‘Antiques Roadshow’ Appraiser Gets Choked Up After Seeing Woman’s Heirloom

When it comes to Chinese antiquities, Mason is one of the best. He had a 24-year tenure with the prestigious Sotheby’s New York auction house, where he eventually reached the title of senior vice president of Chinese Art.

Not to mention that Mason is an esteemed expert, teacher, and lecturer. Eventually, he went rogue, founding his own auctioning company. And yet, he still somehow spent 22 years blowing the minds of eager trinket carriers on Antiques Roadshow.

What you might not know while watching the show, is that all those appraisers aren’t getting paid. They volunteer for the job and cover their own travel expenses as well, a testament to their love of priceless antiques.

On the flip side, getting facetime with an appraiser, let alone making the final on-air cut is a major stroke of luck. The show visits just six cities each year, which means thousands of people line up to get their chance.

Honestly, for an appraiser, it’s not that big of a deal when a person waltzes in unknowingly carrying a boatload of money. However, there was something different about the item that Mason clocked the woman toting that day.

That fateful day in 2002, it was pretty obvious from the initial establishing shot that Lark Mason was bursting to get to his part of the interaction. Suspense building, the woman explained how the marble lion statue on the table came into her care.

When Masson started his regular spiel, he was overcome with emotion. His voice broke and he had to take a moment to compose himself to get out the right words. “Okay. Well, I’ll start out by saying when this came up, I could barely…” he choked up.

Clearly, the item on the table was causing this unusual break in composure. Mason explained that the lion didn’t belong to the Ming Dynasty after all. What they had before them was something truly exceptional.

“It’s fantastic. This is truly… Sorry, I’m a little worked up. This is among the finest examples of Chinese art that we have seen on the Roadshow. The carving is beautiful. The workmanship is stunning,” Mason said, adding to the tangible hype.

Mason pointed out the incredible detail, specifically the carved muscles rippling in the lion’s back. The marble itself, too, was of a higher standard, the best kind money could buy. But he did need to correct one part of the statue’s owner’s story.

Getting corrected isn’t that annoying when the truth raises the stakes: He told her that the statue was older than she’d thought. “This dates from the golden period of Chinese art, which is called the Tang Dynasty, between the sixth century and the ninth century,” the expert explained.

Mason said he’d seen other similar statues come to auction, but those were usually much smaller and less grand than the one she brought in. In fact, he let it slip that they were dealing with an object of museum quality.

There were several clues that tipped Mason off to the statue’s extreme age — primarily the rough chisel marks on the bottom and lack of signature. The texture and color of that high-quality marble also confirmed his suspicions.

At long last, Mason spilled the detail that everyone was waiting for — how much was this thing worth? Well, he conservatively guessed the statue could easily fetch between $120,000 and $180,000! The good news didn’t end there.

Mason continued that the insurance estimation for this fearsome lion would be even higher, between $150,000 to $250,000. For years, she unknowingly had a small fortune collecting dust.

The statue’s owner thanked Mason for the information that no doubt changed her life forever. But she actually decided to keep the statue in the family. Hey loyalty to her family heirloom actually inspired another family to take a new approach to finding treasure.

One of the small dishes had unique floral patterning on the inside and outside that the others were lacking. This piece in particular would fit perfectly with their kitchen decor.

They couldn’t help but think the floral engravings might indicate the bowl was worth more than the measly three bucks they paid for it. After speaking with experts, they were advised to bring the bowl to Sotheby’s.

Sotheby’s is one of the most prestigious auction houses in the world, and the auctioneers who work with them are truly experts in their fields. The bowl immediately garnered massive attention when the family brought it in.

Not only did the experts at Sotheby’s tell them the bowl would likely sell for a lot of money, but the porcelain was also nearly 1,000 years old! The family was stunned beyond belief.

The bowl apparently was crafted around the tenth or eleventh century during the reign of the Northern Song dynasty. It’s official name was a “Ding” bowl, and this piece was as rare as rare can get.

The Ding bowl in the British Museum had been on display for over 60 years, and it was left to the museum by Henry J. Oppenheim, a famous collector. An author named Rose Kerr had an interesting theory about these pieces that only drove the value up.

Because only a handful of Chinese during the Song dynasty were able to live inside the palaces, these bowls were made to mimic the ornate gold wares royalty used. Curious buyers considered this when they started letting their bids fly.

During the anticipated auction, the family was in a surreal state of shock about everything that went down. Would they really walk out with several hundred thousand dollars? They held their breath, and then… the bidding went out of control.

A London art dealer named Giuseppe Eskenazi stepped up to the plate and blew everyone else’s bid out of the water. This guy proudly offered $2.2 million for the bowl. A silence fell over the auction house. Could anyone outbid him?

With the $2.3 million bid, Eskenazi won the bowl. The proud new owner told CNN reporter Richard Roth, “There’s only one other. It’s also in perfect condition; considering its past history, it’s a miracle.” Others share his enthusiasm.

The auctioneer in charge of the sale, Henry Howard Sneyd, weighed in on the historic event. “The moment the box lid was opened I knew that I was looking at something completely special.” Still, the buyer had questions.

That only two of these survived a thousand years in perfect condition was almost unfathomable. So how did this particular bowl end up at an American tag sale?

The answers weren’t clear. The New York family only knew it came from a garage sale — and that the previous owners of the bowl were surely kicking themselves. Still, they knew there were ways to track down an item’s history.

After determining the chair was useless, Rick ended up browsing the other items. He opened a few lids and found a collection of film negatives packed into two boxes. They were being sold as a set for $75. Back then, Rick thought the price was much too high, which now makes him laugh.

Having worked there as a kid, Rick had no doubt that these photos were of the world-famous Yosemite mountains. Two years after his purchase, Rick began to suspect more. He decided to move the negatives to a secure bank vault. If he were correct about their origin, he could become a very wealthy man.

Now, if Rick were wrong about his suspicions, there would be legal consequences to pay. But he’d done his research and even consulted with professionals who claimed these prints could actually belong to the father of American photography himself.

Ansel Adams is a beloved name. His black-and-white photos of the American West inspired environmentalist efforts, including the preservation of what are now the US National Parks. He even helped establish photography as an official discipline in higher education. However, his early career faced an unfortunate tragedy.

Years of Ansel Adam’s work from the early 1930s had gone missing from the records. Most experts believed the entirety of these photographs, which would have shown his transition from amateur to master, were lost for good. How could so much of the photographer’s work disappear?

In 1937, there was a fire at Ansel’s studio, burning up thousands of his stills. When Rick claimed these negatives were the missing link to Ansel Adam’s pioneering career, he was met with harsh backlash from every side, including art directors, historians, and the Adams estate itself. Rick needed back up.

Rick hired a lawyer named Arnold Peter who claimed he could make up to $200 million from his find! Arnold quoted many experts, including a former FBI agent and a US attorney, who said, “no reasonable person would have any doubt that these, in fact, were the long-lost images of Ansel Adams.”

You don’t just march into a museum and demand $200 million for your box of junk. Arnold, who was eager to represent Rick, needed to prove authentication. He told reporters they were putting these negatives “on trial.” He found a team of experts in art, forensics, handwriting, and even weather to explore the possibilities.

“It truly is a missing link of Ansel Adams and history and his career,” said art dealer David Streets. “This is going to show the world the evolution of his eye, of his talent, of his skill, his gift, but also his legacy.” The media remained skeptical of these expert opinions. Criticisms started getting personal.

The managing director of the Ansel Adams Trust, who is in charge of copyrighting anything to do with the famed photographer, told news channels that these so-called experts were “crooks” and “con men.” Nevertheless, Rick was determined to win.

Why would these negatives be left in an LA warehouse? Arnold’s photography expert, Patrick, suspected they were used for teaching purposes, namely “to show students how to not let their negatives be engulfed in a fire.” Still, experts were skeptical. To end the legal battles, Arnold had Rick sign an agreement.

Rick agreed to have a company called Media Partners Global sell the prints on his behalf, barring him from legal responsibility. They were eventually sued, but not before the company made an enormous profit. Once the company was forced to stop using the Ansel Adams name, Rick realized something was off.

News reports indicated the company made $1.8 million in profit, but Rick didn’t get his fair cut. As time went on, more officials denounced the authenticity of the negatives, claiming they actually belonged to a photographer named Earn Brooks. After looking into it, Rick made a troubling discovery.

One of the appraisers, David Streets, turned out to be a convicted felon! He, along with the other “experts,” had been hired by Arnold to fake authentication of Rick’s negatives. Naturally, Rick hired new attorneys — ones he actually vetted — to sue Arnold. By that point, it was too late.

Swindled out of the chance to make millions, Rick is limited to selling the prints online only under the title of “The Lost Negatives.” With printing technology these days, however, business isn’t exactly booming. But his misery hasn’t deterred other antique hunters from looking for famous relics.

David Lay honed right in on a 7-inch cat statue. Sure it was something valuable, he asked the family where Doreen had first found the decoration. He couldn’t believe the answer.

The Liddells said Doreen bought the cat at a garage sale! She never showed it off much, so visitors never paid much attention to it. David Lay, however, was not like most visitors. Some marvelous details popped out at him. This wasn’t an ordinary cat.

The auctioneer took the statue back to his office, where he gave it a closer glance. After examining the cat’s ornate markings and the brilliant carving job, David Lay had a hunch about there this statue came from. He just needed one piece of information about Doreen.

Specifically, he needed to know about Douglas Liddell’s career. Where did he work? The Liddells filled David Lay in: He worked at the Spink and Son auction house in London. David was elated. Suddenly, the cat figure started making sense.

See, Spink and Son has been in business since 1666 and is known for specializing in ancient Egyptian artifacts. If you were looking for genuine pieces of Egyptian history, Spink and Son was the place to go.

Part of the reason why the firm is so well-known for selling Egyptian goods is because they handled the estate of archaeologist Howard Carter. Howard is one of the most renowned archaeologists in history for his groundbreaking discoveries.

In 1922, Howard discovered the tomb and sarcophagus of Tutankhamun. Recording the contents of the massive gravesite was an 11-year process — one that brought great notoriety to the Egyptologist.

After the 11 years of cataloguing, Howard was an agent for art collectors and museums — he probably got tired of looking at artifacts after spending that much time examining them. When he died in 1939 of lymphoma, he died with an illustrious legacy.

Here’s what we do know about this one-of-a-kind, extremely valuable trinket. The statue was crafted during the 26th Dynasty of ancient Egypt. Under the leadership of King Psamtik I, there were major increases in associating deities with animals, like cats.

Cats themselves were linked to Bastet, who protected them along with households, fertility, and childbirth. Felines who died were often buried around her temples to honor both her and the animal too. She wasn’t the only deity linked to cats.

Though ancient Egyptians didn’t worship cats, the museum’s curatorial fellow Antonietta Catanzariti explains, they were obsessed with their nature as animals. “What they were [actually] doing was associating cats to specific deities because of their attitude, how they were behaving in the natural world,” Antoiniette said.

So, what does this have to do with the bronze cat statue? Because of its connection with both a famous Egyptologist, it’s condition, and its depiction of an animal extremely important in an ancient society, the figurine is worth a great chunk of change.

But this wooden box goes back further than bobby pins. In fact, it goes back even further than your own grandmother. The small box, which can fit in the palm of your hand, is engraved with the year 1785 — almost 235 years ago.

The said, Antiques Roadshow expert Jon Baddeley was able to give some insight as to the box’s centuries-old origin. He knew it once held rouge or makeup patches, and Jon was even able to confirm the name of the original gift-giver.

His natural affinity for numbers and his love of crossword puzzles made this “too much of a challenge to resist, ”as Paul said. He hoped that his lifetime of amateur code-cracking would help him solve the puzzle once and for all.

When Antiques Roadshow was informed of Paul’s discovery, they dubbed him a “genius” — and estimated an added 10-20% to the monetary value of the box. Still, Jon thinks that the box’s significance goes beyond money.

He feels that the cracked code adds even more to the box’s incredible story. With a backstory involving mysterious codes, centuries of secrets, and possible illicit lovers, the vintage box spun quite a mystery!