'Antiques Roadshow' guest tears up after learning the value of 'national treasure' blanket behind his chair

The simplest objects left behind by parents and grandparents as heirlooms occupy a special place in people's hearts. But sometimes these seemingly ordinary objects turn out to be precious beyond their sentimental value. In a 2001 episode of PBS "Antiques Roadshow," a soft-spoken older gentleman was left in tears by the appraiser who shared the true value of an item he kept for decades. The guest, Ted Kuntz brought his grandmother's old blanket to the show only to discover that it could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Kuntz's grandmother claimed she got the blanket from Kit Carson, a famous American frontiersman and Indian agent from the 19th century. While he suspected it was a "chief's blanket" from the 1800s, he had no idea about its true significance. 

A National Treasure Hidden in Plain Sight

The expert at the show, Donald Ellis told Kuntz that he stopped breathing when he saw the old blanket. He explained that the blanket was called a "Ute" and it was a "First Phase Navajo Chief's Blanket". He said that there was a lot of history behind it, as it was made sometime between 1840 and 1860 for the chief of a tribe.

"A Ute, first phase, wearing a blanket. But it's Navajo-made, they were made for Ute chiefs, and they were very, very valuable at the time. This is sort of, this is Navajo weaving in its purest form," Ellis told Kuntz. He explained that the blanket was made of hand-woven wool and is smooth like silk. The blanket had a simple linear design, and it was dyed with authentic indigo, according to the expert.

According to the PBS website, the Navajo weavers began making what cultural historians call the "first-phase chief's blankets" in the early 1800s. Once owned by the Ute Indians these blankets are the most valued by Navajo blanket collectors as only about 50 such textiles are believed to have survived beyond the 1860s. Ellis then asked Kuntz if he had any idea about the value of the item, before admitting that he was a "little nervous" to value it. According to him, on a bad day, the textile would be easily worth $350,000 and on a good day, it could be worth about half a million dollars.

Ellis rightly called the find a 'national treasure,' to which Kuntz could only reply, "I had no idea. It was lying on the back of a chair." He then started tearing up as the appraiser explained that the value of the item could go further up by 20% if it is proven without reasonable doubt that it was once owned by Kit Karson.

"Wow. I can't believe it. My grandmother (and grandfather), you know, were poor farmers," Kuntz emotionally replied. He then shared that it was a significant moment in his life since there had been no wealth in the family.

In a 2016 follow-up on the story, the Arizona Public Media shared that Kuntz had sold the blanket to a private collector as he felt he could no longer preserve the textile properly. Following the sale, the buyer had it placed in the Detroit Institute of Arts, while Kuntz used the money to pay for the home where he and his wife lived.