A recently aired episode of the Antiques Roadshow stunned viewers as a guest who had purchased some glassware for only £4 was told it was actually worth thousands.
Antique expert Andy McConnell, who specialises in glass, met the guest, who had bought in three different glassware pieces to the show to be examined. Onlookers watched excitedly as McConnell animatedly discussed the origin of the different pieces and found out more about how they came to be in their owner’s possession.
The guest bought in a decanter and two glasses, explaining that he had purchased the different items from a collector’s fair and car boot sales. The owner told McConnell that he had purchased a pair of the decanters for around £4, being told that they were Victorian but suspecting they were older. The large and small glass he paid £1 and 10p for respectively at car boot sales.
The expert revealed that the decanter and small glass were, in fact, from 1730, and the large glass from 1710, a period when engraved glass was beginning to be produced in most European glass-making centres. The guest was under the impression that the decanter was a crucifixion decanter, but McConnell pointed out that actually it was a cruciform decanter, which would have been used to hold wine at a very cold temperature.
McConnell revealed that the decanter and small glass were worth around £400 each, and even more shockingly, the decanter was worth between £1500-£200. Unsurprisingly, the guest seemed very pleased at this news.
