'Antiques Roadshow' to start airing segments taped here
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A 17th-century Chinese carved rhinoceros horn cup purchased for $1 was appraised at $350,000-$450,000. -
Set of Derringers, circa 1845, was appraised at $30,000 during last August's stop of "Antiques Roadshow" in Pittsburgh. -
A 1946 oil painting by Rockwell Kent and a letter from the artist to the original owner were appraised at $150,000-$250,000. -
Demantoid (green garnet) and diamond turtle pin was appraised at about $18,000.
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This devil will be given his due, thanks to "Antiques Roadshow."
When the venerable PBS appraisal show airs the three hours shot in Pittsburgh beginning Monday, one of the locals who made the cut was Robert, a retired schoolteacher from the Mon Valley.
A collector of vintage holiday decorations, Robert -- "Roadshow" policy carefully guards the full identities of its participants -- picked up the hand-carved 1925 wooden devil at a historical society sale 25 years ago.
He paid $10 for the brightly painted, grinning fellow and had been told it was made by a local factory worker.
"For years, we put it outside the house at Halloween. Put some pumpkins around it, some cornstalks," he said.
When the family's garage was flooded in 2000, the devil endured both hell and high water.
When: 7:30 p.m. Monday on WQED.
'Antiques Roadshow'
When: 8 p.m. Monday on WQED.
Nancy Druckman, senior vice president and director of American folk art for Sotheby's in New York, called it "the epitome of American folk art" and appraised the piece at $4,000-$5,000.
"I'll tell you, I was excited," said Robert recently, adding that the devil's days on the porch are over. "I think we'll keep him by the fireplace."
Of the 6,000 people who brought their treasures to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center Aug. 13, about 90 were chosen to be taped, and only a dozen or so will be shown during each broadcast. More appraisals can be viewed online at pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow.
Each hour also features a visit by host Mark L. Wahlberg to examine art glass at the Carnegie, pre-Factory works at The Warhol and iron and steel jewelry at the Carrie Furnace complex in Rankin.
Each of the six cities chosen to host "Antiques Roadshow" events each season has its own flavor, said Marsha Bemko, executive producer. Boston's WGBH, which produces the program, received more than 22,000 requests for tickets for the taping here.
WQED will run a special, "Antiques Roadshow Comes to Town! Pittsburgh," at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
"We really are just one big country, but we tend to keep the best things in our lives. When we move, we take them with us," she said. "That's why you find Boston tables in Hawaii and Hawaiian bowls in Boston."
First Published February 8, 2012 12:00 am
