What Happened To The Iconic Navajo Blanket From Antiques Roadshow?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ม.ค. 2025
- In June of 2001, a soft-spoken old guy named Ted Kuntz hit the old guy lottery when he brought his grandmother's blanket to an Antiques Roadshow taping and discovered that it had more than just sentimental value.
According to Kuntz, his grandmother had received it from a frontiersman that she grew up with, who had in turn received it as a gift from characteristically problematic Old West legend Kit Carson. Kuntz had no way of knowing that the textile he was bringing to the Tucson, Arizona showroom was actually a Navajo First Phase Ute chief's blanket, dating back to the 1800s and estimated at the time to be worth between $350,000 and $500,000. PBS viewers across the country cried into their tote bags as a gentleman's life was forever changed.
But what happened next? And why was it so valuable to begin with? According to Arizona Public Media, Kuntz decided pretty quickly that he couldn't preserve the blanket properly, given the realization of just how much it was worth. He wound up selling the piece to an anonymous buyer who had it placed in the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Kuntz, meanwhile, used the money from the sale to pay off the home where he and his wife Virginia lived. Otherwise, though, it didn't seem to really affect his life that uch, as Kuntz revealed that he decided to keep working and didn't retire until he was 74.
The blanket was so valuable in the first place because of its rarity and historical importance. According to PBS, Navajo wool blankets were the result of a particular period of the tribe's existence. The act of herding sheep for wool only made it to the Navajo in the mid-17th century via Spanish settlers and explorers, and they picked up weaving from the Pueblo around the turn of the 18th century. A few decades of refinement later, and Navajo blankets had become the gold standard in their field: by the 1860s, they sold for between $100 and $150, or around half the price of a house.
Adding to its rarity, the Antiques Roadshow piece was what's called a "first phase" blanket. Navajo blankets are grouped into three phases of production, with the first phase spanning between the 1820s and around 1865. First phase blankets, as displayed on the show, are recognizable by their blue, brown, and white striped patterns, and only around fifty of them exist today.
The Kuntz family's windfall on Antiques Roadshow also led to another person getting rich. According to NBC News, Loren Krytzer was struggling to make ends meet after losing a leg in a car accident. That's when he happened to see Kuntz and his blanket on Antiques Roadshow and realized that he had one of those blankets too! Krytzer ended up bringing the blanket to John Moran Auctioneers, who in 2017 sold the blanket for $1.5 million.
Unfortunately, his efforts to turn his life around have hit some speed bumps since then: following an arrest in 2018 for firearms possession, he was booked again in 2020 on a number of charges.
And as for the original Kuntz blanket, well, as valuable as the blanket was, that value has been eclipsed a few times in the years since by other finds on the Antiques Roadshow. It was blown away, for instance, by a $1 million 19th century baseball card collection featuring players from the Boston Red Stockings.
And even that has been topped by a custom made Swiss Patick Phillipe pocket watch, which was originally estimated at around $250,000 back in 2004, but which has skyrocketed in value to somewhere between two and three million dollars today.
So check your attic, because who knows what treasures you might find!
#AntiquesRoadshow #NavajoBlanket
Read full article: www.grunge.com...
Do you have any antiques laying around that might be worth something?
My antique lays around the house but she's not worth much.
I wish! Even stuff that I had as a kid is worth alot now. Sadly... Family problems ravaged anything I had or valued!
Possibly, I'd need to have them appraised though. What I think may be valuable is not necessarily worth it to someone else.
there was a guy that had a collection of rhino horn cups in 2012 worth 1.5 million
No... i don't have family members who took advantage of Native Americans.
What an exceptionally lovely gentleman. I never forgot him. Sweetness, humility & gratitude. ❤️
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
This is one of my favorite segments on The Antiques Road Show. I'm glad it's now safe in a museum and the owner was able to pay off his house. Win/Win.
Brings a tear to eye everytime Salt of the earth man. Best episode ever.
I’ve lived in Tucson since 1966 (mostly, except for a couple of years of brain dead & then divorce & a 2 yr military deployment). I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see Mr Kuntz reap the benefits of having taken good care of his grandmother’s blanket.♥
At last someone who deserved the money! Good on him
looks like it couldn't of happened to a nicer guy. good for him :)
I loved this story. I don't think it was necessary to call him an "old guy" though. Sort of stupid.
He IS an old guy, snowflake.
AngelTheFiend Old is old. "Skank" is "skank". Scared to put your real name is "scared". Close your diseased mouth, Scared Skank.
@AngelTheFiend You said one single word and the wolves came out. IMO you were right
I agree "old guy" immediately struck me as disrespectful when I heard it too.
Really ties the room together
Good one!
The old guy hit the old guy lottery, what condescending description of really nice man.
It should go back to the Navajo
Wow!! Very cool!! I loved watching that show! Always loved learning history and seeing it !!
proud to be a Navajo😊
AntarresPHX don’t cultural misappropriate. You are not Navajo.
@@ihavesomethingtosay4380 you don't know that
AntarresPHX yes I do.
The Navajo are great people.Outstanding culture and history 🇨🇦👍🇺🇸
I hope u got a blanket from your grandmother too
Still my favorite piece and reaction…
I remember that episode it was so neat I always wondered what happened to it
I checked my attic...dust and insulation; dust and insulation.
Well so interesting and well done lovely man
Wow the Indian blankets are beautiful
Bigger question than that what happened to the real Navajo👁
Owns a casino, laughs at you for worrying about him
Dennis Baird
What is Five dollar Indian👁
Exactly what does that mean👁
Let’s see what “the Creator “
Says about the seedline
Of the Indians....
Sephardims..😂
Aboriginal Cherokee 1400
Coupe Deville 👑🐢🌴
@@scotsman6712 not all navajos own casinos, there are many problems on reservations that could be improved on. in fact there are many who don't even speak english
They lost
@@11mazatl I live due south of the Navajo Nation. In a long conversation with a Dine' (their real name), I learned that many don't have electricity or even running water----but the feds can send $40 Billion to Ukraine.
There was a revolutionary war era axe with handle intact I remember estimated at about 250k back that same period
Thanks for letting us know about Loren's criminal record. It had nothing to do with the story AT ALL!! But thanks for the information.
When you watch this with your husband and he tells you his "magic cards" are still worth more...
Nobody is gonna believe me and I honestly understand why but I’m related to this man. It’s my grannies cousin. So that’s pretty cool
Video ideas: more native American history and antiques road show finds lists
This is an awesome episode. I forgot all about that dang blanket
Hearing the story about the second man reminds me of a commercial PBS had parodying this find. A couple are watching the episode, and notice after the antique expert says that it is a national treasure that the blanket laying over the back of their couch looks the same. I wonder if the commercial came out before or after the second find...
Vidchemy
I remember that
Vidchemy has
Dear p
9
Barbara Maidment
Did you have a stroke?
NOTE: That pocket watch is a Patek Phillippe. They are still made and sold, and are some of the finest timepieces made. I like them much better than Rolexes, and I really wish I had one. You mispronounced the name so badly that if I didn't recognize the style and quality, I wouldn't have recognized what it was!
Seriously, that pronunciation was cringe-inducing...
I wish I had something valuable laying around. Lol
Worth $2 Mill now.
I can’t seem to find how much Ted actually got for the blanket. Does anyone know?
I actually met Loren today! He lives in my town.
What is the song in the background? I love it!!
Awesome video
Couldn’t preserve it? But you had it this whole time! Now it’s worth $1.5 million!
The buyer should have put it in the Navaho Tribe Museum...
they should have bid on it
Nah not really
I mean they could have just kept it and put it away somewhere. Be happy they actually donated it.
I'm just glad it's being displayed. So many things like this go to museums and sit in the basement collecting dust away from people who could be seeing it and learning from it.
Fellow American Indian's although my tribe is Cherokee and I'm part Cherokee . 🇺🇸🦅
Is the blanket black and blue or white and gold?
Oh no, don't start THAT again, lol!
have respect for elders. hes not "an old guy"
A former neighbor liked this show and we once discussed how people have treasures they don't even know they have. I expressed concern about those who wound up on video with valuable items for the world to then know about. Everyone has family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and acquaintances who'll recognize them but....won't all be honorable individuals. If I had something easily totable in my home, worth considerable money, I'd be quite worried about possible theft once the show aired. Climate-controlled, vault storage is expensive and not available everywhere.
by time the show got to air, i'm sure they would have had anything of high value properly stored or already sold off. filming to airing often takes months and months
Which is why, once they have had it appraised, they usually realize that they can't keep the item properly, and sell it.
Not quite the whole story.
He had an auction date set shortly after 9/11 2001. This auction was obviously canceled. He had to sell to a private buyer. But...if 9/11 never happened and the auction was still on the high bidders and collectors that would have attended with online bidding would have doubled what he got for it potentially.
Do you happen to know what his selling price turned out to be?
@@laurakerschenbaum4079 sold to an anonymous buyer who had it placed in the detroit institute of arts koontz meanwhile used the money from the sale to pay off the home where he and his wife virginia lived otherwise though it didn't seem to really affect his life as he didn't retire. It basically helped him with his mortgage. I'm unsure of final price as it was anonymous.
@@laurakerschenbaum4079 a man by the last name of Krytzer also had a family heirloom blanket and after seeing this one on t.v he held an auction many years later post 9/11 and his sold for around 1.5million at auction. Krytzer saw the repeat episode on t.v around 2011 selling around 2017 I think.
you actually made a video about a blanket
If you're going to pose yourself as a credible Antiques Roadshow narrator, spend more time on learning the pronunciation of "Patek Phillipe," which is to say, Pa-teck Phileep". Rhymes with sleep, sheep, deep, and creep. But certainly not "cheap."
That’s a lot of money for a blanket.
These blankets should have been given back to the Navajo people.
Wow.
It should have been given back to the Navajo nation
They can bid at auction like everyone else
Why? Was it stolen from them? If bought or given away, no need to return.
Why?They made and sold them for about 100 to 150 dollars.A nice price at the time. They were happy to sell
So they can sell it and spend on more slots..… it ended up on display in a museum where it can be proudly displayed and everyone can view it…
Why, they had it fair and square
I don’t man…I heard that selling something that a Native American gave you as a gift is really bad luck.I would be keeping that damm blanket😅
But it was not given to him - it was given to his grandmother and it was left in her house when she passed.
@@deannarounds3295 yeah I know but still…I’m a bit superstitious,My husband is native and he told me a lot of crazy stories,but hey people can do whatever they want😅I wouldn’t tho…
Money is everything.
Here comes China to help find another 50 of those lost blankets
The right thing to do would have been to return the chief blanket to the Navajo Nation.
check your attic, you may have a lost Patek
patek philip? lol its patek phillipe yall....
Give the blanket profits to the Native Americans
why? should they give us their casino profits?
@@davealincoln ohh honey the casinos on the reservation are privately owned.There’s more white people making money off these damm casinos then natives trust me…The casinos don’t benefit the community,if only it was the case.🙄
Give it back to the Navajo (proceeds and blanket)
The Antique's roadshow appraiser helped him sell it and he only got $300K for it. The old guy must be piss poor with money if he's still paying off his house at his age.
first
So disrespectful. As you the narrator and a person who has scooped up tape that is not your production are the epitome of a young guy.
WTH are you yapping about? This is a video reviewing highlights of antiques roadshow episodes.
it got small pox and died