1981 "Raiders of the Lost Ark" Prototype
GUEST: Well, this is, uh, the Ark of the Covenant that was used as a prototype in Raiders of the Lost Ark. My father worked on the film, and we've had it in our apartment in San Francisco when I was growing up, and now it's been passed on to me.
APPRAISER: What did you think growing up with this in your apartment?
GUEST: Oh, I thought it was neat.
APPRAISER: (chuckles)
GUEST: I got to tell my friends that I had the Ark of the Covenant at home. It was a lot of fun.
APPRAISER: You ever hide in it?
GUEST: No. Uh, we kept, we kept blankets inside of it.
APPRAISER: You kept blankets inside? When did you first see Raiders?
GUEST: I saw Raiders when I was a little kid. Around six or seven. My father worked, uh, at Industrial Light and Magic.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: In, uh, the '80s.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: He worked on Star Wars, Raiders. Star Trek. I knew George Lucas. He was wonderful.
APPRAISER: Industrial Light and Magic was the special effects house.
GUEST: Right.
APPRAISER: Founded by George Lucas to do all the special effects and visual effects for Star Wars. And later on, worked on so many amazing projects, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, um, E.T. It is now known as one of the most storied special effects houses. And what part did your father play in this particular prop?
GUEST: Uh, my father is a pyrotechnician.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: Was, and a stage tech. His job was to load it with pyro...
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: And, uh, get it ready to shoot.
APPRAISER: Raiders of the Lost Ark, released in 1981, was the first collaboration between George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. And it is one of the most iconic movies of the late 20th century. It's what inspired me to get into antiques, because he made antiques sexy and cool. And the Ark of the Covenant was the main object of desire, the MacGuffin, and it spawned one of the most successful movie franchises of all time. Harrison Ford was wonderful as Indy. And the scene of them in the Well of the Souls lifting the Ark out is just wonderful. This particular Ark of the Covenant looks somewhat different than the version we saw onscreen. Do you know why that is?
GUEST: I know that this was a prototype used to size the, the pyro. I know that the Ark that they used is significantly smaller.
APPRAISER: Mm-hmm.
GUEST: The details are different, as you know.
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: But this is one of the prototypes, maybe the first prototype, for pyro.
APPRAISER: And that's the best part about it. So the Ark of the Covenant was designed by Ralph McQuarrie. He was a concept artist for Raiders of the Lost Ark. And he was inspired by the artist James Tissot, and his designs for the Ark, he did several drawings of it. And this has every indication that it's just a thrown-together movie prop. You've got a hot-melt glue gun doing all the fancy designs. All this trim here is made from picture frames.
GUEST (chuckles): Right.
APPRAISER: And my favorite part is, these tops here are made from trophies.
GUEST (chuckling): Right.
APPRAISER: Kind of sloppy, put together. Now, that original prop is somewhere in the Lucas Film archives at Skywalker Ranch. People who want to replicate props have scoured every scene, copy all the little details on it. This is the closest anybody in the private market can get to owning the Ark of the Covenant from the Raiders of the Lost Ark. This is so inspiring and so wonderful. I'm so excited about it. And we estimate at auction a very conservative value of $80,000 to $120,000.
GUEST: Wow. Wow.
APPRAISER: And…
GUEST: Not bad for hot glue and spray paint.
APPRAISER: Absolutely. (laughs) And, realistically, I can see it getting into quarter-million-dollar range. It's beautiful.
$80,000 - $120,000 Auction
$80,000 - $120,000 Auction
Featured In
episode
Crocker Art Museum, Hour 2
See stunning Sacramento finds appraised at Crocker Art Museum like one worth $80K-$120K!
20th Century
appraisal
Comic Wind-up Toys, ca. 1930
appraisal
Barbie Accessories & Case, ca. 1960
appraisal
William Moorcroft Pottery, ca. 1910
appraisal
Understanding Our Appraisals
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
Appraiser affiliations: Finally, the affiliation of the appraiser may have changed since the appraisal was recorded. To see current contact information for an appraiser in the ROADSHOW Archive, click on the link below the appraiser's picture. Our Appraiser Index also contains a complete list of active ROADSHOW appraisers and their contact details and biographies.
