When it comes to Antiques Roadshow, nearly everyone who goes on the show is hoping for the same thing: to be told their old junk is secretly worth a fortune.
The BBC programme, which has run for 46 years and almost 50 seasons, sees punters bring along their objects and valuables for experts to evaluate.
At times, this can be for items with obviously massive value, such as a jacket worn by one of the world’s most famous men which received a valuation of £200,000.
In a recently aired episode of the TV series, someone brought in an item which they had saved from being chucked in the trash and it was given an even higher valuation.
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He explained how he had come across a set of builders in December of 2020 throwing items away.
The lucky punter stated that he had ‘made a deal’ with them as he was a ‘cheeky chappie’.
Among the items he was able to wrangle from the builders was a set of archived works by a famous designer.
Called Althea McNish, she immigrated to the United Kingdom from Trinidad and Tobago in 1951, moving to London.
She was the first Caribbean woman to receive notable acclaim as a designer in the UK, receiving a commission to design for Dior almost immediately after graduating in 1957.
She went on to design fabrics for a number of famous clients over the years, most notably designing for Queen Elizabeth II’s official wardrobe for a royal visit to Trinidad and Tobago.
McNish died aged 95 in 2020 and her legacy led to a plaque being erected in Tottenham in her honour, referring to her as a ‘pioneer’.
The guest on Antiques Roadshow had managed to somehow get his hands on the original designs of McNish out of the back of a skip just a mere eight months after her death.
Ronnie Archer-Morgan, the expert attending to the collection in question, was left shocked by the collection that he had amassed and was blown away by its value.
He described it as a ‘treasure trove’ before saying: "I'd like to try and value this, I know that half a square metre of certain of her designs can be £2,500 or a textile design itself can be that sort of money.
"From what you've told me and what you've described and what I know, I think this archive that you've brought to us here is worth in excess of £250,000... in excess of and it needs to be calculated."
The guest was left utterly shocked by this life-changing sum of money, saying it has ‘been an incredible journey of learning and knowledge’.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch here.
Topics: Antiques Roadshow, BBC, Art, TV, TV and Film
Michael Slavin