An Antiques Roadshow guest was left gobsmacked after finding out the valuation of her vases on the show.
The valuation of the item sparked dozens of gasps from a crowd after finding out the price of the three ceramic items.
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 price.
As he revealed the value, the crowd’s loud gasp even woke her grandchild up, while her daughter spluttered: ‘Are you joking?’
Expert Eric said: ‘In the 1920s and the 1930s, there was a lot of interest in fairies. You may remember there were some photographs produced that [had] people convinced that there were fairies at the bottom of people’s gardens.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was left gobsmacked after finding out the valuation of her vases on the show
The valuation of the item sparked dozens of gasps from a crowd after finding out the price of the three ceramic items
‘And you’re a good one to talk to as you’ve got fairies on your sideboard from what I can see. Have you been living with these fairies for quite some time?’
The guest replied: ‘For about 12 years. Before then, they lived in Ireland from about 1962 to 2004. They were owned by a cousin of my aunt who lived in Johannesburg’.
Eric responded: ‘Goodness me, these are well travelled vases. So they’ve been fairies in South Africa, they’ve been leprechauns by the time they got to Ireland and now they’re fairies again in Saffron Walden.’
The guest replied: ‘They’re very special, because they remind me of my aunt’.
Eric said: ‘Well that’s what it’s about at the end of the day, isn’t it? Let’s have a look at the pieces, because I know you’ve done a little bit of research, because I’ve been talking to the daughter who’s behind you with the next inheritor.’
‘The big name here, it’s one we’ve heard before on the Roadshow, is Daisy Makeig-Jones as the designer.
‘She did come out with these amazing designs, produced by Wedgwood in Stoke-On-Trent and under the band of Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre.
‘So you’ve got three very nice prime pieces. The thing about the Wedgwood Fairyland in general is that it’s very, very dependent on condition. A little bit of wear.
‘So the first thing I do when I see a bowl like this, 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 price
As he revealed the value, the crowd’s loud gasp even woke her grandchild up, while her daughter spluttered: ‘Are you joking?’
The audience couldn’t believe the valuation and gasped in shock while the guest covered her face in disbelief
‘That sounds alright. That’s a good sound. The decoration is called Castle On The Road but the interior for some reason is called Boxers.
‘Now I’m looking at these fairies, or boxing rather, but I can’t see any boxing fairies but anyway, that’s what it’s called.
‘So, it’s making the right sound OK, because if it had made a bit of a snare, that would have been worth £1,000. It’s worth a bit more than £1,000 now. So I think we’ll start with that one around the £3,000 mark.’
Already stunned at the price, the guest said: ‘Holy smokes’.
As Eric turned to the second vase called Pillars, he confirmed it was worth around £6,000.
The guest said: ‘What for this one? I should be sitting down’, before her daughter chipped in: ‘Or laying down mum’.
Her third and final item, the larger vase, come under a bit of scrutiny as Eric carefully examined the item.
He said: ‘It’s called Bubbles for obvious reasons and you’ve got this wonderful arrangement of what appear to be like water babies, don’t they? Little wing sprites.
‘Now we’ve got to come around for this one, because I don’t want to lift it.
‘Do you like that? Are you sure? OK right. The thing is, I’m looking in there and wondering if I can 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. You understand that? OK.’
Having a deeper look at the vase, Eric said: ‘No. Hang on. Let’s have a look. Well – no. No crack.’
He then revealed the price jumped to a whopping £20,000, making the total prices of all three vases £29,000.
The audience couldn’t believe the valuation and gasped in shock while the guest covered her face in disbelief.
Her daughter then joked: ‘Oh my word. OK that woke the baby’.
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