It’s official: the Jenkins Trophy is a cistern, and it’s worth a cool $30,000.
Queen’s Athletics awards the trophy each year to a graduating student for athletic and scholastic achievement. The item enjoyed the limelight at the Kingston taping of the CBC’s Canadian Antiques Roadshow, held at Grant Hall May 26.
Anticipation hummed in the humid air as Henk Pardoel, University co-ordinator of communications and sports information, awaited the answer to a question he’d been pondering for some time: just what is the Jenkins Trophy?
Roger Crowther, antiques appraiser, solved the mystery.
“Everyone thought it was a punch bowl,” Pardoel said. “But it’s a cistern … [to hold] magnums of champagne as a centerpiece for a large table setting.” Pardoel said the value of the trophy came as no surprise.
“Just based on the silver weight I thought it would be in the $25,000 to $30,000 range.”
But Kingston resident Lynn Bell, father of AMS Controller Scott, said he was surprised by the value of the pieces he brought to the Roadshow for appraisal.
Bell said he was aware his Hepplewhite table—a family heirloom he brought for appraisal—was valuable, but his estimate was nowhere close to the actual value.
“We had an idea that it was worth a couple thousand [dollars],” Bell said.
In fact, it was appraised at $25,000 for insurance purposes, meaning the actual market value is slightly lower than the value given.
Regardless of the value, Bell said he has no plans to sell the piece.
“It will go down to the oldest grandchild,” he said.
Bell had a powder horn—a hollow animal’s horn used for carrying gunpowder—appraised as well. The item, dating to around 1775, is an heirloom from the other side of his family. While it was valued between $10,000 and $15,000, the piece will not be featured on television because the extremely fine scrimshaw, or detail, would not be visible on camera.
Pardoel and Bell said they were surprised to be beautified by CBC staff for their on-camera appearances.
“The one thing I didn’t expect was when they took me down to the basement of Grant Hall for makeup,” Bell said. “I hadn’t done that since Halloween when I was a teenager.”
Hosted by Valerie Pringle, the TV show features beautiful treasures from across Canada.
For the Kingston taping, CBC distributed 1,000 pairs of tickets by e-mail on a first come, first served basis. The day was split into two shifts to maximize the number of people gaining entry while minimizing waiting times.
According to organizers, the greatest concern was parking availability due to an influx of visitors for convocation ceremonies the same day.
The series airs Thursday evenings beginning Sept. 22. The Kingston stop will be featured in two episodes, though its airdate is not yet confirmed.
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