One of the exciting parts about being an antique dealer is the hunt for exceptional antiques that other people are more than willing to throw to the curb. And while the general public knows some antiques are valuable, like diamond rings and fancy antique furniture, what about these Antiques Roadshow finds?
The owners may have had some provenance that led them to believe these items were worth a lot of money. But if you saw these items sitting in a thrift shop with no context, would you buy them? Would you know that they were possibly worth millions of dollars? Try out your appraiser skills and see if you were right on the money or wildly off base.
1Alexander Calder Mobile
The guest’s uncle had received the mobile as a gift from Calder himself while working in the New York art scene. Stored away in a garage for years, it was nearly discarded until it was brought to the show.
Item: Aluminum mobile
Period: c. 1950
Aired: 7/10/2010
Value: $400,000 – $1,000,000 (Updated in 2021: $800,000 – $2,000,000)
2Elias Pelletreau Silver Teapot
The owner explained that the teapot had come down through the women in her family, passed from mother to daughter since the 18th century. Her aunt gave it to her because she didn’t have a daughter. Pelletreau was a renowned colonial silversmith.
Item: Silver teapot
Period: c. 1750
Aired: 7/25/1998
Value: $20,000 – $40,000
3Colima Pottery Dog Figure
The guest purchased the ceramic dog from an art collector and jokingly nicknamed it “Spot.” Though it looked like a simple folk piece, appraiser Timothy Gordon identified it as a rare example of ancient Colima sculpture, dating back nearly two thousand years.
Item: Pottery dog
Period: 200 BC – 200 AD
Aired: 8/8/2015
Value: $9,000 – $12,000 (Updated in 2018: $10,000 – $13,000)
4Navajo Ute First Phase Blanket
Ted Kuntz casually brought what he thought was a sentimental blanket he had used it throughout childhood and had hanging on the back of a chair. He casually mentioned that it was “given by Kit Carson to my grandmother’s foster father.” Appraiser Donald Ellis identified it as a rare First Phase Navajo weaving.
Item: Blanket
Period: c. 1850
Aired: 6/9/2001
Value: $350,000 – $500,000 (Updated in 2021: $1,500,000 – $2,000,000)
5Jean-Michel Basquiat Oil Stick Drawing
The guest was given this art as a gift from a business partner. Appraiser David Weiss instantly recognized the trademark style as early Basquiat, dating from around 1979.
Item: Drawing
Period: c. 1979
Aired: 9/18/2017
Value: $400,000
6Tlingit Bowl & Ladle
The guest inherited the bowl and horn ladle from her great-great-grandfather, Colonel Charles Erskine Scott Wood, who spent the spring of 1877 in Sitka. Appraiser Ted Trotta recognized the bowl’s raven-with-human-head carving and the horn ladle’s whale-baleen repair as markers of high-status ceremonial objects used in eulachon-oil service.
Item: Bowl and mountain sheep horn ladle
Period: 18th – 19th century
Aired: 8/15/2009
Value: $250,000 – $300,000
7Map of Lower Mississippi
The owner discovered the map tucked in out-of-print city directories inherited from his wife’s aunt. When prints-and-posters expert Christopher Lane examined it, he immediately recognized it as a rare, original 1858 survey.
Item: Paper map
Period: 1858
Aired: 8/11/2001
Value: $4,500 – $5,000 (Updated in 2016: $150,000 – $200,000)
