Antiques Roadshow guest reed-faced as ‘100-year-old’ vase is dealt major blow
A guest on the Antiques Roadshow was left red-faced when they turned up to have an item valued - only to discover it was a fake.
Viewers watching the latest episode of the long-running BBC show were watching through their fingers as they cringed over the true story of a vase that the owner believed was over 100 years old. The show's latest episode was filmed in Derry in Northern Ireland and hosted by Fiona Bruce, who was joined by a string of antiques experts who were on hand to tell guests how much their belongings were worth.
But disaster and embarrassment befell one attendee as he discovered a ceramic vase was fake. During the episode, expert John Sandon was asked to cast his eye over an item and to give an approximation of its value.
The guest appeared on the show saying he was a collector of ceramics and he had brought what he believed to be rare Irish ceramics. Presenting two lilac vases on the show, the guest explained how he came by them.
Antiques expert John Sandon explained to an Antiques Roadshow guest that their vase was fake (BBC)He said: "When I saw the name William Moorcroft, I thought 'Yeah, I'd like to get something that was quite old of his. I have a couple of new pieces which kind of 2004, whereas these, I thought were kind of around 1900, 1905."
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John cast his eye over the items and was initially surprised by them and the guest’s tale. He warned, however, that it would be rare to find a matching pair of William Moorcroft cases in such good condition. The guest went on to explain he had bought the items from someone who was selling the belongings of a dead relative.
He explained: “I drove down to Cork to meet him. But I ended up meeting in a car park, which I thought was a bit strange." He went on to state he bought the vases for £550.
The vases were bought for £550 (BBC)John then explained: "What worries me when you see them here is, are they too good to be true? Because they would be 1905, so 110 or 120 years old. You're going to expect to see defects here and there, a bit of signs of crazing. Underneath there, smears of old, has that just been dipped in tea?"
Turning the vases upside down, John went on to point out that the signatures underneath were photographic copies. He said: "They're modern fakes, and therefore they're just pretty".
Viewers watching from home were left feeling embarrassed on behalf of the guest. One wrote on X: "Difficult to have much sympathy for that bloke who bought the vases from the back of a car #antiquesroadshow."
Another questioned: "Didn’t that guy say he was a ceramics maker? Was there really a guy in a car park, or were you just trying to see how well your ceramic making is?" Another lamented the meeting, writing: “What a waste of time!”
While a further viewer wrote: "#antiquesroadshow has turned into the car boot sale show." With a further fan writing: "Never seen so much tat in the show … all junk #AntiquesRoadshow."
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