Antiques Roadshow guest lost for words as family bowl gets five figure valuation

07 August 2023 , 07:23

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An Antiques Roadshow guest was left speechless when his family bowl was given a stunning valuation during a recent episode of the BBC show (Image: BBC)

A guest was left stunned on Antiques Roadshow when they revealed the true value of a Japanese bowl.

On Sunday night's show, expert Lars Tharp was joined by two guests who were keen to find out the price of their decorative bowl, which had been adorned with delicate images of dragons and faces. Admitting that the vase had been in their family for a while, the two guests said they were unaware of the history of it, but that they had had it for a long time.

It was a part of a pair, with the family having previously owned two of the bowls before someone broke it when they were playing football in the house. The guests were shocked when the expert revealed it was worth a five figure sum.

The guests said the bowl had been in the family for years (BBC)

"In today's market I think this would appeal and it would probably appeal at the range of maybe let's say, £55,000," he revealed, with the guests completely stunned and unable to mutter anything else but "wow". The "spectacular" bowl even had a crack in the bottom, but the expert said it could still bring in a hefty amount of money for the family.

Fans watching the show couldn't believe the value, with one writing: "55 grand for that vase," whilst another joked about the fate of the other one, sharing: "Imagine that family never played football in the house again."

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Elsewhere on Antiques Roadshow, one guest was left gobsmacked when told the true value of a charity shop find he guessed could have been worth £200,000 as the experts gathered at an auction at Wollaton Hall.

The bowl featured intricate details (BBC)

"When you unwrapped this, my heart really skipped a beat. It's one of my favourite tribal African figures. Where did you get it?," the expert said as the guest revealed: "It was right among the junk, and it cost me the grand total of £1.50. I was intrigued by the fact that it looked as if somebody had put a lot of work into making it."

Ronnie then chimed in to add: "It's from a tribe, in Gabon. They are just south of Nigeria and this is a Kota guardian figure and they put these on the bones of their ancestors to protect them. They polish this metal and in the 19th century, the brass and copper – this is just copper – but the brass and copper was like gold to them. They are so highly revered in the art world, that they have one of these in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They are such iconic examples of African tribal art."

However, the guest was dealt a blow when he was told his version was a copy and was worth £150 and not £200,000.

Jasmine Allday