Persian Rug, ca. 1900
Watch
GUEST:
One day an antique man came around and took quite notice of this rug, and my mother just used it as a... scrape your feet on when you came in. This antique man kept noticing this rug. My mother said, "No, I don't want to sell it and I don't have anything here I want to sell," so the antique man left. My mother immediately took this rug because she thought perhaps it had some value. She immediately took the rug and put it in her dining room, where it stayed in a little corner in the dining room and it wasn't used in the entry hall anymore for wiping your feet on.
APPRAISER:
Mercifully. The interest in this piece is not so much in the provenance or even rarity so much as it is, first of all, the fact of its size. It's not a bag face or a pillow cover or anything that would be... have gone over a pack animal. It's a small rug, which is kind of unusual. I'd say it's about two feet by three-and-a-half feet. It's not very easy to see where it would have come from. I think it's Northwest Persian, probably made by Kurds, looking at the weave. But the beauty of this piece, and I love it, is the color because the color they've used-- a red... the green is an overdyed color which is a combination of the indigo and the yellow. Also, the drawing is perfectly beautiful. The outlining of the little rosettes-- the little meander borders are very graceful. The rhythm of this piece going from red into two yellow and one indigo band is particularly nice. This little barbershop finish. It's just a beautiful piece. It's a beautiful little piece.
GUEST:
I'm glad we held on to it, then.
APPRAISER:
Oh, I'm so glad you held on to it, too, especially since, if it... it's highly collectible, and if it came up at auction it would probably sell for someplace between $2,500 and $3,500.
GUEST:
Hmm...Just for a little rug to wipe your feet on.
GUEST:
Just for a little rug to wipe your feet on.
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.
