BBC Antiques Roadshow guest refuses to believe value of sculpture as expert slaps five-figure sum on item
Antiques Roadshow will take viewers to Swanage Pier on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast in tonight’s episode, as fans will get another chance to see the classic instalment.
During one valuation, a guest who had brought in a unique sculpture refused to believe expert Will Farmer when he revealed his estimated auction price and repeatedly told him “no”.
The dramatic moment, which is from an episode set to be repeated on BBC One on Sunday evening but originally aired in September 2023, sees the guest rejecting the expert’s opinion.
The guest had brought along a bronze sculpture that had been in her family for a while.
“We think that she came from the French side of the family,” she told art specialist Farmer.
She continued: “We had grandparents in Paris at the end of the 1800s, early 1900s.”
“We do have a lovely signature here,” Farmer pointed out before adding: “Joseph Bernard. Now, he was born in 1866, just outside of Léon.
“What we’re looking at here is one of his most famous and most celebrated works, which is Jeune fille à la cruche, which is ‘Young Girl with a Jug.’
“There’s something clearly classical here, but you can also see that we’re moving towards Art Deco,” he noted.
Delving into the movement’s history, he detailed: “And actually, you know, he’s hailed by so many as being the father of this movement, the father of this style and one of the true early pioneers of the Art Deco movement.
“I mean it was actually said by somebody in the world of academia that if you were to take away sculptures from The Louvre which referenced Bernard, there would be nothing left because he was so influential.
“We’ve got to come to the value,” he teased before quipping: “I love her!”
Making the all-important revelation, he shared: “I can tell you that one of these did appear in auction last year in Paris, and it was estimated at £15,000 to £20,000.”
The statement was met with a ripple of gasps from the crowd before the owner of the sculpture simply commented: “No…”
“But it didn’t fetch £15,000 to £20,000 – I’m really sorry,” Farmer admitted.
The guest seemed to believe this until the antiques expert remarked: “It sold for the equivalent in sterling of £40,000.”
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“No!” the woman repeated again before looking back at the stunned crowd.
“No, no, no,” she carried on before commenting: “Oh my goodness….”
Sharing her plans for the valuable sculpture, she concluded: “Well, that’s quite something for the family because she is a family piece and we are so lucky.”