A Visit to the Antiques Roadshow in Washington, DC

As most everyone is aware of by now, the Antiques Roadshow is at the DC Convention Center today. I was fortunate to get two tickets online but a lot of people were not able to get tickets. I changed my mind about 50 times as to what to bring. I finally decided on some interesting old costume jewelry pins I bought as child.

My ticket time was 10 AM so my neighbor and I were there by 9:30 AM.  There were Road Show volunteers literally every few feet so someone was always there to tell you where to go.  The show itself was held inside a huge open convention type room and there were three lines set up when I arrived.  The morning tickets were either for 8, 9 or 10 AM so my neighbor and I got in the 10 AM line. There were already quite a few people ahead of us but the line moved quickly.  In about an hour and a half, we were up to a general table where you showed your items and you received another ticket based on your item category (jewelry, silver, glass, etc).  Another volunteer then escorted you to the proper line.  The jewelry line was one of the longer lines as was the painting line. Some of the lines had few people, such as for glass and folk art.

I was in the jewelry line for two hours and the line moved very slowly.  However, I  heard a number of interesting stories from people in nearby lines as to what they had brought to be appraised. One woman was waiting for someone nearby and told us how her old fold out family desk had been appraised by one of the Keno brothers. The desk dated to 1850. While the desk only appraised for $1500, she mentioned how generous the Keno brother had been with his time for her.  He had explained the features of the desk and told her that an indentation on the inside of the desk (which she had thought was damage from children) was actually from where a bottle of ink had set at one time.

Another gentleman was disappointed that his large 1750's gold painted English mirror was not deemed "show worthy."  Everyone was running over to look at the mirror because it was very unusual and had pointed tips/spirals all around it.  It would have been interesting to see it on TV and learn more about its history.

After two hours, I began to reach the inner sanctum where the appraiser tables were located and where some filming was occurring in the center. I observed a gold pocket watch being filmed and two wooden wall type plaques with flat ivory figures on them. It was also rumoured that a valuable letter signed by Martin Luther King had been brought in and it created a great deal of excitement from the appraiser.  A Buddha head was also being filmed and it seemed to create a stir. And one of the Keno brothers passed right by me!

I then had another 15 minutes to wait for my turn in the line at the jewelry appraiser table which had 4 appraisers at it.   While my costume jewelry was not worth too much since it was unsigned, it was still an amazing experience overall.  My neighbor 's French posters which she had bought for $10 were worth from $400-600. I realized after I left the show that since it was being filmed in DC, pieces with history and political focus would probably play a prominent role in what was filmed. I think I should have bought a collection of old campaign buttons dating back to the 1800's. The only small disappointment was that no one was selling mugs or t-shirts for purchase.

The three Washington, D.C. episodes are supposed to air sometime between January and May of next year, with the schedule to be announced next month.