Best Antiques Roadshow Finds of Autumn 2024

#10: Suffragette Medal

This fascinating piece of history was brought to Ealing, having been given to the owner’s great-grandmother, Gertrude Metcalfe Shaw. Gertrude was a militant suffragette at the turn of the century, fighting for women to get the right to vote. She perpetrated publicity stunts and acts of violence, getting sent to prison where she, like many suffragettes, went on hunger strike. It was tradition in the WSPU to give those suffragettes these specific medals, known as “hunger strike medals”. The medal today would go for as much as thirty grand at auction – though, of course, they weren’t going to sell it. We wouldn’t, either!

#9: Harlequinade

This strange manuscript was dated to roughly the 1750s, and expert Matthew Haley was thrilled to see another one pass under his nose in this episode. It’s a type of flip book telling the story of Adam and Eve, with some very strange bits added to the end. The owner who brought it on had no idea what it was, though she was able to guess its age. She gets a valuation of a grand, which isn’t bad for a tiny little leaflet that makes almost no sense. Despite the bizarre, Biblical imagery, a Harlequinade was, as Matthew explained, an amusing object for young children.

#8: The Futuristic Lamp

This extremely unusual lamp was brought back from a romp across Europe in the 1920s. The owner nicknamed it “the spaceship” because, let’s be honest, it looks exactly like a flying saucer. The craftsmanship was excellent though, exactly what you’d expect from an art nouveau lamp from over a hundred years ago. Marc thinks it’s a fascinating piece and eventually values it at a grand, which surprises the owner. As they often do, though, she professes that it’s not for sale, and talks about her many happy, family memories watching the lamp when it was in use.

#7: Old Bill

This character first appeared in a World War I comic strip, but since gained so much popularity that the character of Old Bill started appearing on all kinds of things. This man brought on some of his Old Bill collection to have it valued, including the original “Fragments from France” comic strip that the character debuted in. Specifically, he had a pottery collection, including plates, a bowl, and a very charming teapot. It’s wonderful that somebody’s looking after this history, since Old Bill may not be as recognisable to young people today. Shockingly, though, it was determined that the bronze figure was a fake!

#6: Winnie the Pooh

This woman brought on a copy of “Winnie-the-Pooh”, and we waited eagerly to see whether it was going to be a first edition of A.A. Milne’s first collection of Hundred Acre Wood stories or not. It turned out that it WAS, and that the woman’s mother was the previous owner, having picked it up for a pittance in a charity shop. It got a massive valuation, thrilling the woman and reviving in her some memories of her late mother. It just goes to show, you never know what rare books you could find in a charity shop, since charity shops rarely know the real value of these things.

#5: The Sock Drawer Brooch

Made of platinum and set with diamonds, Joanna was the first person the owners had ever asked to value this stunning brooch. Though she’s amazed at the high price it could fetch at auction, she decides on camera not to sell it and instead wear it out at special occasions. Considering they don’t know where it came from, though, and that it hasn’t got much sentimental value, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it go up for auction one of these days. But it does beg the question, what other valuables is her husband keeping in his sock drawer? She should have another look.

#4: Grandmother’s Jewellery

These pieces of jewellery belonged to this woman’s grandmother, and she decided to bring them onto the show when it was in Scotland. Expert Susan started with the most recent piece, an ornate, sapphire brooch from the 1970s, and gave it a moderate valuation of five hundred pounds or so. But then she brought out the big guns and valued the large pendant for ten times that. The owner was gobsmacked, knowing that if she decided to sell these heirlooms, she’d be getting a very tidy sum indeed. She said that she wasn’t going to sell, though, and would instead start wearing them more. They’re only going to get more valuable as time goes by.

#3: Lowry’s Book Cover

This man turned up to show off something he’d nabbed for himself a few years ago, which turned out to be a sketch by the renowned twentieth century artist L.S. Lowry. He and Rupert discussed the sketch and how it had been done on the cover of a book and then torn from the book to be sold on, and how the pencilling had been smudged in such a way to capture the fog and soft glow of the gas lamp in the middle. The owner revealed he’d paid £800 for it which, if you know anything about Lowry, you’ll be extremely surprised by. Rupert, too, was surprised, and said a more reasonable price would have been as much as four thousand pounds.

#2: The Kennington Painting

This stunning painting was made by a famous, official war artist, Eric Kennington, and was purchased by the owner’s great aunt times two, who operated sanatoriums after the First World War. Kennington’s paintings were a little controversial at the time for depicting the harsh realities of trench warfare, so much so that he argued with the Department of Information, which was trying to censor them. It turns out to be worth tens of thousands of pounds, with the expert Frances Christie saying that the owner’s aunt was very clever to have seen the value in the paintings she collected and passed down to her family.

#1: The Doorstop Sculpture

Sometimes you can tell right away what something is when it appears on the “Roadshow”, and other times you don’t have a clue. This unwitting owner had no idea and also assumed that the experts wouldn’t be able to identify it, either, bringing on a large, black object he said he’d been using as a doorstop. Bafflingly, the sculpture had a plaque with the artist’s name inscribed, and it turned out he’s renowned in Nigeria. If only the owner had googled anything about his strange relic, and he’d probably have found this out. It turned out it was worth as much as fifteen grand, shocking everybody. And to think it had been holding open a door for years! Let us know in the comments if you have any antiques you want to get appraised.