An Antiques Roadshow guest was left speechless after learning the true value of a book she inherited, which an expert described as one of the most spectacular he had ever seen.
Expert's Discovery
The BBC show visited Brodie Castle in northern Scotland on Sunday (August 16), with Fiona Bruce hosting. Expert Matthew Haley came across the item, calling it "one of the biggest and most spectacular books I’ve ever seen on Antiques Roadshow."
The book, titled "Drawings by the De Alwis family Ceylon," is filled with watercolours. Haley explained that Ceylon is now Sri Lanka, a British territory from about 1850 to the middle of the 20th century.
Guest's Story
The guest said the book belonged to an aunt born in the early 1930s, who received it as a toy to draw in. The aunt added some drawings and writings as a child, and the book was inherited after her death.
Haley noted that De Alwis is a prominent family in Sri Lanka, and the watercolours are "incredibly finely done," dated and initialled from the 1880s.
Valuation and Reaction
The guest had previously had the book valued at £5,000, but Haley estimated it could now make "something closer towards £10,000." The guest reacted with "Wow, gosh!"
Haley jokingly warned against letting younger family members draw on it, to which the guest laughed: "It’s just an old book and collection of stuff, that’s all we thought it was!"
Antiques Roadshow airs every Sunday at 6:30pm on BBC One.
