AN Antiques Roadshow expert REFUSED to value a ‘grotesque’ carved figure found in a coal shed.
Sunday’s episode was a repeat from when the BBC show visited Morden Hall Park in London.
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As well as valuing a brooch at £20,000, the experts were brought an array of goods and Marc Allum was tasked with looking at a mysterious, small carved figure.
Examining the E.T-like figure, Marc admitted: “This is the strangest, most enigmatic little object I’ve seen for a long time.”
He asked the male guest where it had come from and he replied: “We found it in 2014.
“We were excavating out the back of our property and when the builders got close to the house, they uncovered what we think is an old coal shed.
“We found what looked like just a strangely shaped pebble just sitting in the rubble. [We] picked it up – hey presto, this strange thing, creature.”
He added: “We’ve had it ever since and wondered really what it is – it’s a mystery.”
Marc said: “Well it is a very, very odd little object. It’s quite grotesque in a way isn’t it? And it begs you to start asking questions.”
Examining the item, he worked out it wasn’t stone and said: “It’s very hard and quite heavy, and I can tell from that sort of shrinkage crack that this is in fact fired pottery.”
“It seems to be part of what I would call a fertility figure, in a way. Because you’ve got what appears to be a child laying across a mother’s lap here.”
Marc had some bad news for the owner though, as he admitted: “And I think it’s got considerable age to it. It certainly looks like it has; whether it’s 100 years old or 150 years old, that’s going to be quite difficult to pin down, which makes it almost impossible to put any kind of value on it.”
“I’LL KEEP MY EYES SKIMMED”
The guest replied: “You know, I wasn’t ever really bothered about value.”
Marc responded: “Well, in terms of value let’s say that it’s priceless. But I’ll keep my eyes skimmed.
“You keep your eyes skimmed, and maybe we’ll answer that question one of these days.”
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Antiques Roadshow airs on Sundays on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.