Thousands of antiques aficionados swarmed the Walter E. Washington Convention Center Saturday for the first-ever D.C. filming of PBS’s popular “Antiques Roadshow.”
People brought in paintings, instruments, and other collectibles they hoped would garner top dollar from the 70-odd appraisers on hand in categories ranging from Asian Art to Dolls to Metalwork & Sculpture.
“Our Washington, D.C. treasures are moving fast and furious through the hall,” said Executive Producer Marsha Bemko Saturday morning. “So far, so good.”
The show hit Baltimore three years ago, Bemko said, but it never repeats visting a city for a minimum of five years.
“Cities have personalities,” she said. “What’s D.C.’s personality? I can’t tell yet.”
The D.C. show received nearly 23,000 ticket applications – more than any of the other locations on the Summer 2010 tour, which included stops in San Diego, Miami Beach, and Des Moines. There were an estimated 6,000 attendees Saturday.
“This is such a dense environment of knowledge, people don’t come to the roadshow as a first alternative,” said Mike Flanigan, a furniture appraiser from Baltimore who’s been with the show since 1996. Flanigan was decked out in a green jacket, salmon-colored shirt, green and white pants, and white shoes.
Ron and his son, Thomas, from New Jersey (to protect participants’ privacy, the show requested that full names not be published), toted a veritable treasure trove of items — including a bearskin draped over Ron’s shoulder that was appraised at between $8,000 and $10,000.
“I love this stuff,” said Ron, who also had a thank-you note from Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, who famously explored the Antarctic region in the early 20th Century. The thank you was to Russell and Stoll, who provided electrical equipment for lighting and generators for the expedition.
“I’ve been collecting since I was a kid,” he said. “The more unusual, the stranger, the better…I watch [the show] religiously. This is like a dream come true, almost.”
One local woman named Ruth had a portrait from 1840 that she had hoped was Jefferson Davis, though it turned out to be someone else. But she didn’t appear too disappointed.
“It is a wonderful painting – I adore him,” she said. “I don’t like him any less.”
The three Washington, D.C. episodes will air sometime between January and May of next year, with the schedule to be announced next month.
