BBC Antiques Roadshow guest in awe as 'junk shop' item receives huge sum

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left gobsmacked after discovering the value of an item picked up in a "junk shop" on Sunday (June 1).

The latest episode of the popular show was filmed at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham, where locals brought along their antiques and fine art for valuation by experts.

During the programme, expert Rupert Maas was shown a black and white painting of Edwardian socialite, Princess Daisy of Pless.

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"So, in a grand house like this, you need a very grand lady. And doesn't she look rather like a debutante? She's very beautiful," Rupert began.

The guest revealed that her father had bought the piece in a Watford junk shop for £13.50 while he was working there, reports .

"So I said, 'Yeah, go get it.' About 1974 this was. And then I've got it, and I'm afraid it's not anywhere at the moment," she added.

Rupert observed that the painting dated back to 1902, before the guest delved into the history of the princess, who was born in 1873.

"On her first season in London, she met the Prince of Pless, the richest prince in Germany, and he asked her to marry him. She said, 'I don't love you,' and he said, 'It doesn't matter,'" she recounted.

"And the Cornwallis-Wests, as she was then, were quite poor. They absolutely jumped at the chance. And he paid for the whole wedding. She was a real society lady."

The princess went on to have four children, but tragically, her first daughter passed away. Shortly after the portrait was completed, she gave birth to three boys.

Rupert shared his insights about the portrait, revealing that it was crafted by Ellis Roberts, a renowned London-based society portrait painter, who had secured a coveted position among the elite.

"He would work fast in charcoal and some white across the top and along the highlights, especially in the jewellery, but mostly it's charcoal and then smudged with the thumb just to give a subtlety in the modelling of the face and the lighting of it," the expert explained.

"Quick but assured, and that's what's good about this. It's lively, straight from life."

"You're going to be hanging it again, I hope, especially when I tell you what it's worth," Rupert then said, before revealing the valuation of £2,000 to £3,000.

The stunned guest exclaimed: "Really? Gosh! I was thinking you were going to say a couple of hundred," prompting Rupert to acknowledge that "it's not a huge amount, but it's a lot more than he paid".

Antiques Roadshow is available to stream on BBC iPlayer