Antiques Roadshow guest is stunned after discovering the HUGE value of a 17th Century box and says he ‘needs a bodyguard’
An Antiques Roadshow guest was stunned when he discovered the staggering value of his silver slot machine and joked that he needed a ‘bodyguard’ to keep the box safe.
In the BBC broadcast, expert Alastair Dickenson was shocked when he saw the 17th-century artwork featuring a portrait of Charles I.
Alastair said: ‘My favourite period of English silver is the 17th century and you have brought back a charming little box with a portrait of Charles I on the top’.
The pensioner interrupted him and exclaimed, “Is that it?”
Confirming the history, Alastair replied, “Yes. And before we look at it, what can you tell me about the past?”
An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned when he discovered the staggering value of his silver slot machine and joked that he needed a ‘bodyguard’ to keep it safe
The BBC show saw expert Alastair Dickenson left in total shock as he viewed the 17th century piece, which featured a portrait of Charles I and 32 tokens
The owner explained: ‘Well, I know very little about it, Alastair, other than I was in the corporate world and one of the people in my office came up to me and said he was a bit short of cash and would I be interested.
‘And I was in the insurance business, specializing in antiques, and I said, “Yeah, I don’t know anything about it, but it looks interesting. What do you want for it?”
‘He named a figure and I said it was quite high. I said I wouldn’t give more than £2,000. He said, “Okay, I’ll take it.” And I’ve done that ever since, until 1988.’
Expert Alastair examined the unique piece and said: ‘As I said, at the top we see the portrait of Charles I and below that his wife Henrietta Maria.
‘What I particularly like about this box are the fantastic, imaginative, almost demonic figures on the side.’
The owner explained that when he purchased the antique item, the previous owner had told him it contained “game discs.”
He said: ‘Absolutely beautifully pierced and engraved, but we should really say what it is. Well, I understand, when I bought it I was told that it was game disks, produced by this horrible nobility, many, many years ago, who did nothing but eat, drink and pick up women.’
Laughing, Alastair added: ‘Well, here we are! Nothing more to say! It’s a counter box, you’re absolutely right, and I think if we take the lid off, we’ll see inside these fantastic counters, each beautifully engraved with different Kings and Queens of England.
Expert Alastair broke the unexpected news to the owner: ‘Well I can tell you it’s over £2,000. It’s now £6,000 to £8,000’
‘There is a maker associated with this and that is a guy called Simon Van de Pass and he died in 1647. So we know that this box, with the portrait of King Charles I, must be from before 1647, so I would date it around 1640.’
The pensioner was shocked and replied, “Good grief,” before confirming that there were 32 chips in the box.
The expert replied, “That’s pretty close to the number of counters you can fit in one of these boxes.
‘Over the years a few of these copies have come up at auction and not many of them have more than 32 chips, as each copy is a little work of art in its own right.
‘It is really fantastically detailed. 32 little gems together make up a reasonable amount.’
The guest couldn’t believe it and said, ‘Is that so? I’m waiting for you to tell me what that amount is!’
Expert Alastair then broke the unexpected news to the owner: ‘Well, I can tell you it’s over £2,000. It’s now £6,000 to £8,000.’
The owner was stunned: ‘No! Golly!’ before joking: ‘I need a bodyguard!’.