Raj Bisram (born 1956)
is a British
antique
An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...
s expert and
auction
An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...
eer. He co-founded Bentley's Fine Art and Antiques Auction House in
Cranbrook, Kent
Cranbrook is a town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent in South East England. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings, about southeast of central London.
The smaller settlements of Sissing ...
in 1995. He has appeared on several British TV programmes on antiques including ''
Antiques Road Trip
''Antiques Road Trip'' (also known as ''Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'') is a BBC television series produced by STV Studios. It was first shown on BBC Two from 2010 to 2012, and has been shown on BBC One since 2013. This show is not to be confu ...
'', ''
Flog It!
''Flog It!'' is a BBC television series that has been broadcast since 27 May 2002, presented by Paul Martin (although the first five episodes were presented by Mark Harnden).
Description
The show follows a similar formula to ''Antiques Roadsho ...
'', ''
Four Rooms
''Four Rooms'' is a 1995 American anthology
farce black comedy film co-written and co-directed by Allison Anders, Alexandre Rockwell, Robert Rodriguez, and Quentin Tarantino, loosely based on the adult short fiction writings of Roald Dahl. The s ...
'', ''Posh Pawn'', ''
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip
''Antiques Road Trip'' (also known as ''Celebrity Antiques Road Trip'') is a BBC television series produced by STV Studios. It was first shown on BBC Two from 2010 to 2012, and has been shown on BBC One since 2013. This show is not to be confu ...
'', ''
Bargain Hunt
''Bargain Hunt'' is a British television programme in which two pairs of contestants are challenged to buy antiques from shops or a fair and then sell them in an auction for a profit. It has aired on BBC One since 13 March 2000 in a daytim ...
'', and ''
Would I Lie To You?''.
Early life
He was born in London and named Rajkumar. He is of
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
descent. He attended
Highgate School
Highgate School, formally Sir Roger Cholmeley's School at Highgate, is an English co-educational, fee-charging, independent day school, founded in 1565 in Highgate, London, England. It educates over 1,400 pupils in three sections – Highgate ...
. He enlisted in the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
where he became a physical training instructor in
REME. He represented the British Army in
competitive downhill skiing and the
slalom
To slalom is to zigzag between obstacles. It may refer to:
Sports
;Alpine skiing and/or snowboarding
* Slalom skiing, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline
* Giant slalom, an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline
* Super-G ...
. He qualified as an Austrian ski instructor and worked as a ski instructor in the resort of
Ellmau
Ellmau is a municipality in the district of Kufstein in the Austrian region of Sölllandl. It lies 12 km southeast of Kufstein and 9 km west of Sankt Johann in Tirol. It is located at an elevation of 820 m above sea level. It was ment ...
in
Tyrol
Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...
. Bentley’s Antique & Fine Art Auctioneers was originally founded by Wilfred Wheaton and Raj in 1995 as Cranbrook Auction Rooms.
Personal life
He married Susan R Bisram (née Henley) in 1983.
He has two adult daughters. His other interests include cooking, skiing, cricket and tennis along with bridge and poker in which he has won a tournament. He also loves magic and is a former member of the
Magic Circle
A magic circle is a circle of space marked out by practitioners of some branches of ritual magic, which they generally believe will contain energy and form a sacred space, or will provide them a form of magical protection, or both. It may be marke ...
.
References
External links
Raj Bisram personal web-siteIMDB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bisram, Raj
Living people
English television presenters
Antiques experts
People from London
1956 births
BBC people
English auctioneers
English antiquarians
English television personalities
People educated at Highgate School