Jade set valued at a million dollars

'Roadshow' films Raleigh visit

The popular PBS series, which travels around the country helping folks assess the value of collectibles and family heirlooms, set a record in Raleigh for the highest number of ticket requests in the show's history.

More than 34,000 tickets were requested for the Raleigh tapings, besting the previous record-holder, San Jose, Calif., which drew 29,000 requests. Of the 34,000 tickets requested in Raleigh, approximately 6,000 were distributed.

But the big news at the Raleigh tapings held an even more impressive figure.

An unidentified woman from Eastern North Carolina arrived early Saturday morning with jade pieces from China's Chien Lung reign (1736-1795), and appraisers gave the items what they called a conservative estimated value of up to $1.07 million.

Show officials say the set is the highest-valued item in a collection ever appraised on "Antiques Roadshow."

The pieces belonged to the woman's father, who was a military liaison in China in the 1930s and 1940s, show officials said.

According to Asian art appraiser James Callahan, who examined the pieces, the dealer who sold them to the owner's father was a connoisseur who steered him toward quality items.

"The dealer selected very fine pieces," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

Callahan says the value of the pieces depends on the market for them in China and that the Chinese government often wants to get such pieces back.

Callahan said the woman had some idea that her pieces were valuable, but she had no clue they were that valuable. Roadshow workers said her reaction when she learned the value was at first stunned silence, followed by, "<snip>!"

The four jade pieces included a small bowl, a vase with a ruby in it, a larger bowl and a figurine of an unidentified animal. The pieces contained markings indicating that they were made for the Emperor of China.

Not-so-spooky spear

While others at the show weren't likely to hit that kind of jackpot, most were thrilled to get any information on their heirlooms.

For the Baker family from Alamance County, just learning that the human hair hanging from their grandfather's ceremonial tribal spear was not an entire human scalp seemed reward enough.

The Bakers brought many unusual items with them Saturday, but the menacing spears stood out in the large crowd at Raleigh's Convention Center. Robert Baker said the items were collected in the 1930s by his grandfather, Leonard Baker, a well-known Maryland collector.

Mary Baker said the "scalp" terrified her children when they were small.

"They didn't tell us at the time, but they said they had nightmares," she said. When the grown Baker children, who were with their parents Saturday, learned it was not a scalp, they exclaimed, "Well I wish we'd known that then!"

Of the thousands of people who attended the show Saturday, only a fraction will appear on TV, Roadshow staffers said. They estimate perhaps 50 people will make the cut.

Marsha Bemko, executive producer of "Antiques Roadshow," said there are a lot of things to factor in, but there's a good chance the jade items will make it in a show.

Why such a turnout?

Bemko also said she believes this taping generated so much interest because "North Carolina is filled with older things and because a lot happened here. There are a lot of armories and potteries here."

But Baker also said the poor economy means people have a greater need to sell valuable items.

She does note, however, that most items appraised on "Antiques Roadshow" do not get sold, because sentiment often trumps profit.

"People do get excited around the $50,000 mark," she said. "However, people are more likely to sell it if it's a yard sale find. But if an item has sentimental value, even if it's in the six-figures, they often won't sell."

The episode taped this weekend is scheduled to air in the upcoming season of "Antiques Roadshow," which begins in January.