowa Beaded Toy Baby Carrier

Appraised on: August 13, 2011

Appraised in: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Appraised by: Bruce Shackelford

Category: Tribal Arts

Episode Info: Pittsburgh, Hour 3 (#1609)

Originally Aired: February 27, 2012

IMAGE: 1 of 3  

Appraisal Video: (3:08)

GUEST: It was in our home ever since I was a young girl, and it came from my father's side of the family, and when I asked him about it, the best that he could recollect was that my great-grandparents went on a trip out west and purchased it then.

APPRAISER: Do you know when your great- grandparents went out west?

GUEST: No, he didn't know. So, we don't have a date, except that on the back of it there's a date of December 1885. The artist's name is on the back, and I couldn't find out anything about her. I looked online. But it came from the Indian Territory in 1885.

APPRAISER: Well, let me tell you what I know. I used to live where this was made.

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: And this is a doll cradle.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: Indian children had them, and they sold them also as toys.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: They are exact replicas of full-size baby cradles. And this was made by a Kiowa woman in the area around what's now Anadarko, Oklahoma. I think it probably dates to about 1885. It's very unusual to have a name associated with the piece. It's possible that you could take that name and run it down in the Indian rolls and find out who this woman was. It would have been made by a woman. It's in pieces.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: So it needs to be put back together. These would have been slightly spread and attached all the way up the side through those holes with hide lacing. This little crossbar would have gone right across here and been laced with lacing also. This is a flap that would have gone across the top, where this is, over the front of it. It would probably cost the grand sum of $300 to $500 to get it put back together correctly. The boards are painted. I'm not sure what the wood is. It could be bois d'arc, but it may be ash also. But it has kind of the orange color of bois d'arc. The painting is very Kiowa. This design right here some say represents a scorpion. The beading is unusual. It's almost beaded on a... like a loom. It's woven, and then it's attached in strips. And, so it took a long time to do this. It wasn't just an easy thing to do. The doll is not particularly valuable. It's just a nice little porcelain doll. Now, the big worry is, well... It's in pieces.

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: So how does that affect the value?

APPRAISER: In my mind, it doesn't. It's so easy to repair and clean up, I think that it would bring the same amount of money repaired or unrepaired.

GUEST: Oh, okay.

APPRAISER: If you went to buy this in a shop, it's going to be easily $10,000 to $12,000.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh. That's amazing.