Southern Cheyenne Pipebag, ca. 1875
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GUEST:
It was in my mother-in-law's estate, and she passed away, and she had collected Indian things, and her mother also collected stuff, so I'm not sure if it was her mother that got it or if she got it.
APPRAISER:
This is a Southern Cheyenne pipe bag, and it would have held a man's pipe. The beads are beautiful, very small. It's dyed with yellow. If you look here, you see all this yellow powder. That's probably buffalo gall. They would take the gallbladder, dry it out, and it makes a yellow powder, and that was the way a lot of things were dyed on the Southern Plains. The fringe has got the same dye in it. The piece probably dates to the 1870s, which was sort of the end of the Indian Wars in Oklahoma. And very visual, very striking Cheyenne Indian piece. The disappointing thing is I touched the hide, it's kind of stiff.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
However, there are some new techniques and new technology that can soften that up. In the condition it's in, I would think this would probably easily bring $8,000 to $10,000 at an auction.
GUEST:
Not bad. I didn't expect that, so... (both laughing)
APPRAISER:
Have it softened, and it would raise the value to that $12,000 to $14,000 level.
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