Antiques Roadshow 40 Years of Great Finds

by Paul Atterbury, Marc Allum

A collection of the timeless, the priceless and the unforgettable, this beautiful compendium accompanies the beloved BBC One TV series.
Antiques Roadshow has graced our screens for forty years and has become one of the nation’s most beloved television programmes and a national institution. It has featured thousands of unique stories over the years, and introduced many incredible characters and unforgettable moments. In this anniversary celebration, Paul Atterbury and Marc Allum look back at the quintessential moments from the show’s illustrious history, providing a look at the history behind the very best and most intriguing objects that have appeared on the show.
Antiques 40 Years of Great Finds reveals the astonishing stories behind findings such as the discovery of the Lalique vase which had been bought for a pound at a car boot sale and left in the loft, only to be valued and sold for £25,000; the twenty-three original Beatrix Potter drawings; a brooch designed by the great Victorian architect William Burges; a poignant letter written by a doomed passenger on the Titanic, and legendary 1970s glam rocker Marc Bolan’s distinctive Gibson Flying V guitar.
Beautifully illustrated, and featuring a wealth of artifacts from the show, this is a truly revealing book, unearthing moments from history through each of the extraordinary objects discovered on the programme.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Art

320 pages, Hardcover

Published October 19, 2017

About the author

Paul Rowley Atterbury, FRSA is a British antiques expert, known for his many appearances since 1979 on the BBC TV programme Antiques Roadshow. He specialises in the art, architecture, design and decorative arts of the 19th and 20th centuries. - Wikipedia

Reviews

[Alice-Elizabeth (Prolific Reader Alice) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Confession time: I've grown up surrounded by antiques and falling in love with programmes like Antiques Roadshow itself. This is a lovely collection of real-life experiences of items being bought onto the show, being valued and the aftermath (whether the owner kept it or auctioned it off). The use of images and captions made the book very accessible. Although some of the items didn't interest me as much, there were a few stand outs including items owned by Jane Austen and a cigar from Winston Churchill. A fun read with lots of interesting facts to hold my attention!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun light read.

Unfortunately, given the 40-year range of the book, sometimes the photo quality was poor. And I would've appreciated twice as many photos--sometimes they had 2 photos of the front of an object and none of the back, for example.

The items skewed toward those which have appeared on the show in the past decade--I was surprised by how many I had seen on recent AR episodes (as available on Britbox). I suppose this stands to reason on a few fronts, however--objects from earlier years of the show would have had to stand the test of time to still be considered notable, and the show has now spent decades learning what's truly unusual (as has the British public!).

The objects were presented in no particular order (that I could tell). It might have been nice to have them grouped by period or even just the object categories AR itself uses (Jewellery [sic], Furniture, etc.).

[Brenda Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coffee table book of over 300 pages, written in the chatty narration style of the TV series. Objects of interest usually have a large title, one page of writing and one photo. No particular order is given, perhaps reflecting the random nature of finds. Nostalgic and very rare objects are given equal treatment. There are double page montages of the roadshow event. The inconsistent photo quality and lack of captions is disappointing. Otherwise an enjoyable read.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A basic for lovers of antiques and collections in general. Interesting additional information about the articles (Remember the one with the Crawly Silver or Banksy's Mobile Lovers). If you are connoisseur of the television show then You'll love this Companion.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of this show for a long time.
It also has fond memories as Dad and I used to watch this many times together.
Amazing what people have or find. Especially all that jewellery that was in the GARBAGE.
As well as the bowls from Hiroshima that were fused together after the blast.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a throughly enjoyable book which immerses you completely into the world of Antiques Roadshow with the most beautiful objects and, of course, their stories.