BBC Antiques Roadshow guest shocked by price of 'exquisite' 300-year-old item

The Antiques Roadshow didn't disappoint on Sunday when a guest was left gobsmacked by the value of their 300-year-old item.

The BBC show was in Oxfordshire for the latest leg of the roadshow, where the experts were presented with all sorts of treasures, including a beautiful wooden carving with a mysterious past.

Spotting the eye-catching piece, which featured rococo birds and a stylised tableaux, antiques buff, Marc Allum, asked its owner: "What we have here is just the most staggeringly intricate piece of work. This is made of limewood, what do you know about it?"

The guest explained: "Very little I feel. It was purchased by my father and his business partner. When it was purchased we were living around Manchester so I think it came at a dispersal sale."

BBC Antiques Roadshow

Looking closely at the piece, Marc replied: "Now, I reckon on the whole it dates from maybe, 1740, 1760, that is my impression of the date of it."

As viewers waited for the all-important valuation, he continued: "We are going to talk about value, for auction purposes, I am going to put an estimate of £6,000 to £9,000." Visibly taken aback, the guest thanked Marc for his help as they both looked at the carving in awe.

Among the other haul of treasures at Stonor Park in Oxfordshire, was a rare artefact that survived the attack on Pearl Harbour and an LS Lowry painting. A guest on the show was left dumb-founded after he found out his artwork by the iconic painter was worth close to £100,000.

Casting his eye over the piece, the expert mused: "He painted the mood of the nation, I think. Provenance of Lowry is crucial. Now thankfully, on the reverse of your picture you have a label from the {undisclosed] gallery that represented Lowry as you know and sold many of his works and you also have this letter.

BBC Antiques Roadshow

"And this letter was sent to you from the director of the gallery in 1998 and he says 'further to your letter of the 29th July the painting by Lowry was sold by us in 1965 for £175 and its got all of the labels and stock codes...'"

He continued: "In terms of value, I think if your painting were to come up for auction, I would expect to see it sell for a figure in the region of £60-£80,000." The guest laughed in amazement and simply said: "Ok, thank you."

The staggering valuation comes after fans of the BBC series recently slammed an episode for not having any valuations at all. Host Fiona Bruce and the experts headed to St Thomas’ and St Bartholomew’s hospitals in London where they perused several historical artefacts, which were linked to the history of nursing.

However, in a switch from the usual show format, Fiona revealed none of the items on display would receive a valuation from the experts, leaving one X user to muse: "Remember when #AntiquesRoadshow was an antiques programme and #countryfile was about the countryside? Heady days."

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