Antiques Roadshow guest shocked by astonishing value of medieval stone head she found in her DRAIN
Fabergé Flower: £1,000,000
Colonel Stamford Cartwright set the show’s jewelery expert Geoffrey Munn’s pulse racing after introducing a floral ornament made of gold, diamonds and jade – an expensive ‘part of the furniture’ – in April 2018.
The precious object was originally owned by the Queen’s Own Worcestershire Hussars in 1904 by Georgina, Countess of Dudley, wife of Lord Dudley.
It was brought in by Stamford, who received the item on behalf of the squadron known as B (Staffordshire, Warwick and Worcestershire) Sqn The Royal Yeomanry.
The rare object displayed in a crystal vase was one of only 80 surviving ornaments of its kind.
Sculpture Angel of the North: £1,000,000
This rusty, man-sized model is worth more than the real Angel of the North.
The bronze statue, which was put on display by John McElroy in 2008, was worth more than Gateshead Council paid for the actual statue – a sum of £800,000.
Antony Gormley’s piece was one of many the artist created in the 1990s in an attempt to convince the council to commission the actual 20-metre-high statue.
But the councilor revealed that his roots with the model go deeper than just being part of the council.
His father worked in the coal mine where the large statue is located.
When the show’s expert art dealer, Philip Mould, saw the piece at the Sage Center in Gateshead, he revealed that another model twice the size recently sold for around £2 million.
FA Cup: £1,000,000
The longest-serving FA Cup trophy was brought to the BBC show in 2015 by Gabby Logan and former Leeds United manager Eddie Gray.
And it wasn’t until silver expert and football enthusiast Alastair Dickenson revealed its eye-watering value that the two sports enthusiasts knew what awaited them.
The valuation, done at the Royal Hall in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, was the highest amount ever offered by Alastair after it was valued at £1,000,000.
Gabby explained the significance of the cup and revealed that the trophy had had one of the longest tenures of any sporting award, having been used for 81 years until it was finally replaced in 1992.
Alastair claimed that the design of the trophy suggested that it was not made as a football trophy, but was more likely designed as a ‘wine or champagne cooler’ as it featured engravings of grapes and vines.
The trophy was created in 1911 by Fattorini and Sons, Italian immigrants who came to Britain in the late 19th century.
Christofle’s Jardiniere: £560,000
Terry Nurrish was stunned when this wedding gift – often commandeered as a goal post by his children – was valued at £10,000 on the Antiques Roadshow in 1991.
But the retired farmer decided to hold on to the antique for a while and that turned out to be a wise decision.
It sold at auction in 2014 for a whopping £560,000, making it one of the most expensive sales of any item valued at the long-running show.
Terry, 68, was given the ‘jardiniere’ by his parents, who picked it up in 1946 as part of a £100 ‘job lot’ of antiques.
Unbeknownst to the family, it was a French ‘Japonisme’ ornament of enamel and bronze, made in 1874 by the famous Christofle for the Paris Exhibition.
Mobile Lovers by Banksy: £403,000
A boys’ club who left a rare Banksy artwork on their front door had it valued at more than £400,000 during the Antiques Roadshow.
The work, called Mobile Lovers, had appeared overnight on a wooden shelf screwed to a wall near the Broad Plain Boys’ Club in Banksy’s home town of Bristol.
Dennis Stinchcombe, from the club, became embroiled in a row with the council after removing artwork that had been placed on a wall at the club.
They struggled and hoped that selling the piece would allow them to stay open.
But the artwork was removed by the city council, who insisted they owned the wall and displayed it in Bristol.
The artist joined the discussion by writing a letter to the club’s owner, giving him his “blessing” to do what he thought was right with the art.
Dennis, 58, then had the piece valued by experts from Antiques Roadshow, who were filming in Bristol in 2014. Gallery owner and expert Rupert Maas told him that selling the artwork for £400,000 would be a ‘good deal’.
He eventually sold it at auction for £403,000.
Painting by Antony Van Dyck: £400,000
It was a centuries-old treasure where one lucky priest could have been £500,000 better off.
The ancient masterpiece, painted by Antony Van Dyck, was bought by Derbyshire priest Father Jamie MacLeod from an antique shop in Cheshire in 1992 for £400.
Spotted by presenter Fiona at the Nottinghamshire roadshow, who was making a program about the artist at the time, the piece was questioned as original in 2013.
When expert and art dealer Philip Mold and Dr. Christopher Brown examined the painting, it was confirmed to be an original.
The piece is called The Magistrates of Brussels and hung in the city’s town hall until it was destroyed by a French attack in 1695.
After a three-month restoration and verification process, the 17th century painting was confirmed to be original when ’17th century brushstrokes beneath’ the top layer of the painting were revealed.
Gold Leica Luxus II camera: £320,000
A gold-plated Leica Luxus II camera was valued at between £300,000 and £800,000 after its introduction at the 2001 show.
It was originally valued at £5,000, but in 2013 it was put up for sale through Bonham’s auction house and revalued at over £300,000.
Wrapped in lizard skin, the piece is one of only four special editions made in 1932 and the whereabouts of the others remain a mystery.
The camera was given to its late owner, an avid amateur photographer, after World War II and was used throughout the 1940s and 1950s.
The Luxus II was used avidly for decades and then stored away until the owner took it to the show to view.
When it was put up for sale, it sold in Hong Kong in 2013 for £320,000.