BBC Antiques Roadshow guest lost for words as family heirlooms get huge value

29 October 2023 , 22:38

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An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned on the BBC show this evening as their family heirlooms were given a huge value of nearly £60,000 (Image: BBC)

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned when their family heirlooms were given a huge value.

Expert Lars Tharp was on hand to give his verdict on the three items of jade brought in by one viewer. There was a bracelet made of jade and a kidney-shaped piece, as well as a stunning intricate set of jade lovebirds.

Speaking on the show today, he said: "Now this is slightly different, the colour scheme here, this black brown band. This was very, very popular. A kind of jade very popular in the Ming Dynasty. I cannot guarantee that this is Ming Dynasty. It's very difficult to date jade because after all, all you have to do is to find a piece of this very popular jade and then carve it to make it look like that. But having said that, if you look at the detail of the very flat carving here, these are all very archaic scholarly motifs."

An intricate piece of jade was worth a lot of money (BBC)

The lady then tried the bracelet on, before admitting that she doesn't wear it and if she does, only in the house, but described it as "not very comfortable". Lars then went on to add: "It's very smooth anyway. Oh, but it looks so good, doesn't it? It's a very powerful piece of jade that. So you've got two pieces quite different. Could this be the Christmas present?"

Attention then turned to another piece, which was worth a substantial amount more, leaving the guests stunned.

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He said: "A pair of Chinese lovebirds. It's got its own little stand. Very delicate. And there they are. They're sitting back to back and they're swinging away in this little perch. That is amazing. And each piece, a moving part or as well as the link. So these links were originally part of the whole piece of jade. But the carver has had to hollow up each link individually without breaking it. This is the amazing thing. This twig the birds are sitting on is like a swing. And you can actually see that rocking. Now that is very, very clever."

The guests couldn't believe it (BBC)

It was then time for Lars to give his verdict on the value of the three items. "I think the pebble bird sits so beautifully is probably between five and eight thousand. The bangle probably about the same," he said before attention turned to the most intricate piece.

He shared: "This piece would appeal to a lot of modern collectors. I would say that's probably in the region of 20 to 40,000 pounds." The guest were stunned by the valuation, as the audience gasped around them. The couple said: "What? Wow. It is our favourite so it's not for sale. Thank you very much. My dad will be very pleased."

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Jasmine Allday