Antiques Roadshow guest gobsmacked after finding out real value of £50 sculpture

An Antiques Roadshow guest was almost in tears when he found out how much his sculpture was worth on the show on Sunday.

Revealing he'd paid £5O for the item, the stunned punter joked he'd been using the intricately carved curiosity as a doorstop for the last 12 months.

Speaking to presenter, Fiona Bruce, at the historic Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey in Wales, he said: "It's been my doorstop for the last 12 months," before adding that he had picked it up at a car boot sale in Anglesey three years ago for just £50. Unsure of its origins, he mused: "Someone mentioned it could be African; I don’t know."

Expert John Foster identified the piece as a work of art by Ben Enwonwu, one of Nigeria's most celebrated sculptors. He explained that Enwonwu was the first pioneer in mixing Nigerian art with Western art as he described his rise to fame in the 1940s after he was discovered by the Zwemmer Gallery, which led to him having exhibitions in New York, London, and Milan.

Revealing more about the item's origins, he said: "The sculptor Ben Enwonwu (is) one of Nigeria’s most celebrated sculptors. He was born in Nigeria in 1917 and died in the sort of mid-90s.

"He was the first pioneer in mixing Nigerian art with Western art. Known really as a sculptor in bronze and stone, and this being in carved stone style-wise I thought it sort of dates from the 1970s.

"He was picked up by a gallery in the 40s and it was a gallery called the Zwemmer Gallery. And that, literally from there, skyrocketed him to having shows in New York, London and Milan."

And then it came to the valuation. As viewers waited eagerly for the reveal, John announced that the piece was between an astonishing £10,000 and £15,000, leaving the guest lost for words.

In disbelief, he said: "You’re joking! I could cry. I had no inclination that it was going to be worth so much money. It’s shocked me. I thought it might be £100."

It comes after another Antiques Roadshow guest was shocked when one of the show's experts thought her jewellery may be worth a fortune.

Joanna Hardy reckoned an unusual ballerina-shaped brooch, may have been designed by luxury jeweller Van Cleef and Arpels, telling the guest she needed to get it verified to see if it was worth "tens and tens of thousands of pounds".

However, when the guest exclaimed: "Oh gosh" her mum countered: "It can't be" as Joanna concluded: “This is a serious jewel but I think it’s absolutely stunning and I know that Van Cleef and Arpels surely would be very glad to help you and then come back and tell me."

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