Antiques Roadshow Guest Gets the Surprise of a Lifetime After Host Examines Her Old Family Heirloom

4. The History of This Family Heirloom

Although many of the objects on the Antiques Roadshow have been passed down from one generation to the next, there are frequently a lot of gaps and questions about the antiques on show. Usually this is due to the fact that an owner may have obtained an antique treasure from a merchant or pawn shop lacking much information on the object, or from the years lost of information. The owner of this monument genuinely recalled purchasing it on a trip to China. She told the appraiser that this had happened decades ago and that she couldn't really recall exactly when she purchased the monument or any other information regarding it. In the realm of antiques, this lack of thorough provenance is not unusual; it frequently gives the assessment process some intrigue and thrill. The owner's memory of buying the statue in China offered a basis but raised several unresolved issues. How did such a possibly valuable item wind up in a store a tourist may visit? From where had it come to find that shop? These holes in the history of the monument would make Mason's authenticity and appraisal work more difficult and fascinating.