expert Philip Mould found it a “thrill” to value the show’s first £1 million item. The fine art expert broke the news of the huge valuation during the recording of the show at The Sage in Gateshead, 16 years ago in 2008.
“It’s a great thrill to me that something produced in the last 15 years has broken the record for the most valuable item to ever have been on the show,” he said of the lucrative find.
The item in question was a six-foot-tall maquette of the Angel of the North. The sizeable statue took five people to carry it to the site after residing ignominously in Gateshead council offices for 13 years.
The prototype was the final version sculptor Antony Gormley made before the world-famous 66ft sculpture was commissioned in 1994.
Philip has described the work as “probably the most successful contemporary sculpture in Britain”.
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Antique’s Roadshow host Fiona Bruce with the £1 million Angel Of he North statue in 2008 (Image: BBC)
Series editor Simon Shaw was equally enthused by the find saying: “This was one of the most exciting moments that we’ve ever had on the show.”
Prior to this the Roadshow’s previous most expensive valuation had been a collection of silverware that appeared in 2007 at an event in Arundel, West Sussex.
The history making valuation for the show came in Fiona Bruce’s first year as host after she replaced Michael Aspel.
It also came just one year shy of the long running shows 30th anniversary.
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Phillip Mould valued Antiques Roadshow’s first ever £1 million (Image: BBC)
Since that inital £1 million valuation the show has seen .
These include the third FA Cup trophy, which was created by Bradford business Fattorini and Sons and was the official trophy between 1911 and 1991.
Brought in by Sport’s Gabby Logan and Leeds United’s former manager and 1972 FA Cup winner Eddie Gray, the item received the highest valuation ever given by expert Alastair Dickenson during his 20 years on the programme.
In 2017 two British soldiers.
The stunning ornamental flower was made in imperial and crafted using gold, silver, enamel and jade with a diamond centre and carved rock crystal base. It’s one of the only surviving ‘botanical studies’ created by Fabergé in the early 1900s. The antique piece was even kept in its original presentation box.
The £1 million valuation was revealed by Geoffrey Munn, the show’s Faberge jewellery expert. He said his “pulse was racing” when he set eyes on the object. “To make a judgement of that enormity is a tricky thing to do so I’m not going to pretend it wasn’t pressurised,” he explained.