Antiques Roadshow viewers were left baffled when a plaque with ‘crap old lyrics’ was given a jaw-dropping valuation. An expert valued an antique with links to Bristol at £80,000, because its lyrics might have been written by a famous composer.
The guest on yesterday’s episode (March 28) performed the song on the terracotta plaque to Marc Allum, and said she believed the lyrics were written by Henry Purcell. She said the plaque was likely from a famous pub in Bristol that her ancestors bought.
"This came from my grandfather and he had it before his mother before him and she was the daughter of a landlord of a pub in Bristol — The Trout in Stokes Croft," she said. "When he moved on, he presumably took this with him because he had bought it with the pub I guess."
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Marc Allum was astonished to know that this rare late 18th century plaque came from a pub and said it could be of "national importance". He said: "The ceramic plaque here is actually a terracotta plaque.
"It has the title 'Topeing Jack', which is what you've just sung, with all the musical notation and lyrics. Now topeing is drinking, so Topeing Jack is all about a cuckolded chap who's been drinking a lot — typical theme of a Purcell catch like this.
"The fact that this is in a pub in Bristol, leads me to think that as an English Delft plaque, it could well be a Bristol plaque." He quickly connected the item to the name of a famous plaque maker, Joseph Flower.
"One thing I will say to you is that I think this item is of national importance — it's unique," he told the guest, adding that the plaque would be highly sought after by English Delft collectors and museums. I even feel that it could make £80,000."
The guest looked at her sibling and giggled as one of them said: "He said £50." "Oh my God!" the guest gasped while her brother added: "Goodness me!"
Viewers, however, were shocked by the huge valuation and struggled to understand. @gavwilliams147 wrote: "£80k for some crap old song lyrics?" @jamietra1 commented: "A song about a posh alcoholic."
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