GUEST: My great-grandfather was fascinated with the West.

And then my grandfather, his son, took the train out to Denver from New York, and rode 800 miles with a group of Native Americans and spent time with the Navajo, uh, Hopi, and a few other tribes.

APPRAISER: So these were just items he acquired along the way?

GUEST: Yes, and I'm not sure what my great-grandfather got versus what my grandfather got, but their trips were all finished by 1916, so everything would pre-date that.

APPRAISER: Have you put any study into them?

GUEST: I think they're Hopi.

APPRAISER: Just east of the Hopi First Mesa, there was a pueblo that had been abandoned in the 16th century, but there was a potter by the name of Nampeyo that lived in the region.

She would go down and find shards, and it inspired her to create a revival of that pottery style.

She was born in 1859, died in 1942.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: And it's very difficult to authenticate her pieces.

She never signed any of her pieces, but there's an elegance to them.

She used a lot of bird wings.

These are really beautiful examples, and I would attribute them as Nampeyo.

GUEST: Oh, really?

Oh, neat.

APPRAISER: Probably date to the time that he was there in 1916.

GUEST: Okay.

APPRAISER: So they're from the turn of the century.

GUEST: Okay.

And what is this?

Is that, like, a... APPRAISER: It's a canteen.

GUEST: A canteen?

Okay.

APPRAISER: And it's a personal use canteen.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: And there were enough people coming through that she was making these to sell to visitors.

GUEST: Mm-hmm.

APPRAISER: The canteen is charming, absolutely charming.

And at auction, I'd put an estimate of maybe $1,200 to $1,800 on it.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

APPRAISER: The bowl has a lug for hanging, and would, they would hang them in their own homes, would carry a price of $2,000 to $3,000.

GUEST: Oh, wow.

APPRAISER: This center bowl is as elegant as they can be.

It has great form, beautiful color, exquisite painting.

And I would place its value at $12,000 to $14,000.

GUEST: Oh, my God!

Wow.

(chuckles) APPRAISER: So...

So...

GUEST: Well, thank you.

That's fab, that's great news.

(laughs)