An guest discovered her family heirlooms, previously undervalued, were actually worth a small fortune.
The American edition of the beloved show stopped by the North Carolina Museum of Art, where expert Robert Waterhouse was ready to assess a variety of intriguing items.
A woman stepped forward with two jade tablets and a jade seal passed down from her great-great grandmother in California.
“She died in 1929 and at that point, my mother inherited them. I have been told they are 18th Century from China” she revealed.
“According to my mother, she may have purchased them in San Francisco where she lived.”
Waterhouse enlightened her: “They’re mottled green jade. They’re plaques or tablets. It’s likely that the two on the screen behind the seal were, in fact, out of an album.
“So it may have been a jade-paged book and they’re incised with official script and the seal, again, is green jade, surmounted with a double dragon and a cord.
“The seals are symbol of imperial authority. Most imperial seals that are done in this square form are surmounted with this double dragon. It’s a very common motif on imperial seals or court seals.
“And the piece of jade is lovely. It’s mottled. It’s green jade. It’s consistent with what used to be in the court.”
Antiques Roadshow chokes up as family heirlooms that were originally wrongly priced gets six-figure price tag (Image: PBS)
Antiques Roadshow expert Robert Waterhouse put a possible six-figure value on a jade seal. (Image: PBS)
The expert revealed that the items were from the first year of the Guangxu period in 1875 and were “more than likely commemorative pages”.
The guest then shared that her mother had the plaques appraised in 2007 for $1,400.
Waterhouse continued to analyse the seal, pointing out a few characteristics that suggested it was not from the 18th Century.
He noted a weakness in the carving of the celestial clouds and compared it to 18th Century models where everything is highlighted with deeper lapidary carving.
He further explained that as China’s dynamism declined, so did its decorative arts.
He pointed out two columns of scripts on the underside of the seal, one being a seal script and the other a compressed script.
However, he also noticed some mis-carvings in the impression which led him to believe the seal was not from the 18th Century.
“Its association with dated something 1875 would indicate it’s possible that it is a late 19th Century imperial jade seal rather than an 18th Century jade seal.”
An Antiques Roadshow guest brought in a jade seal and two jade plaques from her great-great grandmother to be appraised. (Image: PBS)
He went on to conclude: “We need to spend more time with it, we need to do more research. These things are problematic at the best of times.
“If the jade book leaves came up at auction, I think the shared consensus is that they are imperial or certainly very likely to be imperial.
Together, as an associated pair, they would carry an auction estimate of $20,000 to $30,000.”
The guest was momentarily speechless, managing only an astonished “OK. Wow.”
Waterhouse questioned if she knew of the jade seal’s value, which she believed was also appraised for $1,400 in 2007.
He then stated: “Conservatively, at auction, it would carry an auction estimate of $30,000 to $50,000.”
Once more, she could barely muster an “OK..alright”. But the revelation journey hadn’t yet concluded; the appraiser went on to the ultimate surprise: “And I think our takeaway was if there can be a shared consensus within the industry among peers that it is 1875 to the end of the Guangxu reign, that it may be a multiple of 10.
“So it may carry an auction estimate of $300,000 to $500,000.”
Responding with humour, the guest exclaimed: “Oh is that all?” before saying: “Well that’s a little bit different than what I was expecting today but oh my. Oh my. Thank you. That’s amazing. Wow.”
As she finished speaking, emotion took over and tears filled her eyes at the astonishing revelation of her items’ true value.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on One and iPlayer.