Antique Roadshow Junky
Family Heirlooms come from many sources but they all have a set of qualities in common. They are unique, hand-crafted, made with love, unmistakably the work of their creator. And most importantly, family heirlooms are cherished by the family who hands them down, parent to child, generation to generation.

I don't watch television often (no time, small children) but there is one show which feels like pure pleasure. If you are an Antique Road Show Junky like me, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Antique Road Show is essentially the same show every week. A pretty blond woman introduces us to whatever town's civic center we happen to be in and then retreats in order for the main course to be served.

The main course, the heart of the show (and this is all that matters), is two people standing on either side of an art object. The first person may be an expert in Civil War memorabilia, or late 19th century Belgium glassware, or Baseball uniforms, and the other person may be nervous or giddy or strangely emotionless (those are the ones that fascinate me!).

Between these two people is the Art Object. It may be a series of architectural photos, or a Shaker dresser, or a letter signed by Benjamin Franklin, or an.... An anything.

You never know.

Now, as a happy smile spreads across my face and as I sink deeper into my comfy chair, the ritual begins. The Art Expert begins to explore the origins of this Art Object, taking us on a guided tour of the dusty Milanese workshop where the glass was first blown, or to the remote Tibetan highlands where the rug was woven with yak hair, or to the ballrooms of the Court of the Sun King where....where, what? It doesn't matter. Keep talking. I'm hooked.

All the while, the owner of the Art Object interjects little bon mots such as "huh," "gosh!", "my uncle bought this for a nickel in 1901", "we were using it for a dog bowl."

As the monologue winds up, we tense for the outcome. The Expert Opinion, the money shot, the big payoff. Like a judge in the heavenly court, the art expert makes one final appraisal of the clock or vase or knick-knack, touches it lovingly, and says....

"If this was brought to auction, we would set the opening bid at $500 or $10,000 or .75 cents, but these have been known to sell as high as ten million or three hundred or one penny." The numbers flash on the bottom of the screen and the Owner looks pleased or politely disappointed or about to faint.

It's like a game show for antique lovers.

As the shows wraps up, I sign contentedly and allow myself to dream. It is the future, twenty or thirty or fifty years from now. I turn on the television and there is Antique Road Show, now in its hundredth season.

And there positioned at the center of the show, being admired by some Art Expert, is a work of art that I recognize because it is the creation of one of our Artists. It is a hand colored print by Karla Gudeon. It is a menorah by Janine Sopp. It is a one of a kind ketubah by Nishima Kaplan ("it was my grandparents' ketubah - I have it hung it in a place of honor").

Family Heirlooms come from many sources but they all have a set of qualities in common. They are unique, hand-crafted, made with love, unmistakably the work of their creator. And most importantly, family heirlooms are cherished by the family who hands them down, parent to child, generation to generation.