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Mahatma Gandhi Presentation Spinning Wheel

Value (2016) | $50,000 Auction – $75,000 Auction
Watch  

GUEST:
I brought you a spinning wheel, which was presented to my mother by Mahatma Gandhi. My grandfather was a great proponent of Indian independence, trying to drum up support here in the United States for the cause of Indian independence. He dispatched my mother to London-- Gandhi was at the second Round Table Conference-- and with the idea that she should try to persuade him to make a tour of the United States. Now, my mother was seven years old at the time. This is a picture. This is my grandmother, her mom, and this is her sister.

APPRAISER:
So that is your grandmother. That is your mother, seven years old?

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
And that's her little sister.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
And, of course, there's Mahatma Gandhi.

GUEST:
There's Mahatma.

APPRAISER:
Did you grow up with stories of Mahatma Gandhi?

GUEST:
Oh, yes, because my family was so involved in the whole independence movement. I mean, they also met Nehru, they met Indira Gandhi, even though she was a little girl at the time.

APPRAISER:
And how did your mother actually receive the spinning wheel?

GUEST:
When she went, she made her appeal. She had a petition signed by many important statesmen, including the mayors of five cities, which were the ones who were going to sponsor the tour. But Gandhi said that he didn't think that America was ready for him yet. She made a grand effort, and so he said he would give her a gift. And he asked, what did she want? And she said she wanted a spinning wheel. For the Indian independence movement, it represented economic freedom from colonial oppression. If you spun your own clothes and then wove them with cotton, then you boycotted British goods. The spinning wheel was a very strong symbol. And if you look at the Indian flag, it's on the Indian flag today.

APPRAISER:
It was a very turbulent time in world affairs, you know.

GUEST:
Oh, yes.

APPRAISER:
The second Round Table Conference took place in London. I believe it started in September of 1931. Mahatma Gandhi was the only Indian national actually invited to go and talk about the cause of Indian nationalism. Gandhi's own goals at this conference was expansion of woman rights, ending the caste system, but most importantly, self rule of India. Because at the time, India was a colony of the British crown.

GUEST:
That's right.

APPRAISER:
And he had spent his entire adult life fighting for the cause of India.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
And this was at a very pivotal moment. So it's just a tremendous moment in history, where he not only, you know, met your grandmother...

GUEST:
Yes.

APPRAISER:
…met your mother, and presented her with this tremendous, tremendous symbol of the Indian people. This is a typical style of Indian portable spinning wheel.

GUEST:
Right.

APPRAISER:
Because of the scarcity of items related to Mahatma Gandhi, if this would come up to auction, we would give a reasonable auction estimate at $50,000 to $75,000.

GUEST:
Wow. Wait till I tell my kids that. It might make them appreciate it a little bit more, right?

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Appraisal Details

Appraiser
James Supp
Collectibles
Coronado Trading Co.
Tucson
Coronado Trading Co.
Coeur d'Alene, ID
Update (2016)
$50,000 Auction – $75,000 Auction
Appraised value (2014)
$50,000 Auction – $75,000 Auction
Featured In
Austin, Hour 1 (#1904)
Celebrating Asian-Pacific Heritage (#2028)
Event
Austin, TX (June 28, 2014)
Category
Collectibles

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

Owner Interview
Mahatma Gandhi Presentation Spinning Wheel
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