Antiques Roadshow guest speechless at real value of £1.50 charity shop find he thought would be six figures
A GUEST on Antiques Roadshow was left speechless when he found out how much a piece of historical African art was worth.
He purchased the tribal statue in a charity shop for £1.50, but was hoping it would be worth in the region of £200,000.
During a repeat episode of Antiques Roadshow’s 45th series, the experts visited Wollaton Hall in Nottingham to see what treasured items they could find.
It was there that specialist Ronnie Archer-Morgan met with a guest who showed him what he believed to be a six-figure piece of African history.
The guest revealed that he had picked up the copper and brass tribal African figure in a charity shop in Cambridge years earlier and from subsequent research has been that other similar pieces were selling for £200,000, so he hoped his could be worth the same.
Ronnie immediately fell in love with the piece.
He gushed: “When you unwrapped this, my heart really skipped a beat. It’s one of my favourite tribal African figures. Where did you get it?”
“It was right among the junk, and it cost me the grand total of £1.50. I was intrigued by the fact that it looked as if somebody had put a lot of work into making it,” the BBC guest said of his charity shop find.
Ronnie was able to share some insight into the piece just by looking at it.
He revealed: “It’s from a tribe in Gabon. They are just south of Nigeria and this is a Kota guardian figure, and they put these on the bones of their ancestors to protect them. They polish this metal and in the 19th century, the brass and copper – this is just copper – but the brass and copper was like gold to them.”
He continued: “They are so highly revered in the art world that they have one of these in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They are such iconic examples of African tribal art. They hammer the metal over the wood sculpture and then they chase the metal with these designs and it’s the geometric design of them that makes them so desirable.
“They also influence the greatest modern artists of all time. They are very, very sought after,” Ronnie added.
This left the owner will high hopes for the valuation of the figure, but his hopes were quickly slashed as Ronnie revealed the truth about this charity shop find.
“Unfortunately, this one is a very fine copy,” Ronnie observed.
He then revealed that this item doesn’t have the same rich history as the pieces it’s modelled on.
“It’s slightly the wrong size, and this was probably made in 1980. One like this is probably worth about £150. Unfortunately, not the quarter of a million that one of them actually made,” he said.
Antiques Roadshow presenters through the years
Antiques Roadshow launched all the way back in 1979 and has become a staple BBC programme. Here is a look at those who have hosted the show over the years.
- Bruce Parker (1979): Journalist and presenter Bruce Parker was the original host of Antiques Roadshow when the programme debuted.
- Angela Rippon (1979): Broadcaster and former newsreader Angela Rippon briefly took up the hosting reins in 1979.
- Arthur Negus (1979-1983): The first long-term presenter, the television personality and antiques expert had a four-year stint with the show. He died in 1985, two years after leaving Antiques Roadshow.
- Hugh Scully (1981-2000): Hugh, a journalist, radio and television presenter, is the longest-serving presenter of Antiques Roadshow. He died in 2015, at the age of 72.
- Michael Aspel (2000-2008): Retired presenter and newsreader Michael Aspel hosted Antiques Roadshow for eight years. He is also known for his work on shows including This Is Your Life and Crackerjack.
- Fiona Bruce (2008 – present): The current host, journalist, newsreader and presenter Fiona joined the BBC show in 2008. She remains the ongoing presenter to this day.
The owner was absolutely gobsmacked by the three-figure valuation, but managed to remain positive about the potential sum he could earn.
“Well, it’s a lot more than I paid for it,” the owner said, adding: “It’s 100 times more than what I paid for it.”