BBC Antiques Roadshow’s Ronnie Archer-Morgan collars guest over disdain for rare item: ‘This is incredible!’
Antiques Roadshow expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan is left astounded during tonight’s classic episode from Ebrington Square in Londonderry.
In the instalment that originally aired in 2024, fans will revisit the moment the antiques collector, 74, appeared dumbfounded when two guests brought along a rare, Celtic artefact – and seemed completely oblivious to its significance.
“This is wonderful,” Archer-Morgan observed as he looked at the face engraving in the historic stone item, brought along by two sisters.
“Don’t tell me you found it in a charity shop,” he quipped before one explained: “No, the actual sort of finding of it is a bit unclear.
“We know that it was found about 100 years ago by our great-grandfather. It was on the family farm.”
“That would make sense because I can see very old lichen on it,” the expert pointed out.
“The house itself was built in the 1600s, so this potentially dates as far back as then,” the owner of the item detailed.
“It dates back a lot further than that,” Archer-Morgan corrected, adding: “Absolutely. Don’t you think it’s really enigmatic and powerful? Do you like it as much as I do?”
“It’s alright, isn’t it?” one of the sisters commented casually, prompting the expert to repeat in shock: “Alright?!”
He enthused: “God, this is incredible! It’s a great, simplified Irish, Celtic head. Second, maybe third, maybe first century AD,it’s difficult to know.
“We know what their art looks like. We don’t know why they made it and what it was made for.”
He continued: “There were stone heads on the tops of pillars that have been found in Ireland. It’s full of fine bits of quartz. This would have sparkled in the sunlight. Look at the sun just coming out as I say that – thank you!”
“This is about simplicity,” he noted, adding: “Obviously it’s not about detail. I think this is Celtic.
“This is the key to modern art, but it’s ancient. You know, I’ve seen drawings by modern artists and modern sculptures that look just like this.
“The face is simplified form – basic nose, just that one protrusion. There’s a reference of eyes there. There’s a reference of a mouth.
“We really uphold modernism today, streamlined cars and simple design – and it all comes from things like this, it’s extraordinary, and that’s what makes these objects fantastic.”
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“They also have a price,” the presenter soon commented before joking: “You don’t want to know the price…”
As the sisters showed some interest over the valuation, Archer-Morgan added: “Well, if this came up for auction, I’d put an estimate of £2,000 to £3,000 on this – and I think it could go further.
“I think it’s fantastic. Do you like it more, now?”
“For something that’s been sitting at the bottom of the stairs for years, yeah,” one of the siblings remarked, still unfazed.