Antiques star coming to J.C. White House
James Supp, Coeur d'Alene resident and famed appraiser from the PBS television show Antiques Roadshow, will appraise locals' hand-me-downs and hidden treasures on Saturday at the J.C. White House. Proceeds from the event will go to support the Museum of North Idaho's move to the historic house. (Courtesy of James Supp)
The Museum of North Idaho has announced the J.C. White House will hold its first in-person event since moving from its original Sherman Avenue location in November of 2019.
James Supp, an appraiser for Coronado Trading Company, will come to the J.C. White House — the future site of the museum — on Saturday. Supp has been regularly featured on the popular PBS program Antiques Roadshow over the last 10 years, though the Saturday event is not affiliated with the show.
“I have a very curious position in the antiques world,” Supp told The Press. “I’m what they call a generalist. I specialize in objects of historical nature.”
That experience has allowed Supp to appraise everything from a piece of the Hindenburg to Ghandi’s spinning wheel to a famed movie prop with a secret hidden inside.
“I once got to appraise the Ark of the Covenant from Raiders of the Lost Ark,” Supp said. “It was a prop Ark that helped [the crew] test the lens. I grew up on Raiders of the Lost Ark anyways; it’s one of the reasons I got into this business. But he (the owner) opened up the Ark, and inside, he had some items from the set of Star Wars. There were little pieces of the Death Star. There was a starfighter in there. It was amazing. Seeing the Ark was shocking enough. Seeing all the little artifacts from Star Wars was unbelievable.”
Supp — himself a resident of Coeur d’Alene for the last six years — added that, regardless of what people bring to the Saturday event, the value often can’t be measured in mere dollar figures.
“For me, it’s not necessarily the items people bring in,” he said. “For me, it’s usually the story behind it. There are all sorts of great stories behind what people bring in, and I love hearing about them.”
Supp he was excited about the future of the Museum of North Idaho, which is moving from its City Park headquarters to its new home at McEuen Park, near the base of Tubbs Hill.
“I love museums,” Supp said. “I think anything that gets people interested in them and interested in something new is great for the community."
Tickets will be available at the door, but they can be purchased in advance at bit.ly/3xM3WJT. Tickets run for $25, which will include two verbal appraisals. Timed spectator tickets are also available for $5.
The event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the J.C. White House on the corner of 8th and Young by the Coeur d’Alene City Hall.