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Ad Rates / Articles / Classified Ads / Editorial / Home / Links / Showtime   Antiques and Collectibles Articles   Follow the arrows to other stories In the Hunt Treasure Hunting at the Canadian Antiques Roadshow   By Yvonne Butorac The old travel adage that getting there is half the fun applies to a day in the hunt at the Canadian Antiques Roadshow. The anticipation, the suspense, the possibility of standing in line next to a spectacular find - it's all part of the experience.   On a fine June day, with the sun shining down on the mammoth appraisal tent and with Sir Allan MacNab's stately Dundurn Castle as a backdrop, I calmed my hopeful heart and joined a couple of thousand others to get the goods on my two items. I had agonized over what to bring. I rejected the grandfather clock as too big and I already knew that the L. R. O'Brien painting I had discovered a few years earlier discarded in the garbage was the real thing. Finally I settled on a presentation box of silver spoons and a small mantle clock.   We were at stop five on the Canadian Antiques Roadshow's month-long tour of six cities. The Roadshow started out in Moncton in May, crossed the country to Regina, carried on west to Richmond, B.C., returned east to Toronto's Distillery District, and after this stop in Hamilton would finish just down the road in Kitchener.   At each city, large pieces of furniture, both those for appraisal and those that will be used to change the set design, are picked up in advance and returned after shooting is completed. Everything else is a surprise.   Some experts accompany the show across the country; others are brought in locally. In Hamilton, 28 men and women, well-versed in a range of subjects from 18th and 19th century Quebec items to arms and militaria, expected, in the course of the day, to examine and comment on hundreds of objects. The most interesting objects would be filmed and some of which would make it to air.   Christie McDonald, the Roadshow's expert co-coordinator, explained it's not always about the monetary value.   "We're always on the lookout for good Canadiana, and pieces with a good story," she said. "Local items are really interesting to us. Money isn't everything."     There is an air of anticipation from the minute you join the first line of ticket holders. What's in the basket ahead of you? Could that painting swaddled in its protective blanket be a winner? Is the tall vase perched precariously on the little red wagon the next great Roadshow find?   At the reception area, I am handed two slips of paper - one for the silver table and one for the clock table. At first, the area inside the open-sided tent looks like barely controlled chaos. Round tables, covered in neutral green cloths and identified by subject, appear to be randomly placed around the room. One and sometimes two appraisers staff each table. Lines of hopefuls weave in and around them. "Is this the end of the line" is a common refrain.   It takes no time to reach the silver expert and he doesn't seem to mind that my sterling spoons of British royalty from Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II aren't exactly antique. He scrutinizes the marks and consults a fat reference book and declares that my nine spoons in their pristine presentation case date to 1952 - after Elizabeth was named Queen but before her coronation. They are valued at $250 to $300. I would have been ecstatic if they had translated into a new car, but I am satisfied.   There is a constant buzz of excitement. What is the Canadiana expert telling the woman with the 1836 sampler? Could that battered pewter teapot really be worth anything? Why are three appraisers huddling over a small figurine and cautiously considering Faberge? It's all very close and personal as those waiting for the Books table mingle with those seeking information on Porcelain, Pottery and Glass. Eavesdropping is not only acceptable, it's expected.   The clock line moves slowly and just as it is my turn, appraiser Sean Quinn is whisked away to appear before the television cameras. "He'll be back in half an hour," the handler explains. The two women behind me and I settle in at the vacated table. Maxine Stonehouse is here to find out about a wristwatch given to her by an elderly neighbour. According to the neighbour, the watch with the red cross on its face belonged to his grandmother, who was a nurse in the Boer War. A search through the reference books on the table doesn't turn up any matches. We'll have to wait for the clock-and-watch man to return.   "This is a very nice clock," Quinn explained as he pointed out the japanned finish and the tiny raised figures on my clock case. Although japanning, a decorative varnishing process dates as early as the 17th century, he determines that my clock belongs to the 1920's. It was made in France for a Regent Street gold and silversmith shop, and had the walnut veneer not been damaged in a couple of places it could fetch $1,500 to $2,000. As it is, it's worth under $1,000. Again, no new car, but some useful info. I had always assumed the clock was a lot older.   Here are a few insider notes to remember when you watch the Canadian Antiques Roadshow on CBC beginning in October. Those with pictures and prints showed great perseverance - that line was always the longest. The appraisers are personable, curious and kind whether they are being taped for television or not.   The info that Maxine's watch was more likely World War I, rather than Boer War vintage, was delivered with authority but great tact. Everyone really is good humoured, even though they have probably stood for hours, may not have eaten since breakfast and have answered innumerable questions about their items for their curious fellow show goers.   It is just a lot of fun to attend a taping of the Canadian Antiques Roadshow and to be a part of great reality television. There are no scripts and no actors, just lots of suspense and some big winners. And the hunt is always on.   The first segment of this year's Canadian Antiques Roadshow is scheduled for October 3. View further scheduling at canadianantiquesroadshow.com. For more info on Dundurn Castle, the magnificent site of the Hamilton taping, check www.hamilton.ca/museums     Other articles by Yvonne Butorac   Maud Lewis house Victoria, B.C. antiquing     Return to top of page   This Is Livin' Publishing © 2007 581 8th Line West, RR1 Hastings, ON, K0L 1Y0 Phone/Fax: 705-696-1833   webmaster