Antiques Roadshow expert halts show and tells guest ‘please go home’ (Image: BBC)
A BBC expert brought the show to a halt to make an urgent request of a guest, after revealing that an item could be worth a small fortune. The specialist made his comments during a recent episode of the Fiona Bruce-fronted programme.
Expert Jon Baddeley encouraged one participant to take action, suggesting they could be missing out on thousands of pounds. During a visit to Clissold Park in North London, Jon encountered a guest who showcased a collection of vibrant music posters from the 1960s.
Jon queried: “So you’ve kindly brought us today a collection of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll posters. What I notice immediately is they’re all signed by the same artist, how so?”
The guest responded: “Because I am that artist, adding: “So I grew up just north of San Francisco and I was about 19 when I went to work for the Fillmore Auditorium, and some of these posters were for them.”
Mr Baddeley probed: “What was it like out there? I mean, it must’ve been really exciting. That was the centre for ‘Hippydom’, flower power…”
The artist revealed it was his name on the pieces (Image: BBC)
The guest confirmed: “Yes, it was. I can remember and I’m afraid I indulged a bit too much”, reports .
Mr Baddeley then asked the guest: “The two posters near you, they’re similar but slightly different, why’s that?”
The Antiques Roadshow guest explained: “Well, it was a Blues show. I did this artwork of a complete – Blues musicians at the top, a street scene with people dancing (at the bottom).
“But Bill Graham, who ran the Fillmore Auditorium, had had lots of trouble with the police, and he thought that would be provocative,” he elaborated, indicating a depiction of a policeman on the original poster.
Subsequently, the poster was altered by him and the printer. As far as this enthusiast knows, this singular copy is the only one of its kind.
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“And then that went to production and around town?” inquired Mr Baddeley. The guest clarified: “And it is still on t-shirts to this day.”
He surmised: “When you talk about value… individually these all are in incredibly good condition, they belong to the artist and they’re very rare.
“So they’re gonna be worth £200, £300, £400, £500 – maybe even up to £1,000. But the great value is the one at the end because that is one of one, it’s the only one known in the world, so that could be worth £2,000 or £3,000.”
He implored: “But more interestingly, you also own the original artwork so please, please, please go home and see if you can find them because they could be worth many thousands each!”