Antiques Roadshow Expert Refuses To Value Disturbing Item Due To Its Horrific Past
An Antiques Roadshow expert refused to value a disturbing item due to its horrific past.
The popular TV show involves specialists traveling around the country to review and value different artifacts brought in by the public.
In one viral episode, expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan refused to assign a monetary value to an item due to its dark history the owner had no idea about.
Viewers took to social media and flooded the expert with praise following the episode.
One fan wrote: “Every word out of his mouth was a historical lesson for me. Thank you.”
Another added: “Wow, this was amazing, and what an eloquent description of the hideous but important provenance of this item.”
A woman presented Archer-Morgan with a ring-shaped object which had been in her possession for years.
The owner told the antiques expert she had ‘no idea’ what it was but was intrigued by its ‘interesting’ appearance.
The bangle was engraved with calligraphy reading ‘Prince Jemmy of Grandy’ and the words ‘honest fellow.’
Although Archer-Morgan acknowledged that the object was ‘amazing,’ he said it was one of the ‘most difficult things I’ve ever had to talk about.’
The expert continued: “I just don’t want to value it. I do not want to put a price on something that signifies such an awful business.
“But the value is in the lessons that this can tell people. The value is in researching this and what we can find out. And I just love you for bringing it in and thank you so much for making me so sad.”
Archer-Morgan revealed that the ivory bangle had links to the slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries, one of the darkest chapters in human history.
The transatlantic slave trade was carried out between 1500 and 1870 and involved the forced enslavement and movement of people from Africa to the Americas (the two continents North and South America), per the BBC.
The enslaved people were used in the Americas to produce goods such as tobacco, cotton, sugar, and indigo dye.
In a voiceover, Antiques Roadshow host Fiona Bruce said: “The item was a disc that acted as an endorsement of the professional reputation of an African slave trader in the West African port of Bonny in the 18th century.”
Archer-Morgan said he believed the name of the man inscribed on the bangle – Prince Jemmy of Grandy – was an African himself and ‘a despicable human being’ involved in trading people.
Referencing the words ‘honest fellow’ on the bangle, the expert added: “I’d like to meet him and tell him how honest I think he is.”
Candidly, Archer-Morgan also shared: “My great-grandmother was a returned slave from Nova Scotia in Canada and came back to Sierra Leone and Freetown.
“And I actually think it’s my cultural duty, our cultural duty, to talk about things like this.”
Watch the expert refuse to value the item below…
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