A BBC Antiques Roadshow expert brought the show to a halt to make a request of a guest, after revealing that an item could be worth thousands. The BBC specialist spoke out on a recent episode of the programme, hosted by Fiona Bruce.
Expert Jon Baddeley encouraged one guest to take action, acknowledging that they could potentially be missing out on a significant sum of money. During a visit to Clissold Park in North London, Jon met a guest who showcased a collection of vibrant music posters from the 1960s.
Jon queried: “So you’ve kindly brought us today a collection of psychedelic rock ‘n’ roll posters. What I notice immediately is they’re all signed by the same artist, how so?”
The guest responded: “Because I am that artist, adding: “So I grew up just north of San Francisco and I was about 19 when I went to work for the Fillmore Auditorium, and some of these posters were for them.”
Mr Baddeley asked: “What was it like out there? I mean, it must’ve been really exciting. That was the centre for ‘Hippydom’, flower power…”
The guest replied: “Yes, it was. I can remember and I’m afraid I indulged a bit too much”, reports Birmingham Live.
Mr Baddeley then questioned the guest: “The two posters near you, they’re similar but slightly different, why’s that?
The Antiques Roadshow guest explained: “Well, it was a Blues show. I did this artwork of a complete – Blues musicians at the top, a street scene with people dancing (at the bottom).
“But Bill Graham, who ran the Fillmore Auditorium, had had lots of trouble with the police, and he thought that would be provocative,” he said, indicating an image of a policeman on the poster. Consequently, he and the printer decided to alter the poster.
“But as far as I know, this is the only copy of the original.” Mr Baddeley inquired. “And then that went to production and around town?” The guest clarified: “And it is still on t-shirts to this day.”
He remarked: “When you talk about value… individually these all are in incredibly good condition, they belong to the artist and they’re very rare. So they’re gonna be worth £200, £300, £400, £500 – maybe even up to £1,000.
“But the great value is the one at the end because that is one of one, it’s the only one known in the world, so that could be worth £2,000 or £3,000.”
He concluded: “But more interestingly, you also own the original artwork so please, please, please go home and see if you can find them because they could be worth many thousands each!”
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