An Antiques Roadshow guest was stunned when he found out how much an old biscuit barrel was worth.
The Derbyshire woman appeared on the BBC show with a piece of cutlery she used as a fruit bowl in her home.
During the episode, antiques expert Duncan Campbell revealed that the bowl was actually a 130-year-old biscuit barrel.
The item was mainly used for tea parties organized by ladies in the society in the 19th century.
After not knowing the history and having been in use for very little time, the guest was shocked at what it was worth.
It was revealed that the dish, which was initially passed down from her grandmother, was now worth between £200 and £300.
An Antiques Roadshow guest was stunned when he found out how much an old biscuit barrel was worth
The Derbyshire woman appeared on the BBC show with a piece of cutlery she used as a fruit bowl in her home
Following his inspection, Duncan revealed: ‘This was made about 120-130 years ago, at a time when having a fancy tea party was quite a thing.
Shocked, the guest replied, “Well… I didn’t think they were cookies.”
Duncan explained that the item was a “cookie barrel” and was typically filled with macarons or other decadent sweet treats, intended to “enchant” tea party attendees.
The item had three delicate flaps that flipped up to resemble a closed lotus.
When they were all pulled down, the item had three additional layers that acted as lids for each metal petal.
And this isn’t the only bowl whose owner was shocked during the show.
Ahead of the US version of the show, one guest was stunned to learn that the wooden bowl she bought on her honeymoon is worth thousands of dollars.
In the resurfaced clip, a woman brought a weathered wooden bowl to a 2017 Antiques Roadshow event in Fort Worth, Texas.
But after being inspected by antiques expert Duncan Campbell, it turned out her passed-on furniture was a 130-year-old biscuit barrel.
The dish, initially passed down from her grandmother, was now worth between £200 and £300
And this isn’t the only bowl whose owner was shocked during the show. Ahead of the US version of the show, a guest was stunned to learn that the wooden bowl she bought on her honeymoon is worth thousands of dollars
She bought the bowl she thought was a Pacific Northwest creation 22 years earlier during her honeymoon on the Hawaiian island of Kauai
She bought the bowl, which she thought was a Pacific Northwest creation, 22 years earlier during her honeymoon on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Valuer Anthony Slayter-Ralph brought the woman to tears when he revealed the item she paid £310 for is worth tens of thousands of dollars.
‘This is my wedding present. “I cry because of the history of where I got it and how I got it,” she said.
The dark wood bowl shows its age with some discolouration and has a unique decorative end with a hollowed out face.
The appraiser determined that the bowl is made of spruce wood and was likely made by native Alaskans in the early 1800s or even earlier, in the 1780s or 1790s.
‘It’s very special. I mean, I’ve never seen one, nor have any of my colleagues, with a head on it,” Anthony said.
‘The Eskimos don’t really do decorative arts. Everything they do has a function. And they also believed that each of these objects had a spirit within them, the yua, and I think the head probably represents the spirit of the bowl.
‘You usually think of these as finger puppets, and that’s a strange idea. I mean, maybe this is meant to look like a mask and this is the body. One is inclined to think that it would be ceremonial. I mean, we don’t really know.
The woman burst into tears when he revealed the item she paid £310 for is worth tens of thousands of dollars
The dark wood bowl has a unique decorative end with a hollowed out face, is made of spruce wood and was likely made by native Alaskans in the early 19th century
‘The back, you can also see, is actually hollowed out, which makes me think it’s a mask in miniature. Very nice grooved carving here on the side, traces of pigment. There is some damage, which has been repaired. I don’t know when… before you got it, I guess.”
Anthony determined that the bowl is worth between £14,200 and $15,800 and that, with more research, it could fetch much higher at auction.
This appreciation brought the woman to tears, leaving her with few words for the piece that holds so much value to her heart.
“Oh my God,” the woman gasped. ‘O my Lord.’