'Roadshow' antique appraised at $1.07M

RALEIGH, N.C., June 28 (UPI) -- "Antiques Roadshow" appraisers valued a jade set as high as $1.07 million, the highest appraisal since the show started traversing the United States.

The collection -- jade pieces from China's Chien Lung reign from 1736-1795 -- belong to an unidentified woman who arrived early at the Saturday taping in Raleigh, N.C., of the popular PBS show, The News & Observer in Raleigh reported Sunday.

The woman told the appraiser the pieces belonged to her father, a military liaison to China in the 1930s and '40s, show officials said.

Asian art appraiser James Callahan, who examined the four pieces, said the dealer steered her father to quality items. The popular PBS series travels cross-country, helping folks assess the value of collectibles and heirlooms.

"The dealer selected very fine pieces," he said. "I've never seen anything like it."

Callahan says the value of the pieces depends on the market for them in China and that the Chinese government often wants to get such pieces back.

"Roadshow" workers said the woman's initial reaction was silence, followed by, "Damn!"