An Antiques Roadshow guest had made history after his item was given a record-breaking valuation. The man had brought a family heirloom along, which expert Geoffrey Minn recognised as a Faberge sculpture of a pear blossom belonging to the Worcestershire army regiment.
The sculpture had an incredible history, reports the Mirror, as the guest explained: "It was formed in 1794 to protect the shores against a Napoleonic invasion. It was agreed that the regiment should serve only within the United Kingdom.
"However, in 1899 when the Boer War was going badly, it was decided that some of [the regiment] as volunteers would be mobilised. When they left the shores, the Countess of Dudley, whose husband, the Earl of Dudley was a member of the regiment, he was second in command, she presented each and every soldier that went out with a sprig of pear blossom, worked in silk that they were to wear in their hat.
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"As a reminder of the county that they had left, ie, the pear blossom emblem of Worcestershire." He added: "When they returned in 1903, she presented this sprig of pear blossom manufactured by Faberge, it's a lovely piece."
Expert Geoffrey loved the piece and said it was worth what is thought to be a record-breaking sum for the BBC show. He said: "It certainly is a lovely piece, this looks for all the world like a glass vase and there's a stratagem here that it's filled with water, and this is the meniscus at the top of the water. It's a solid block of what is apparently glass, but it's certainly not, it's stone.
"It's rock crystal, it's icy cold even on this hot day, and it's immensely difficult to carve. And then we have the original fitted box here which is made of Hollywood, literally the word of the holly tree from Siberia."
He added: "And then just to get the message across you probably asked Faberge to put a triumphal laurel here in green gold tied with a red and gold bow. I'm going to tell you in my opinion that this is worth £1 million."
However, the guest insisted there was no way they would be selling it - despite its huge value, reports the ECHO. They said: "I'm supposed to say no, it's not for sale. It certainly isn't for sale."
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