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Close Up | Poet Rainer Maria Rilke's Quote

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Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Owner Interview | Korean Yayoi Stone Dagger, ca. 750 BC

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

Appraisal Collection | All Our Appraisals from Colonial Williamsburg, Hour 3

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Yomut Asmalyk Rug, ca. 1870

Value (2011) | $5,000 Insurance
Watch  

GUEST:
I was working for a college, and there was a woman I called on, a couple, who had collected over many years. And the husband died, and the wife was going to relocate into a retirement home. And I came to visit her one day, and she told me, "John, when are you going to come and get my rugs?" And I never remembered that she was going to give them to me. And I had an ethical dilemma, because I couldn't take them as a gift, so I made her an offer of $1,000 for about 18 Oriental rugs.

APPRAISER:
Oh, my.

GUEST:
Maybe ten of them are still under a spare room bed.

APPRAISER:
Well, the piece you brought in today is a Turkmen piece called a Yomut. It's woven by the Yomut tribe, and the form is called an asmalyk. And it's a camel trapping. It's a piece that is made by a bride's family for the wedding procession. It's essentially a dowry piece. And it's woven in the late 19th century. Some of the qualities that make it an asmalyk, the main is the fact that it's coming to a point at the top, and the fact that it has these very decorative tassels at the bottom. And the colors in the tassels actually represent almost every color that is in the piece itself. There are many times when we find them without their tassels. The piece is from about 1870. It's still a period where they were using natural dyes. One color that we see in this rug that we don't normally see is this shade of red up here, which may be an insect dye which we called cochineal. And there are also some beautiful greens, blues, apricots. Basically, the range of color is quite nice for a piece like this.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
The quality is very fine, and if we look at the weave, it has a very densely packed amount of knots, so that you can see very few of the weft threads. You can see the design very clearly.

GUEST:
How many per inch?

APPRAISER:
I would say it would be approximately 200 knots per square inch, which for a tribal piece is very, very fine. The condition is extraordinary. This piece has a value of $5,000.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
And so that would be a realistic insurance replacement value for it. About 15 or 20 years ago, these were really hot, and this piece might have brought as much as $10,000.

GUEST:
Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER:
So they've actually backed off a little bit in value. So $5,000 is realistically what you would have to pay if you were a collector.

GUEST:
I think that's wonderful. I just love what you're telling me.

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
Peter Pap
Rugs & Textiles
Peter Pap Oriental Rugs of San Francisco, Inc.
San Francisco, CA
Appraised value (2011)
$5,000 Insurance
Featured In
Minneapolis, Hour 3 (#1618)
Event
Minneapolis, MN (July 09, 2011)
Category
Rugs & Textiles
Period
19th Century
Form
Rug

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.

More on This Appraisal

Related Appraisal
Tekke "Animal Tree" Asmalyk Turkmenistan Rug, ca. 1800
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