Antique Roadshow is a prominent show known for putting the world-class antiques on display. The show that kickstarted in the latter half of the 1970s continues to amaze people with its classy findings. People come from all over the country to auction their antique here. One of them was a lady who appeared in the show, 2002, with an antique. It was supposed to be a normal episode but when the lady appeared with a piece of art that had been in her house for ages, the veteran antique specialist Lark E. Mason could not hold his tears back.

The lady could not understand why did he get so excited that he began crying? Was her piece of antique going to bring a new storm lurking in history? And also do not forget to check the worth of the piece that will stun you for a while.

Absolutely Speechless

Mason was associated with the show from a very long time. Though he had a penchant for antique, it had been days since he saw any impressive relic on the show. That day too, he was not expecting anything super exciting but a bunch of antiques whose memories would fade away with the end of the show. He went to his work not knowing he was going to stumble upon a nerve-wrecking truth!

Seeking Answers

It was a lion statue! You must be wondering what could be so special about this statue that made Mason all surprised! Well, the answer to this question is equally breathtaking as the statue is. Mason enquired the owner if she knew anything about the statue. He asked her, how she got it? To which the lady replied, “My grandparents picked it up. They traveled a lot in China.” It was clear to Mason, from her answer that the lady did not know much about the statue. He enquired her further asking “When were they in China?” The lady replied, “probably in the early part of the century.” All she knew was that her parents got it in the early 20th century when it fell into her grandfather’s hand. while traveling and after them, it was her who inherited it.

Leo The Lion

The scenario was extremely interesting, whereas Mason looked all excited, the lady did not seem a bit enthusiastic about the statue. Having it around since childhood, the lady and her brother considered it as a family. They used to call him “Leo The Lion.” Unaware of its importance, they would play with it as if it is a toy. Along with that, they would don the statue with dresses and stuff its mouth with marbles. By now, the interest of Mason had peaked by multiple times. He knew what exactly was that, but he wanted to know what this family knew about it who had been possessing the piece of art for nearly a century. Lark E. Mason is a proficient researcher who has been in the business for more than decades. To be precise he has acquired expertise in Chinese antiques. Along with that, he has also worked in the New York School of Interior Design as a design teacher. But what earned him the fame was his stint at Sotheby’s. Now the question was among all the antiques out there what was so special in that lion statue that captured the interest of this highly renowned researcher.

Gaining Knowledge

The lady never considered the lion statue valuable until one of her family friends convinced her that it does hold a value. The friend having scanty knowledge of Chinese art was not sure about the originality of the statue although he guessed it to be a belonging of the Ming Dynasty. And for that reason, the statue did hold some worth. It was indeed a shot in the dark. However, the value part was absolutely right but the belongingness part was all wrong. The statue did have a history that was going to be revealed to this ignorant world only to wipe the floors off their feet. “Never judge a book by its cover” this proverb is best suited to Antiques Roadshow. There have been numerous times in the show when the least worthy looking antiques turned out to be the star of the show. It is amazing how an object lying in the lofts unnoticed, uncared changes the faith of their owner when their time arrives. Was that the case going to be the same with the “lion statue?”

All Emotional

Anyone could have told even at a furtive glance that Mason was all overwhelmed by the sight. Never in the show had he ever got as emotional as he was that day. He tried expressing his emotion by saying, “Okay. Well, I’ll start out by saying when this came up, I could barely…” He took a pause as he was not able to speak further. No need to say that it was once in a lifetime kind of sight. Mason who was widely known for his calm and collective personality was struggling hard to hold back his emotions. He was literally trembling and was evidently falling short of words. The lady, on the other hand, had no idea what was going on!

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Old And Perfect

No doubt, the statue was centuries old. Despite that, it was virtually intact. Surprisingly, the statue did not have any of his part broken or even cracked. Mason explained, “And as you look at this…any way you look at it…it’s fantastic, breathtaking.” The curiosity of the onlookers and the lady had gone up to the next level. It was getting tough for them to wait for any further to find out what exactly was that. One other interesting fact that attracted the attention of both the lady and Mason was that the masterpiece was left unsigned. The lady explained, “The artist didn’t sign it.” Mason responded, “No, these were never signed.” Usually, the ancient pieces of art have the initials of the creator or the time period carved on them. But here, this artifacts had no information on it leading the researchers to find out about its originality merely by its appearance. Was that done on purpose? Or the reason was altogether different?

Now, it was Mason turn, he began to spill the beans!

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