WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An guest couldn’t help but laugh at just how much a sculpture he dug up in his garden was worth.
Filmed at the Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral, the series saw experts meet with new guests and their array of unusual items, including specialist Adam Schoon.
From the get-go, he shared his surprise when he was presented with a sculpture from hundred of years ago.
He began: “Well this is one of the most unlikely items to ever turn up at the Antiques Roadshow.
“It’s a fragment of a piece of Hindu art and a very early one at that. Where did it come from?”
Antiques Roadshow guest laughs as ‘unlikely’ sculpture dug up from garden gets top value. (Image: BBC)
An Antiques Roadshow guest found a 12th Century piece of of a Hindu sculpture at the bottom of his garden. (Image: BBC)
The guest explained: “I was digging in the back garden, we bought a house and it was very overgrown at the back.
“There was loads of bramble and muck. I came across this, it was absolutely covered so I gave it a good clean -”
Schoon interrupted to ask: “What were you feeling, the more it was losing its mud, like a piece of archaeology?”
The owner of the piece replied: “Yeah I suppose [I was] quite excited. And then we just left it by the fireplace and it’s got paint on it now, because it’s been an ornament in the house.”
He said that he had “no idea” why the 12th Century piece was in his garden but guessed that perhaps someone who used to live there “travelled around”.
Schoon commented: “I don’t know exactly but it leaves a mystery over the piece.
“So let’s have a good look at it, because the most prominent surviving part of it is this huge lotus and next to it we have the earring of what would have been a large deity.
“And because of the lotus, I think this must be Surya who is basically [the] sun god.
“And of course, the lotus comes up from the mud of a pond, as soon as it comes through the blackness and senses the sunlight, it blossoms.”
Antiques Roadshow expert Adam Schoon valued a piece of a Hindu sculpture for £3,000. (Image: BBC)
The expert continued: “So you’ve got these lovely petal depictions, the earrings are exquisite and the chest of the figure just shows here, beautiful tresses of hair, wrapped jewels in them.
“This is quite an important deity in the Hindu pantheon and flanking the figure are four lower relief figures, each one on its own little lotus base which of course agrees with the lotus sun theme.
“But this figure survives pretty well and look at this, wielding an enormous sword so this is one of Surya’s guardian figures.”
When asked if it was a piece of religious artwork, Schoon said: “Yes it is, because this is the sun god, this would have been in a Hindu shrine and offerings would have been made to Surya on a daily basis so it’s a potent religious item.”
Summarising its value, the expert added: “What’s it worth? I’m going to say £2,000 to £3,000.”
The guest’s eyes widened before he started laughing: “Very nice.”
Schoon stated: “Well, for something dug up from the garden, it’s better than rhubarb isn’t it?”, with the guest agreeing and thanking the expert for his hefty appraisal.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on One and iPlayer.