Plains Indian Ledger Drawing, ca. 1878
Watch
GUEST:
My father-in-law passed away in '08, and this was in some of his stuff. It's in our possession now.
APPRAISER:
As I leaf through it a little bit, there's a lot of newspaper articles, there's some poems, there's a lot of things that don't look like they're too valuable. But glued to the inside cover is this wonderful Plains pictograph drawing. They call these ledger drawings, and this one has a history, and I think whoever owned this book, it looks like her handwriting that did the poem and that wrote this underneath. And underneath this ledger drawing is written, "Drawn by Bad Eye, chief of the Cheyenne, confined at Fort Marian at St. Augustine, Florida, 1878."
GUEST:
Yes.
APPRAISER:
Now, the Southern Plains Indians-- the Cheyenne, the Comanche and the Kiowa-- surrendered in 1875. Some who committed depredations, so-called depredations on the Plains, were sent to Fort Marian-- they were sent to prison. While there, they did pictograph drawings in ledger books. There was actually a Bad Eye listed as a Kiowa who had drawn a ledger book. This is a wonderful pictograph of them at the height of their glory with all their accoutrements from the Plains days. And you can see the horses are decked out in German silver bridles, the saddle blankets look like they're saltillo serapes from Mexico. There's three name glyphs up here. This looks like a wolf, this looks like it could be a mule, and this looks like a buffalo up here, and I'm sure they refer to the warriors below. It's just a wonderful example of Plains Indian art in the 1870s, after the free-roaming buffalo days were over. Do you have any idea what it's valued at?
GUEST:
No, sir, I sure don't.
APPRAISER:
What did you pay for it?
GUEST:
My father-in-law, we got a receipt. He paid $100.
APPRAISER:
He paid $100 for it. Do you know when your father purchased this book?
GUEST:
7/7/94.
APPRAISER:
We'd have to do a lot more homework on this to see if there was anything of value. At auction, this Plains pictograph drawing would sell for about $8,000 to $12,000.
GUEST:
(gasps) Oh... oh, goodness. That's good.
APPRAISER:
That's good.
GUEST:
That is good.
APPRAISER:
It's a beautiful work of art.
Appraisal Details
Diehl explained, "Bad Eye was a Kiowa Indian who was well documented to have been confined at Fort Marion. The writing in the ledger is likely misattributing him to the Cheyenne tribe."
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.
