Antiques Roadshow guest splutters ‘you are joking?!’ as daughter urges her to lay down after life-changing valuation that left crowd gasping
An Antiques Roadshow guest was stunned when she found out the value of her vases during the show.
The value of the object astonished dozens of attendees after they learned the price of the three ceramic objects.
The guest, who appeared on the show with her daughter and grandchild, could barely contain her surprise and excitement when expert Eric Knowles revealed the staggering prize.
When he revealed the value, even her grandchild was awakened by sobs in the crowd, with her daughter stuttering, “Are you kidding me?”
Expert Eric said: ‘In the 1920s and 30s there was a lot of interest in fairies. You may remember that there were photos taken that [had] People were convinced that fairies lived at the bottom of people’s gardens.
A guest on Antiques Roadshow was stunned when she found out the value of her vases on the show
The item’s valuation left dozens of stunned reactions from the crowd after they learned the price of the three ceramic items
“And you’re a good one to talk to, because you have fairies on your dresser, from what I can see. Have you been living with these fairies for a while?”
The guest replied: ‘About 12 years. Before that they lived in Ireland, from about 1962 to 2004. They were owned by a cousin of my aunt who lived in Johannesburg.’
Eric replied, ‘My goodness, these are well-travelled vases. So they were fairies in South Africa, they were leprechauns when they got to Ireland and now they are fairies again in Saffron Walden.’
The guest replied, “They are very special because they remind me of my aunt.”
Eric said, “Well, that’s what it’s all about, right? Let’s take a look at the records, because I know you’ve done a little bit of research, because I’ve talked to the daughter who’s behind you, the next heir.”
‘The big name here, a name we’ve heard on the Roadshow before, is Daisy Makeig-Jones as designer.
‘She came up with these wonderful designs, produced by Wedgwood in Stoke-On-Trent and called Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre.
“So you’ve got three really nice prime pieces. The thing about the Wedgwood Fairyland in general is that it’s very, very condition dependent. A bit of wear.
‘So the first thing I do when I see a bowl like that is this: [tapping the bowl].
The guest, who appeared on the show with her daughter and grandchild, struggled to contain her shock and excitement when expert Eric Knowles revealed the staggering prize
When he revealed the value, even her grandchild was awakened by sobs in the crowd, with her daughter stuttering, “Are you kidding me?”
The audience couldn’t believe the appreciation and gasped in shock, while the guest covered her face in disbelief
“That sounds good. That’s a good sound. The decor is called Castle On The Road, but the interior is called Boxers for some reason.
‘Now I’m looking at those fairies, or rather at boxing, but I don’t see any boxing fairies, but anyway, that’s what it’s called.
‘So it makes the right sound OK, because if it had made a bit of a snare, that would have been worth £1,000. It’s worth just over £1,000 now. So I think we’ll start with that one at around £3,000.’
The guest was already astonished by the price and said: ‘Holy jokes’.
When Eric looked at the second vase, Pillars, he saw that it was worth about £6,000.
The guest said, “What’s the reason for this? I should be sitting,” to which her daughter interjected, “Or lying down, Mom.”
Her third and final object, the larger vase, is subjected to closer examination as Eric carefully examines the object.
He said, ‘It’s called Bubbles for obvious reasons and you have this beautiful arrangement of what look like water babies, right? Little wing sprites.
‘Now we have to come over here, because I don’t want to pick him up.
“Do you like that? Are you sure? Okay, right? The point is, I look over there and I wonder if I see a crack. Because if that’s a crack –
“The long and short of it is, if that’s a crack – do you mind if I look in it? If that’s a crack, that’s £2,000. Do you understand that? OK.”
Eric took another good look at the vase and said, ‘No. Wait a minute. Let’s see. Well – no. Not a crack.’
He then revealed that the price had risen to a whopping £20,000, bringing the total price of the three vases to £29,000.
The audience couldn’t believe the appreciation and gasped in shock, while the guest covered her face in disbelief.
Her daughter then joked: “Oh my god. Okay, that woke the baby up.