GUEST: We inherited it from my mother, and it was by far the most expensive piece of art she purchased.

I believe it was, um, 1992.

And she paid $16,200.

APPRAISER: Okay, so not nothing.

(laughing) GUEST: Not nothing.

Especially for her.

Um, she liked having women artists in her house; uh, um, their artwork, anyhow.

And this we knew was a woman from Chile, and it's something that always got a lot of attention.

APPRAISER: And who is the artist?

GUEST: Olga de Amaral.

APPRAISER: Yes, so Olga de Amaral um is a-a quite well-known fiber artist and actually from Colombia, not Chile.

GUEST: Oh, really?

APPRAISER: And is still living and actively working.

She is 93 years old, still has her Bogota workshop.

This work is signed on the reverse.

So we do have a date, May 1992.

It comes from her series called "Lost Images" or "Imagen Perdida."

That was a series of about 17 works, um, at least that many are known and some are in museum collections.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: Um, and it was a traveling exhibition at the time that went to several venues throughout the U.S., including the Allrich Gallery in San Francisco, where your mother had acquired this.

And where was this piece displayed?

GUEST: In her bedroom, actually.

Um, and she spent the last years of her life in bed, so it was significant.

It was an important piece for her.

APPRAISER: When this came in, I kind of couldn't believe what I was looking at.

I did not think I would get this close to a work by de Amaral.

GUEST: Get out of here.

APPRAISER: So, thank you!

(laughing): this is really exciting.

GUEST: Really?

APPRAISER: And what do you think this-this material is?

GUEST: Well, it looks like leather, but I'm sure it isn't, so... APPRAISER: Exactly, it's not leather.

It definitely has that look to it.

It's cut strips of linen that she has gessoed, painted, and then gilded.

And before the last gilding, she's also pulled out threads in a, in a weaving process called drawn work.

And so she's cut and drawn these threads out to create little breaks in between each square of gold.

Now, going back to what your mother paid, remind me again?

GUEST: $16,200.

APPRAISER: Okay, so about $35,000 today.

That's not nothing.

That's a-a decent price.

(laughs) Taking into consideration that it does need some conservation, I'm going to be very conservative.

Conservative.

GUEST: Conservative.

APPRAISER: (chuckles) In this condition, untouched, I would say easily, comfortably...an estimate at auction of $150,000 to $250,000.

GUEST: Yikes.

All right!

(laughs) That's...it's worth, uh, doing the, um, doing the work on it.

APPRAISER: Definitely, I think you wouldn't need to spend more than a few thousand to get it really in tip top shape.

GUEST: Would that change the, uh, value?

APPRAISER: Oh, yeah.

Again, I'm going to say conservatively, I'd add another $100,000 to that.

$250,000 to $350,000.

GUEST: I see why people cry on ROADSHOW.

APPRAISER: (laughs) I would insure it for $500,000.

Because her works have gone for well above that number at auction in recent times.

GUEST: Oh, my.

APPRAISER: They're very sought after.

GUEST: Thank you.

Thank you very much.