Saturday – August 9, 2014
Today was our day at the Antiques Roadshow!
The popular PBS television program came to New York City and filming was held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. I had not won the January lottery, but my son Chris did and he gave us his tickets so we were able to go. The last time the Roadshow came to New York was in 2001 and we were very excited to be able to go again to see our favorite experts, get some treasures appraised, and perhaps be on television.
Lobby of the Javits Center
After we showed our tickets at the entrance, we were directed into a large waiting room which was divided into long rows identified by time. The eight A.M. people were being led in when we arrived so we joined the nine o’clock line, which was the time printed on our tickets. The young man behind us held a large rolled canvas which he said he removed from a wall in a house his parents owned in the Bronx. The mother and daughter team in front brought an English clock and a doll passed down from a grandmother.
The Timed Waiting Room
We didn’t have to wait long before our line moved toward the entrance. First, we were directed to a table where a young woman looked at our treasures and determined the appropriate categories. She gave us four tickets and instructed us regarding ‘collections’ because we had brought four paintings, two Asian objects, and an old book which she said were too many objects.
Lines Outside the Blue Filming Circle
Then we were led into a very large room with blue screens set in a circular pattern in the middle with long lines of people radiating out from the screens in every direction. A volunteer looked at our category tickets and decided to take us to the pottery section first because the line was short. After a little while, we presented Jeff’s framed porcelain plaque to the appraiser, David Rago. We were encouraged when he excused himself “to talk to a colleague.” They returned and asked if they could take off the back cover to examine the markings. Jeff said sure, and Stuart Slavid unscrewed about two dozen small screws.
On the back of the porcelain was an inscription written in German, but no KPM markings. Both experts tried to translate the title of the piece but quickly lost interest. We learned that it was probably made in the 1900s perhaps near Berlin. If it had the correct pedigree, it would have been worth $20,000 – $30,000. Slavid said it was a good copy and could fetch about $900 to $1200 in a good auction. I think we were all disappointed.
On a Line with Antique Carpets
We waited on the Book line to hear the British appraiser’s view of two antique books which Drew had brought. My older son and his family had won tickets in the Roadshow lottery and also attended with their treasures. The longest lines were those for paintings and Asian art which were the next two lines we had to join.
Lines for Different Categories
We waited for almost an hour on the Asian Art line but were rewarded by having our favorite appraiser, Lark Mason, look at Jeff’s Chinese chop. Jeff’s mother had brought it back from a trip to China in the early 1970s shortly after Nixon opened relations with the Chinese government. Lark said he thought the tiny signature stamp was actually Japanese and handed it to his colleague, Sachiko Hori, the Japanese expert. It was probably made in the 1920s and valued at $20 – $30. She also identified the small ivory figures as the Seven Japanese Gods of Good Luck. Then Lark handed me a slip of paper with website addresses and went on a tirade against state and federal government laws banning the sale of ivory. These laws render anything made of ivory to be “worthless” because they cannot be sold legally. Therefore, the small ivory figures had no value. I guess the Good Luck Gods weren’t working for us.
A Family Treasure
The woman in front of us on the paintings line also had a complete set of Lionel trains from the 1920s in their original boxes. The set was amazing and the cars she extracted from her suitcase were in excellent condition. We admired them and wondered if we would see her on television next spring.
Part of The Paintings Line
It was a lot of fun to see other people’s treasures and talk to them about their stuff. We decided that the people who watch the Antiques Roadshow are calm, polite, and have interesting stories. As we waited in line, we noticed that some of the paintings were huge, some were attractive, some were awful. A man in line with us had a painted copy of a Rembrandt self-portrait. It was beautiful and I wondered how much it was worth. Maybe we’ll see him on T.V.
Native American Bed on the Collectibles Line
A little bit of Antiques Roadshow trivia: over 18,000 people applied for 3,000 tickets to the New York show. They expect 5,000 to 6,000 people to attend each roadshow event. Amazing!
Our Door into the Filming Circle
Once we entered the inner sanctum of the blue screens, we were directed to join another shorter line to wait for the appropriate appraiser. Several large television cameras, set up in the center of the blue screens, rotated to film segments of the show in different areas of the inner circle. The appraisers were seated at tables along the screens by category. We watched the crews working to film one segment while another group was setting up the next shoot. Monitors, cameras, and sound equipment filled the center of the circle.
Equipment and Cameraman Filming a Segment
We waited on the Paintings and Drawings line for an hour and a half. We were excited to finally reach the appraiser to look at Jeff’s paintings from his great-uncle’s collection. We brought two medium sized Herbert Abrams’ works: one a portrait of an old man on canvas and the other a still-life with forsythias. These were valued at $300 – $400 each at auction on a good day. The smaller paintings were American impressionist works by Johann Berthelsen and Andre Gisson. The appraiser used his Apple lap-top to do research and informed us that the Berthelsen painting of a snowy day at the Little Church Around the Corner on 29th Street was worth $2000 – $4000. The Gisson scene of a flowery meadow could bring up to $1000. We thought the larger paintings would be worth more but were happy with the news.
The Line for the Roadshow Feedback Booth
After waiting in lines for a total of five hours, we were much too tired to wait in another line for the Feedback Booth. At that point, all we wanted to do was sit down, get a drink of water, and have lunch.
We had a great time at the Antiques Roadshow – New York City – 2014 Summer Tour. Now we have to start planning and thinking about what to bring to the next one…..