Why Antiques Roadshow’s expert refused to rate the ‘most disturbing’ item with a creepy past

An Exhibition of antiques The expert was totally averse to the idea of ​​rating what he called the “most disturbing” item with a truly gruesome past.

While the premise of the BBC show is essentially turning household rubbish into treasure, expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan was faced with “one of the hardest things” he’s ever had to assess.

During an episode of March 31 of Exhibition of antiques, Morgan was tasked with appraising a mysterious object with a particularly dark history.

Watch below:

Since joining the TV show in 2011, refusing to rate an article has only happened a few times.

Host Fiona Bruce went to visit Alexandra Gardens in Cardiff to try and find some exciting artefacts, only to stumble upon an antique with a chilling past.

In the voiceover, he explained that a woman had brought a disc that “acted as an endorsement of the professional reputation of an African slave trader in the port of Bonny in West Africa in the 18th century.”

Ronnie was visibly surprised by the seniority and made it clear that both he and the whole Exhibition of antiques the crew “totally and unequivocally disapprove of the ivory trade.”

He told the guest, “But this ivory bracelet here isn’t about trading ivory, it’s about trading human life, and it’s probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to talk about. But, let’s talk “We need to.”

Expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan faced ‘one of the hardest things’ he has ever had to assess (BBC)

Ronnie described the “amazing” object as a “testament to the callous trade” that overshadowed the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, before taking a closer look at the disc’s inscription which described the original owner as a “good tradesman” and ‘honest man’.

The collector scoffed and instead described him as a “despicable human being”, before adding: “I’d like to meet him and show him how honest I think he is.”

Ronnie continued: “This is a document, the living proof, the surviving proof, that this horrible trade went on.

“Look how beautiful the calligraphy is, the beauty of the calligraphy only belies the awfulness of the message.”

Explaining how she acquired the creepy object, the guest said she bought it for just £3 around 36 years ago at a house sale organized by a family she used to look after.

Antiques Roadshow expert said he ‘didn’t want to put a price’ on the item (BBC)

The woman said she had “no idea what it was” but picked it up because she thought it “looked interesting”.

“I’m researching now, it said traders – I thought it meant trading coffee or spices, but I realized they were trading people,” the woman told Ronnie.

The emotional TV star then opened up about her own family history, explaining that her great-grandmother was a “returned slave” from Nova Scotia in Canada who returned to Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.

He continued: “I think it’s my cultural duty, our cultural duty, to talk about things like this.

“I just don’t want to put a price on it. I don’t want to put a price on something that means such an awful deal.

“But the value is in the lessons this can teach people. The value is in researching this and what we can find out.

“And I love you for wearing it and thank you so much for making me so sad.”