Liverpool-born antiques expert Wayne Colquhoun was presented with the rare find
Liverpool-born Wayne Colquhoun valued a John Lennon drawing on Antiques Roadshow(Image: BBC)
A new series of Antiques Roadshow aired on BBC One this evening and one unique treasure presented by a member of the public to the experts was a ballpoint pen drawing from legendary Beatle, John Lennon.
The show follows a team of experts from auction houses as they tour through towns throughout the UK to value treasures brought in by members of the public. Liverpool-born Wayne Colquhoun was presented with the rare find, seemingly from John Lennon’s younger years in the latest episode held at Lister Park and Cartwright Hall.
Wayne has a passion for art and antiques and his eyes lit-up when he realised what the piece of paper sitting in front of him was.
He told the collector: “You bought a bit of a doodle to my table here but on closer inspection, it’s quite an interesting doodle. This face looks a bit familiar, John Lennon, a bit of a hero of mine.”
The antique owner told Wayne he “bought it on holiday about 18 years ago in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace.” The paper had on it what looked like an original John Lennon drawing in blue pen, hand written and signed: “I’ve been getting into jazz man. I’ve been trying to avoid it all me life, with love John Lennon.” It was finished off with “JL ’79”
Reflecting on his Liverpool roots and Beatles knowledge, Wayne revealed the member of the Fab Four was a “Serial sketcher from when he was a little boy until his death.”
A drawing thought to be by John Lennon was valued on Antiques Roadshow(Image: BBC)
He probed the collector to tell him how much was spent on the drawing, although he was first told the owner of the drawing was “reluctant to tell because then the wife will find out”. He whispered £2,000 into Wayne’s ear.
The antiques expert said this was quite a bit of money to be paying at the time, back in 2007, but the special piece was “not going down in price” and he could “clearly see it” reaching £5,000 if it had proper authentication.
Hundreds or rare Beatles memorabilia and collector items have sold for thousands of pounds at auction over the years. Earlier this year, a rare book written and signed by John Lennon sold at auction.
John wrote the collection of poems and stories, as well as drawing its illustrations, called ‘In His Own Write’, in March 1964 and its first print run of 300,000 copies sold out in Britain within a month.
The copy that went on sale dates from the second print run in April 1964 and was signed by John and his then-wife, Cynthia. Both signatures are still clearly visible, with John’s in blue biro and his wife’s in red ink.
John wrote the book when he was 24, It sold for £2,000 to an undisclosed buyer. In 2022, rare black and white photographs of the band in Weston-super-Mare and an autographed book sold for £10,000.