A Roadshow Moment to Remember

In the past 16 years we have had a number of memorable moments that we as appraisers look back ocassionally  and re-live over a drink with poignant teasing for the "appraiser"  delivering the message. Some guests delivered some classic insults such as: "What do you know about African art, you're white. That jewel has been sent my way 3 times in 37 years and I doubt seriously if PBS would ever air that.  PBS also could salvage the segment with an elderly gentleman who had a Navajo weaving which was about 6' in width, which turned out to be just outside his hearing range - something we missed during interview when we were less than 3 feet away. Not only was hearing a problem but when the end of the segment came upon us the appraiser was supposed to take the weaving off the support and show the Roadshow viewers how the Navajo actually wore the textile. The gentleman decided to help but he dropped his end and promptly bent over to pick it up and mooned the cameras. There was not much to do to salvage this. But what made me start to reminisce was this past weekend in Tulsa when something nice happened to a really good guy. Lark Mason, Sothebys former director of Asian art worldwide and now owner  of the successful online auction house Igavel.com found 5 late 17th to early 18th century rhinoceros horn cups which he valued  from $1,000,000 to $1,500,000. The coverage has been everywhere which will certainly not hurt Lark  or the show a bit.  It was a great segment that came together for two very likable guys - the guest and Lark.  So while the rest of are suffering from segment envy, we salute our colleague who will be buying drinks for at least the balance of the season. JB