Yes, although as far as I know, my aunt and I didn't end up being included in the final edit of the show. Originally I had some item that I wanted to have valued, but my aunt's stuff was way more interesting, so I decided to borrow something from her stash, and I left whatever I'd taken to be appraised in the car.
This was many years ago, so I may be a little off on the specifics, but if I recall correctly, we were told to be there at 6 a.m. My aunt's friend went with us, an older woman, who wisely suggested that we show up at 4 a.m. She was right. Even though this meant getting up insanely early in the morning so we could drive from East L.A. to the Los Angeles Convention Center to be there by 4 a.m., it was totally worth it.
The item I had examined was a jade belt. There was a man in the group of experts who knew more about Japanese jade than anyone else, and he told me the belt had most likely been custom-designed for a courtesan (a hooker). If the jade had been any color other than white, the value would have been extremely high, but the white jade made it a far more common item, interesting but not particuarly valuable.
The person who gave my aunt the jade belt had spent years living and traveling through Asia and the rest of the world, so the time and location matched exactly with what this expert at the Antiques Roadshow told me. Edit: ***** cat just jumped on the keyboard.
I was glad we went, it was an interesting experience, and one of those fun things you can talk about later, if someone ever asks. I don't think we had tickets, back in those days it was a first-come, first-served deal.
