Mid-20th-Century Papua New Guinea Slit Drum
Watch
GUEST:
I bought it from a shop in Evanston, North Carolina, which was ran by Northwestern University. And apparently, one of their curators had brought it back from New Guinea in the '50s. And a friend of mine sold stones to them, and she told me it was there, went to look at it, couldn't afford it. About a year later...
APPRAISER:
What were they asking for it?
GUEST:
They were asking $6,000.
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
And a year later they were closing the shop, and they marked everything half price. It was my birthday, $3,000, I bought it.
APPRAISER:
Do you have any other background on the piece?
GUEST:
Basically, it's from the Sepik River in New Guinea.
APPRAISER:
And what year did you buy it?
GUEST:
I bought it in, like, '76, I think.
APPRAISER:
Okay. It absolutely is Sepik River. It's from the western Sepik, in the Ramu River area. And this right here, the way that this head is carved, that's diagnostic for Ramu River. Now, historically, the Dutch were in New Guinea in 1820s, the Russians were in New Guinea by the 1870s, and the Germans were in there by the 1880s. So there's been a lot of Western influence, and that's something that we have to keep in mind. On pieces that are real early, they're going to either be stone or shell cut. Now, if you look over here carefully at these very sharp edges, this is clearly metal cut. So this is probably a mid-20th century piece. Now, it absolutely is authentic, and if you look at the surface in through here, you can see it's been rubbed and beaten.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And you'll also see traces of red, which is also a color that's very typical of the Ramu River that they use to sort of enhance their objects. So it's absolutely right, but it's a little bit later. So that's something that we have to take into consideration on value. Now, the other thing, you'll see that it's got some condition problems. We've got a fairly large gap here. There's a big crack in the back.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
That also impacts it. The other thing is we've got a pretty significant downturn in the economy right now. In most cases, it's going to be an institutional client that will buy these. So what we have is we have a fairly late piece, we have a very limited market, but the piece is authentic. So this thing now is probably worth $3,000 to $5,000. If you had one that was, say, into the 19th century and it was done with shell or stone, it could be $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, $80,000.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
I don't know whether that's good enough to make you beat the drum, but can you do it?
GUEST:
Oh, sure. Anything. (drum banging)
Appraisal Details
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.
