Antiques Roadshow

GUEST: Well, I brought in this, uh, Native American jacket that belonged to my mother.

My grandmother was born and raised on an Indian reservation in New Mexico.

I think it's, um, Navajo.

My heritage is Navajo, Pueblo, and Apache Indian.

APPRAISER: I found pretty much the same exact model...

GUEST: Oh.

APPRAISER: ...in mail order catalogs from about 1940, 1941.

This is what is known as a Chimayo jacket.

This is a very distinctive style of weaving, Chimayo weaving coming from the area, Chimayo, in northern New Mexico.

Two families are credited with having started this kind of Chimayo weaving: the Ortegas and the Trujillos.

They're usually these central single motifs that have diamonds, stripes.

In this case, there's also rhombus.

It's usually on a solid ground.

And you really get a sense on the back of that central, classic Chimayo motif.

This tradition picked up in the early 20th century.

And this is an object that was also sold basically as a souvenir.

As for the-the weaving, it would have been done in that area, in Chimayo, by women weavers.

A variety of companies were marketing these for the tourist trade, but also locals who were buying these objects, too.

I could see that there was a label in it at one time...

GUEST: Yes.

APPRAISER: ...but it had been removed.

So we don't know which manufacturer this was.

What is interesting is that at the time that these are being marketed to tourist audiences, they're calling it Mexican work, not New Mexican.

So there's this conflation between cultures.

Not necessarily understanding that this is really specific to northern New Mexico.

You don't see it outside of this-this region, this kind of weaving; Chimayo weaving.

These are hand-loomed.

The fabric is all wool and then the sleeves are a cotton corduroy.

They sold in the range of about $8.00, $8.75, which in today's money is about $175.

Wasn't the cheapest object.

In a retail setting, because these are highly collectible, I think you could expect $1,500 to $2,500.

GUEST: Oh, my gosh!

Oh, my!

I had no idea.

Amazing.

(chuckles) That's amazing.

Wow.

Incredible, well, I'm glad I held onto it.

APPRAISER: As an insurance value, I would say, just to be safe, $3,000.

GUEST: Okay, great.