An Antiques Roadshow guest was left speechless when she found out the incredible value of her old watercolouring book.
The hit BBC antiques show took a trip to Brodie Castle & Estate in Morayshire, Scotland on Sunday night (October 16), but it wasn’t long before viewers got a peek at a very pricey book.
The owner’s book was called Drawings by the De Alwis Family and it originated from Ceylon, a British colony in Sri Lanka which existed between 1796 and 1948.
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The huge blue book was filled with beautiful floral watercolourings dating from the 1880s and relating to the De Alwis family, one of the most prominent families in Sri Lanka.
(Image: BBC)
Many of the pieces included plant life from Sri Lanka including flowers, nuts, and seeds, with some were so large that they even folded out across two pages.
Antiques expert Matthew Haley was overjoyed by the book and dubbed it: “One of the biggest and most spectacular books I have seen on the Antiques Roadshow”.
Explaining the origins of the watercolour book, she said: “It belonged to an aunt who was born in the early 1930s. She was given this as a book just to draw in, as a toy, sort of.
(Image: BBC)
“And there are some drawings and writings from her as a child, then she kept it and when she passed away it was inherited by us.”
Later on, Matthew and the owner took a look at her aunt’s attempts to add her own artwork to the book as a child, which included drawings of a steam ship and an aeroplane.
The expert quipped: “Fortunately, she hasn’t had too much of a go at the watercolours”, hinting her then young-aunt could have damaged the intricate book.
(Image: BBC)
The owner agreed: “No! No.”
When the topic turned to value, the owner explained the book had once been valued at £5,000 but admitted it was “quite a long time ago.”
Matthew replied: “That doesn’t surprise me for a moment. These sorts of watercolours of this quality in this condition are really really sought after.”
He then revealed: “Nowadays I would expect it to make somewhere closer towards £10,000.”
(Image: BBC)
The owner was visibly gobsmacked and replied: “Wow, gosh…” before adding: “Wow, that’s amazing.”
Expert Matthew then jokingly warned her: “Not the sort of thing you should let younger family members draw in!”
The guest agreed before admitting they thought it was simply another book in their collection of “stuff”.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
