Caucasian Rug, ca. 1900
Watch
GUEST:
I got it at the Tucson local swap meet.
APPRAISER:
A swap meet? What did you have to swap to get it?
GUEST:
Um, $200.
APPRAISER:
What else did you buy that day? Anything else? No, just the rug?
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
What made you want a rug?
GUEST:
It looks expensive.
APPRAISER:
(chuckling) That's a good reason.
GUEST:
It hangs up on the wall in our living room.
APPRAISER:
Oh. You must have big walls. Do you know where this rug comes from? It comes from an area called the Caucasus Mountain Range, and this was woven in a village, so it would have been done by children, probably, you know, not much older than you. If you look right here, there's birds in this rug. and there's other birds up and down the rug. Another one here, and this animal here with the four legs...
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And the big tail, and the antlers, what do you think that is?
GUEST:
A deer?
APPRAISER:
A deer. Probably a reindeer. Do you know how old it is?
GUEST:
I think it came from the 1920s or '30s.
APPRAISER:
Probably a little bit earlier, probably about 1900. So it's a little over 100 years old. And there's two reasons why a rug like this are valuable. One reason is because it's collectible. People who collect unusual rugs would want a rug like this, but also, it's so large. It's probably almost 12 feet long. So you paid $200. Now, would you be surprised if I told you this rug is worth maybe as much as $5,000 at auction? It's pretty good, huh?
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
It's a good investment.
Appraisal Details
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