Best Finds From the Antiques Roadshow

The comforting, familiar nature of the Antiqueswith a spider's web design of silver, enamel,
Roadshow has been likened to 'the feel of a warmmoonstone and pearl and was valued at
bath'. From its beginnings in 1977, the show delved£20,000 - £30,000.
through the possessions of others, with guests tellingSilver Drinking Vessels Collection
us stories of the current owners, past owners andAfter inheriting a collection of silver drinking vessels, a
beyond. Usually the item might be worth a fewyoung man from Crawley brought them in to the
hundred or few thousand pounds, but rarely - andAntiques Roadshow for examination. In an amazing
most excitingly - a true gem would be uncovered.discovery, each piece that emerged seemed to be
The Halt in the Desert - a painting by Richard Daddmore valuable than the last. The haul was valued at a
In 1987, a couple from Barnstaple, North Devon, cameremarkable £100,000, and later sold at auction
along to a show with a painting. Unbeknown to them,for £78,000, needing some serious antiques
the painting was actually The Holt in the Desert byinsurance cover.
Richard Dadd - a national treasure which had beenFaberge Brooch
missing for more than 100 years. After authentication,A lady with a love for jewellery brought in a bumper
the painting was valued at £100,000.bag of brooches to expert Geoffrey Munn at
In the watercolour, a camping party is seen on theChatsworth House. The guest had bought the bag at
shore of the Dead Sea with Dadd himself seen at theauction for just £30, and was shocked to when
far right. The scene was painted from memory bythe expert pulled out each of the brooches and valued
Dadd from a mental institution, as after coming homethem successively for £125 - £150. That
from the expedition to Greece, Turkey, Palestine andwas until he spotted the real gem - a genuine pink
Egypt he murdered his own father 'supposedly at theFaberge brooch - valued at £10,000.
behest of the Egyptian god Osiris[*].Lalique Vase
Spider's Web Bottle - by William BurgesPossibly one of the canniest purchases to have
A guest brought in a little brown bottle his dad hadappeared on the Antiques Roadshow was this 1929
picked up in 1950 to the Antiques Roadshow inwork by celebrated designer Rene Lalique which later
Skegness. The expert was delighted to reveal that insold at auction for £32,450. The owner had
fact, the bottle was an original by William Burges - thebought it at a car boot sale in south Scotland for just
renowned Victorian designer - which had been lost for£1.
most of the 20th century. The bottle was engraved