Haunting item on Antiques Roadshow didn't get valued after disturbing history was revealed
Topics: BBC, History, Film and TV
Ellie Kemp
Featured Image Credit: BBC One
Topics: BBC, History, Film and TV
An Antiques Roadshow expert was praised for refusing to evaluate an 'amazing' item over of its 'callous' history.
The popular BBC One show is famed for uncovering unexpected, high-value artefacts - often met with stunned reactions from the sellers, like this veteran who almost collapsed after having his watch evaluated.
But one particular item was turned down for assessment by expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan when the show visited Cardiff, Wales.
In a clip of the episode, Archer-Morgan is met by a woman who presents him with an object in the shape of a ring.
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The expert wastes no time in clarifying right from the off-set: "I want to make it absolutely clear that myself and we in The Antiques Roadshow wholly and unequivocally disapprove of the trade in ivory."
The camera then zooms in to show an ornate ivory bracelet engraved with text and sitting on a purple cushion.
The guest reveals she bought the item in a house sale for just $3 and didn't know much of the history behind it.
However, it doesn't take long for Archer-Morgan to dive into the disturbing story behind the bangle.
He continues: "But this ivory bangle here is not about trading in ivory, it's about trading in human life.
"It's probably one of the most difficult things that I've ever had to talk about, but talk about it we must."
Not denying the bracelet and its calligraphy is 'beautiful', Archer-Morgan its 'callous' links to the slave trade of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Looking more closely at the bangle, it has an inscription reading 'Prince Jemmy of Grandy' and the words 'honest fellow' also engraved.
It's believed the discs were used as pledges or receipts by slave traders.
"These objects are really rare. I know of the existence of about half a dozen of these only. It's extraordinary," he said.
But Archer-Morgan slammed the original owner of the bracelet, adding: "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."
The guest said she thought the object was to do with trading coffee or spices - but not people.
And the emotional antiques expert went on to explain how his great-grandmother was a returned slave from Nova Scotia who came back to Sierra Leone.
The clip has been shared on Reddit, with many applauding the expert's stance and refusal to value the bracelet.
One person wrote: "Fascinating, disgusting, sad, maddening, surreal. Thank you for sharing this."
"Very interesting artefact, it really belongs in a museum - bequeathed or donated," another shared.
A third wrote: "This is how you recognize and talk about history. Taking these monuments of the past and putting them into the proper context of the era in which we come from."
"As a historian who has to handle uncomfortable topics frequently, he handled this perfectly. I need to steal a page from him," a fourth added.