Bargain Hunt

Bob’s Blog

Bargain Hunting at Home

Do you watch those antique programmes on the tele? Antiques Roadshow is my favourite, but there are plenty of others in various formats. Their basic premise is for members of the public to bring their family heirloom; something obtained under mysterious circumstances by a distant relative (Great  Uncle 'Fingers' Fred? ); or an item they’ve picked up for a quid at a car-boot sale. And to find out if they are holding something worth a small fortune in their trembling little hands.

For us viewers, part of the appeal is that one day, perhaps, something might be shown on the television screen during the programme, and you have that identical article in your loft, or propping open the shed door.

This happened to me: a piece of sculptured pottery bought for a song was found by the TV expert to be worth several thousand pounds. The key, they said, were the markings under the base. The Antiques Roadshow experts can tell the year/issue/artist just from that. They confirmed that the said item was indeed the definite article - no fraudulent copy. The owner looked pleasantly surprised but said it was a family keepsake and it was not for sale. I concluded however that they would probably put it immediately on EBay with a huge reserve, or be on the phone to Sotheby's pretty pronto.

As I watched, slouching on the settee, directly in my eyeline on the coffee table in front of me, was a very similar looking ornament indeed. Needless to say, my heart pounded, gathering speed rapidly, and I sat up sharply with intense interest. But I couldn’t recollect where my antique had come from. Was it from my wife’s or my side of the family, and what would we spend the windfall on?

I picked it up very carefully and turned it over to look at the base. And there revealed in front of me was the evidence I needed, clearly marked . . .