An Antiques Roadshow guest stunned expert Andy McConnell when she returned to the show with two Swedish vases after he had dismissed her earlier item. The encounter took place during filming at Clissold Park in Hackney, with presenter Fiona Bruce on hand.
Guest returns after 'rubbish' appraisal
McConnell appeared puzzled as he recognized the guest, saying: “Wait a minute, I’ve seen you here before today.” She replied: “I came in earlier this morning and I brought you a glass which you said was rubbish so I came back with the good stuff.”
The expert gasped in surprise before defending himself: “Well you did! Because I remember the glass in question and I didn’t say it was rubbish, I said it was worth a tenner.”
Valuing the Swedish vases
The guest presented two vases from the Kosta Boda factory in Sweden, where she had previously lived. McConnell remarked: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, right? So there are people who think they are ferociously ugly. So what’s the appeal?”
She explained: “The colours were the thing, absolutely wonderful colours. The Swedes are very good at glass and I think it’s because of the light. The wonderful light you get.”
McConnell agreed, noting: “The Swedes, in my book, are, with the Finns, the greatest glass makers of the latter 20th Century.” He then held up one of the vases, calling it an “ugly face vase” and revealing it was designed by Kjell Engman from Kosta Boda’s Cancan collection, dated around 1995.
Final valuation and reaction
The guest said she paid about £50 for the vases. McConnell valued one at £150 and the other at £200 to £250, adding: “So what do you reckon? That’s alright, isn’t it?”
She replied: “Not bad. But I keep them because they remind me of Sweden and the wonderful Swedish light and beauty of the countryside.” McConnell shared that he had spent every summer in Sweden for 10 years and missed it dearly.
Antiques Roadshow airs on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer.
