Antiques Roadshow Ten Year Anniversary ANTIQUES ROADSHOW turns 10 years old in January 2006. The three-time emmy-nominated series continues to be PBS’ most-watched, thanks to an addictive mix of suspense, history and dramatic revelations
make Charlie Brown hyperventilate, appraiser Philip Weiss reveals the artwork could fetch as much as $150,000 to $200,000 at auction.
In Bismarck, North Dakota, one man’s trash indeed proves to be treasure for the owner who agreed to haul away a friend’s enormous, unwieldly oil painting before an estate sale. Appraiser Peter Fairbanks recognizes the work as a rare piece by late-19th-century Austrian artist John Ferry, with local historical significance. The painting, which may once have graced a Fargo railroad station, depicts a Northern Pacific Railroad train on its way to the site of what later became Montana’s Glacier National Park. This impressive work of decorative/travel advertising art chugs out of ROADSHOW with an estimated value of $20,000 to $30,000.
The event in Providence, Rhode Island, yields one of the most spectacular finds of militaria in ROADSHOW history: a rifle, powder horn and account book passed down through six generations of the same Rhode Island family. And not just any family. Appraiser Bill Guthman identified the original owner and the gun’s maker as Welcome Matheson, one of the premier New England gun makers of the early 19th century. This incredibly rare and intact collection of objects commands an insurance value of $100,000 to $120,000.
What better way to cap ANTIQUES ROADSHOW’s tenth anniversary season than with “Fame and Fortune?” This ROADSHOW special edition spotlights celebrities, big-shots and headliners through objects connected to their lives. Airing Monday, May 29, 2006, “Fame and Fortune” gives new meaning to the term “face value.”
Underwriters: Toyota, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Public Television Viewers and PBS. Producer: WGBH Boston. Executive producer: Marsha Bemko. Format: CC Stereo. Online: pbs.org
■ ANTIQUES ROADSHOW continues the anniversary celebration online with a video scrapbook of great ROADSHOW milestones and moments from the series’ first decade. Relive the excitement of ROADSHOW’s all-time top 10 appraisals. See how a ROADSHOW event comes to life with an insider’s tour of the production process. Get a peek at what’s coming up in ROADSHOW’s tenth anniversary season. Then, match wits with the market at the tenth anniversary “Appraise It Yourself” game, by guessing how much objects appraised in 1996 are worth today. Catch all these brand new features and more at pbs.org/antiques.
