10 years ago
Did TV show exaggerate the rarity and cash value of artworks?
“Antiques Roadshow” overestimated the value and rarity of two Tlingit masks that reportedly originated in the Chilkat Valley, according to experts in Haines and Juneau.
“This is really, really remarkable material. These are among the rarest objects in North America,” appraiser Ted Trotta told a TV audience about two masks presented by a man on an episode recorded in Bismarck, N.D.
Guests are not identified on the show, but the man who owned the pieces said they dated to 1890s Haines when his great-grandfather was there as a missionary.
Steve Henrikson, senior curator of collections at the Alaska State Museum, estimated this week that there are hundreds of such masks in museums worldwide, though not as many in private collections.
Further, the masks on the show aren’t of masterpiece quality, he said. “They’re pretty standard. As far as the degree of artistry exhibited, they wouldn’t reach that upper level.”
TV appraiser Trotta valued the larger mask at $175,000 and a smaller wolf-face carving at $75,000, stating they dated to the 1700s.
Henrikson said the value of the two pieces could reach that amount, but only if two very determined private collectors were competing at an auction. “I would say it’s an exaggeration, but it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility.”
Knowing the “provenance,” or origin, of a piece of art is a key factor in determining its value, and that appears to be missing for these pieces, he said. Age can also add value to Indigenous art, but only to a degree—crumbling or broken sections diminish value.
Lee Heinmiller of Alaska Indian Arts said the show’s valuation was off by an exponential factor. “There’s no chance in hell anybody would pay that for masks like that. They’re rare, but not that rare. Lots of museums have dozens of them.”
If the two masks fetched a combined $70,000 at an auction, that amount would be “steep but believable,” Heinmiller said.
Heinmiller and Henrikson both said the value of Tlingit artwork has been climbing in recent years.
But Heinmiller, who tracks sales of Tlingit art at major auction houses, said prices at such auctions can vary widely. A Chilkat blanket, for example, might fetch between $35,000 and $100,000, depending on factors such as origin and bidder competition.
“If you’re hoping you’re going to get $100,000, you may get half of that, depending on how the bidding goes,” Heinmiller said.
Heinmiller said Antiques Roadshow tends to overvalue Tlingit art. A Raven rattle on the show was once valued at $75,000, he said. “They’re common in that there might be hundreds of them out there.”
A visit to Tlingit art collections in places like the American Museum of Natural History puts the rarity of such pieces into perspective, he said. Compacting storage units there include thousands of Tlingit objects.
“If there were mountain goat spoons, there were 20 in a drawer, and there were drawers and drawers. We couldn’t get through one room.”
The value of Tlingit war helmets can go to $500,000 or more, but only about 90 of them are known to exist, Heinmiller said.
Henrikson said the deteriorated condition of the masks suggested they were shamanic and had been exposed to the elements when left at a shaman’s grave, typically above ground.
Such pieces may have been particularly useful for fundraising by missionaries, who might have used them as examples of the work—and money—needed to convert Indigenous people.
If the pieces came from a shaman’s grave, their acquisition is questionable, Henrikson said. Such pieces were “radioactive” to Tlingits, and removing them from a shaman’s grave site would have required permission from Native landowners.
Tlingit representatives and Sheldon Museum officials have expressed interest in acquiring the masks. Tlingit anthropologist Rosita Worl told KHNS News that features on the pieces suggest they likely belonged to Klukwan’s Kaagwaantaan clan.
The unidentified owner of the pieces said he would be keeping them because of their family value.
A federal law requires the return of certain Indigenous objects when they’re held by federally funded institutions like museums, but the law does not apply to private owners.
15 years ago
A teenager gathering wood for his family’s boiler early on Feb. 15 was startled by a moose and shot it with a Ruger .22-caliber rifle.
Troopers gave the moose meat to a hunter whose moose had been confiscated last fall as sublegal, but whose guilt had not been determined because a bear destroyed evidence before the case went to trial.
State wildlife trooper Ricky Merritt said his department would file charges against the youth with the district attorney this week.
“They will decide whether to charge the juvenile, to fine him, or sentence him to community service,” said Merritt, who favored community service, as the youth had been very respectful and cooperative during the investigation.
“He realizes he shouldn’t have shot it. It was one of those things where his adrenaline was going, and I don’t think he quite understood what was happening. He’s 14 years old and has not had a lot of weapons training.”
According to Merritt, the youth went out to put wood in the boiler around 7:40 a.m., accompanied by the family dog. Since a moose had been hanging around the yard, the youth took his rifle.
Merritt said the dog began harassing the moose. When the moose charged, the dog ran toward the youth, leading the moose in his direction.
Shortly after the initial charge, the moose stopped about 50 yards away from the boy and dog.
The youth shot the moose from the porch, killing it instantly with a bullet above the eye.
“It was a pretty long distance,” Merritt said. “When he shot it, neither he nor the dog were in danger. And the dog was provoking the moose.”
Merritt said the moose’s meat was given to hunter John Katzeek, who had previously had a moose confiscated due to a dispute over brow tines.
Before the case could go to trial, a bear broke into the state’s evidence shed in Haines and hauled off the antlers, Merritt said.
Since the district attorney did not want to pursue a serious case based on photographic evidence alone, the charges were dropped.
“If guilt is not established in a case where game has been confiscated, the state is responsible for providing a replacement,” Merritt said.
20 years ago
Juneau road riles residents
In an uncommon show of community agreement, dozens of residents turned out last week to tell the state Department of Transportation that their plan to improve Juneau access by building a road up Lynn Canal is flawed.
The state is accepting comment through March 21 on a handful of ways to make the state capital easier to reach, but has identified its preferred alternative: a road along the canal’s eastern shore from Berners Bay to Skagway.
That option was panned by nearly everyone in attendance at the local hearing hosted last week by 15 transportation planners, consultants and bureaucrats at Haines High School.
The contingent had planned to fly into Haines on Wednesday for the open house, but fog and snow grounded flights. With no ferry available until Friday, the group chartered a boat from Allen Marine—an irony not lost on residents.
“When no planes are flying or ferries running, unlike you, we don’t have the luxury of chartering a boat,” said Gina St. Clair, making a pitch for improved ferry service.
“You’re strangling the livelihood of our community, “ with the current twice weekly schedule,” she said.
Bound by a three-minute time limit on testimony, residents could only touch on some of the scores of ways that an east-side road would affect Haines.
“It’s going to displace needed funds from needed projects,” said former state Rep. Peter Goll. “It’s going to turn Haines and Skagway into strip communities instead of destinations.”
Business owner Ned Rozbicki said the proposed road will divert traffic from Haines and detract from the area’s scenic values. “There isn’t any question the economy of Haines is languishing. We definitely need help, but the road is not the help we need. The road is going to take us in the opposite direction.”
Lynn Canal Conservation president Scott Carey said the preferred alternative would have “disastrous environmental consequences,” impacting up to 100 eagle nests and reducing bear habitat by 29 percent while developing 892 acres of wetlands.
It also poses unnecessary risks to local salmon stocks, which rely on “critical habitat” along the eastern shore. “Protecting fish habitat is an essential part of a healthy economic future for Haines,” he said.
Many question how safe the road, which crosses more than 60 avalanche paths and is estimated to be closed 34 days each winter, would be.
“The state already has difficulty maintaining the roads in Juneau and Haines,” said Katya Kirsch, calling the preferred alternative “the most dangerous road (in the country).”
Dr. Joy Hussain said improved ferry service, not a road, is the best way ot improve medical services; swim coach Steve Vick said the road will complicate travel for all local sports teams; and Eric Holle said the preferred alternative is a loss for pedestrian travelers, who account for more than half of ferry system traffic. “Public transportation is being turned into private transportation,” he said.
Many residents questioned state cost estimates and other calculations and assumptions included in the Environmental Impact Statement.
“The options offered in the EIS with the ferries were not the best options,” said Katey Palmer. “Lynn Canal is a natural road. We don’t need an asphalt road built.”
“All (marine options) inherit the inefficiencies of the current system,” said Bart Henderson.
Because Lynn Canal is a revenue-producing segment of the state ferry system, he said the “loss of ridership and revenue will have a dramatic effect (systemwide)… It’s essential to know what those impacts will be. They’re not addressed and they should be.”
Tim Shields questioned construction costs quoted in the EIS. The $281 million estimated for the two-lane, 68.5 mile is “an incredible lowball,” he said.
Estimates for resurfacing and realignment of the Lutak Road this summer are $3.25 million per mile, so the $4.1 million per-mile price for the Juneau Road is not believable, he said.
“Building a road through arguably the most difficult place you could build a road in the U.S. seems like something out of Alice in Wonderland. I don’t believe it… It’s a lie. When the bill comes due, it’s going to hit all of us.”
Haines Borough Mayor Mike Case said a borough assembly resolution passed last year endorsed improved ferry service, not a road.
The state’s EIS did not reflect that position, nor an advisory vote taken in Skagway, Henderson pointed out.
“The people of the three communities most impacted have spoken. We don’t want a road. We want a better ferry system,” said Judy Hall. “Unroaded areas are becoming scarce in our country. Lynn Canal is unique… It will only become more valuable with time.”
Only four residents said building a road is a good idea. Two endorsed a west-side route.
John Norton said he endorses the state’s preferred road plan for environmental reasons. Running the fast ferry Fairweather burns 750 gallons of fuel per hour, a huge inefficiency when it’s carrying as few as 10 or 15 cars. “You could send 135 cars to Juneau for one-third the fuel that’s used to take 35 cars on the ferry.
David Hoffmeister said he’s ready to give up on the ferry system. “We’re entirely at the mercy of the unreliable ferry system…. I think it’d be great… to get other places in the country and drive, go when we’re ready to go. The freedom we value in this country would be well put to use with a road.”
Rob Goldberg received the only applause of the evening when he suggested that $281 million in road construction fund be placed in a permanent fund, with interest generating an estimated $22 million per year for a designated ferry in Lynn Canal.
That’s more than three times as much as it costs to run the Fairweather for a year, Goldberg said.
“We could have the best ferry stem in the world,” he said, pledging to lobby for a federal rule change required to allow such an innovative proposal.
Some at the Feb. 23 hearing said the general agreement among the three dozen who testified was noteworthy.
“This is a rare occasion to draw people from the right and the left and unite the community,” said Scott Ramsey during the three-hour public hearing. “We hope you listen. We don’t want a road.”
The following night in Skagway, 24 people testified in favor of better ferries and against the road, said Skagway News publisher Jeff Brady. Seven voiced support for the road plan.