Provenance

UK private collection, London
Christie's, London, 14 - 15 May 2002, lot 475
William Gladstone Stewart (1933-2017) Collection, host of television show 'Fifteen to One'

Fifteen to One was a British general knowledge quiz show broadcast on Channel 4. It originally ran from 11 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's original run, it was presented and produced by William G. Stewart. Thousands of contestants appeared on the programme, which had very little of the chatting between host and contestants that is often a feature of other television quiz shows. The series prize tended to be a classical artefact (for example an ancient Greek vase). Prizes were occasionally valued at several million pounds by archaeologists.