BBC Antiques Roadshow guest makes history with heirloom 'never seen before' but insists 'not going anywhere!'
Antiques Roadshow expert Graham Foster was unsure how to value the unique item
BBC
Antiques Roadshow was back with a new episode on Sunday, and one guest left expert Gordon Foster baffled with an item he's "never seen before".
The guest brought along a silverware model of famous Indian landmark, the General Post Office in Kolkata - formerly Calcutta - which was made to contain betel leaves, which were traditionally used as a stimulant.
"Well, I have to say I have never seen a piece like this ever before on the Antiques Roadshow," the arts, crafts and silver specialist admitted as he observed the unique heirloom, adding: "It's clearly silver."
"I'm not quite sure whether it was especially made for order, or it was just bought off the shelf, which seems a bit unlikely," the guest explained.
Detailing how he came to own the item, he went on: "This actually belonged to my father, and that was a present from my maternal grandfather - a wedding present."
When he added the gift was received in 1942, Foster noted: "I'm sure there'll be lots of people intrigued by this."
Antiques Roadshow's Graham Foster was intrigued by the heirloom
BBC
"This used to contain betel leaf, and there was a fashion those days for the betel leaf to be chewed with some lime, maybe a bit of tobacco and betel nut," the owner continued.
After taking a look at the item's different compartments, the expert commented: "It's absolutely amazing, isn't it?
"With no maker's marks, no no silver marks... It's clearly silver, you can just tell by the way that it's been done.
"Calcutta - at that time - there was one firm that is a possibility. They're a firm called Cooke and Kelvey. They made a lot of quite large scale pieces.
The Antiques Roadshow guest insisted the item wasn't 'going anywhere'
BBC
"They tend to have a maker's mark on it, though. But if this was a special commission, they wouldn't have had to put their mark on it.
"We've got two initials on the front here - GS - which I think are your father's initials."
"Yes, Govind Sharan," the guest confirmed, to which Foster went on: "So that shows that it is definitely a special commission to me.
"So when it comes to the valuation, it's quite a tricky thing to put a price on. We've never seen one before. [There are] a lot of different collectors who would be interested in this.
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Antiques Roadshow expert Graham Foster was unsure how to value the unique item
BBC
"It's Indian silver. It's decorative, and it's a known building. My gut feeling for an estimate for that... I would say £1,500 to £2,000."
Immediately sharing his plans to keep hold of the unique item, the guest replied: "Yeah - not going anywhere."
He continued: "We'll pass it on to our daughter," with Foster responding: "She's a lucky girl."