Cavalry table decoration valued at £1m will not be sold
IN THE 40-year history of Antiques Roadshow, only three items have been valued at £1million. But the latest to be discovered – a small Fabergé flower – will maintain its place as a table decoration for Army dinners, having become “part of the furniture”.
The gold, diamond and jade ornament, which is around seven inches tall, was presented to the Queen’s Own Worcestershire Hussars by Georgina, Countess of Dudley, in the early 1900s as a regimental trophy.
It was thought the pear blossom sculpture – which has been used for decades as a centrepiece at formal dinners and events – was worth £50,000.
But when Col Stamford Cartwright from the Worcestershire regiment took it to be valued at the Antiques Roadshow, he was stunned to discover its value. But he insisted that there was absolutely no chance that it would be sold, or used in any other capacity.
“It should always be there for the use of the squadron,” he said. “At the end of the day, if it’s not seen by the regiment then what’s the point? If they require it to dress their table at dinner or have it available for regimental occasions, then it is there for them.”