Daily Mail

the antique gold show

- JANE FRYER

The vase used as a goalpost (£668k), a ‘hideous’ egg cup (£78k) and a sculpture used as a paperweigh­t (£750k) — as Antiques Roadshow uncovers a £1m gem, what of the other astonishin­g windfalls...

eveRY once in a blue moon, there is a perfect Antiques Roadshow moment.

the expert’s hands will start to shake as they pore over a neglected painting, an apparently ugly vase or a set of musty old books that have doubled as a doorstop for the past 20 years.

the owner will try — and fail — to look nonchalant. the crowd will crane a little closer, then closer still, until finally the expert reveals the fascinatin­g provenance of the item and announces its astonishin­gly high value.

it happened again last week, during filming of the enduringly popular BBC one show in Dudley, in the West midlands. What looked like a sprig of apple blossom in a vase (pictured) turned out to be a £1 million Faberge flower, an intricate piece of jewellery and, according to the show’s expert Geoffrey munn, one of the most signifi- cant finds in the programme’s 40-year history.

the programme’s experts were left reeling, the crowd were astonished — but the rest of us will have to wait until autumn, when the episode is aired.

But how does this compare with other ‘eureka’ moments in the show’s history? We take a look back to find out . . .

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