Antiques Roadshow guest reacts to valuation of earrings
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An Antiques Roadshow guest gasped upon finding out that her grandparents’ wedding present was “extremely desirable” around the world.
Expert Gordon Foster filmed another episode of the BBC daytime series, this time on the grounds of Balmoral Castle, meeting with guests and their extraordinary items.
This time around, he met a pensioner who presented him with two table centrepieces that had a certain wow factor about them.
He said: “I’m so excited that you’ve brought these along today in this splendid setting at Balmoral and what more appropriate item could we have brought along than a pair of solid silver stags.
“So tell me how they came into your life.”
The pensioner explained: “My grandparents were given these for a wedding present by the Duke of Atholl and there were four of them on a big mount and they were in the middle of their dining table.
“But I never saw them, because it was long before I was born.”
“But I think from what I gather, one was running, one was sitting, one was standing and the other one was doing something else but I’m not quite sure what.”
Foster continued: “Well it’s interesting you say that, because this is the model that I have seen before, the standing stag.
“The lying down stag you don’t see as many of.
“And also you mention there that they had different bases, because these bases do look slightly later.
“The idea of course was that they’d make a huge statement on a big dining table, usually at a shooting lodge or a big country house and it provoked conversation almost and that’s why they were made.”
Foster explained that they were made by the “very famous” firm Garrard & Co of London, circa 1870, with the stags dated around the late 1890s.
It was then time to appraise the figures and the guest was not to be disappointed.
He began to summarise: “So we have to come to the valuation and it’s quite tricky actually, because they don’t turn up on the market very often.
“I’ve seen a few over the years but not many. They’re extremely desirable. I can think of many people around the world who would be interested in owning these.
“They are spectacular. They are by the top maker, Garrard’s of London, you’d pay a premium price for anything by Garrards.
“They’re solid silver, they’re Victorian ones so they’re not modern ones, so taking all of that into account, we’re talking big bucks for these.
“We’re looking at comfortably and conservatively, I would say £15,000 each.”
The guest gasped at the price, with the surrounding audience following suit, before exclaiming: “What? Dear! Goodness me.
“And there’s two more out there and we don’t know where they are.”
Foster replied: “You don’t know where they are! Well I suggest you look and see if you can locate them.”
She then cheekily said: “It would be lovely if you could find them for me”, much to Foster’s amusement.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.