Athabascan Octopus Bag, ca. 1850
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GUEST:
It's been hanging in our cabinet, and nobody knows anything about it because the people that did know about it are no longer with us.
APPRAISER:
It's American Indian. It's Athabascan, which is above the Northwest coast around the bottom part of Alaska. It's called an octopus bag, and it dates to around 1850. This would have been part of the men's regalia and it would have had a strap on it, and they would have worn it across here and on the hip.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
And it would have been used for keeping the fire lighting equipment. It's made out of a red stroud. It's a woolen material that they made in the northern part of England, and they exported it in the 19th century to America. These are very tiny beads, very, very delicate. The designs on the piece are really wonderful and very, very abstract. This is based on the double volute, and this is a symbol, a sign that can be found all the way from the East Coast all the way across America right to the Athabascans. And I think this probably comes from the Toltan tribe. I think conservatively, even with the damage, I think it's worth between $6,000 and $7,000.
GUEST:
Whoa.
APPRAISER:
You like that?
GUEST:
You want to buy it?
APPRAISER:
(laughs) No, no.
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