'Antiques Roadshow' expert had a cheeky 4-word response after guest holds him in sweet TV moment
Guests and experts aren't just two individuals discussing business and the price of artifacts on "Antiques Roadshow," instead they interact on an emotional level while exchanging details about the history behind items and the memory of loved ones connected to heirlooms. This also provides a space for guests to show their sentiments and sometimes even experts base their decisions to appraise an item or not based on the emotions and stories attached to them. One guest, who got to know the value of a Madoura plate by Pablo Picasso hanging above her stove just in time, nearly fell in love with the appraiser for it.
In the old episode of the PBS show, the guest shared that the funny-looking Madoura plate had been in her family for decades, since 1970. "We bought it in Rhode Island and didn't even realize it was a Picasso until about five years ago," she told the show's expert, Stuart Slavid. "I have to admit that it hung over the stove in the kitchen and all of our kids love the smiley face," she added. The guest further pointed out that there was a chip in the plate but she didn't mind. She further shared that they went to an art gallery about five years ago where they discovered that their plate was in fact very valuable.
"I said oh we have a plate pretty similar to that," she recalled saying after coming across a display in the gallery. "I said it's over the stove and the guy sort of gasped," she added. She shared that the man told her that it could be worth much more than what they paid and she should get it off the wall immediately. The guest did so but the plate had layers of grease on it by the time she took it off. Slavid was also taken aback by the story as he knew how important the plate was. "The actual name for this particular dish is 'Face in the Noble'" the expert revealed.
He explained that the famed artist made many special edition items for the Madura Studio located near France. "He made about 633 different objects that were taken and they made special editions for. Some are jugs some are figures and some are dishes of different shapes," he explained. He noted that the chip wasn't something to worry about as it was common for most of these plates. "It's in quite remarkable condition," The expert noted. Slavid added that the plate was made in 1955 and was part of a 100-piece collection. "This is number 23 of 100," he told the guest.
However, he added that there was no guarantee that the studio actually made all 100. He noted that it was an original print by Picasso but he worked with the studio for 24 years, thus, there were a lot of products made as part of the collaboration. Nevertheless, the plate was a great piece worth a lot of money as the market for Picasso was particularly hot at the time, the expert revealed. After telling the guest that the Picasso market had skyrocketed in the past half-decade, Slavis asked if she had any idea about its value. When the guest said she had no clue, the expert said, "Would you be surprised that an auction value in today's market probably on the conservative side would be in the range of $10,000 to $15,000?" Hearing this, the guest was at a complete loss for words and she did nothing but grab the expert's hands. "I love you too," Slavid jokingly replied.
"That's fabulous," the guest said after collecting her thoughts. Slavid went on to add that the appraisal was a really good example of how the antiques market is. "There's really no explanation. Trends change in the antique business," he said in the end.
