AN Antiques Roadshow guest couldn't believe their ears when an expert uttered the number '£250,000' - but all was not as it seemed.
On Sunday's episode of the BBC One show, expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan met a man who had brought in an African figurine.
Ronnie said: "When you unwrapped this, my heart really skipped a beat. It's one of my favourite tribal African figures. Where did you get it?"
The guest explained how he had picked it up in a charity shop in Cambridge a decade ago.
He added: "It was right among the junk, and it cost me the grand total of £1.50. I was intrigued by the fact that it looked as if somebody had put a lot of work into making it."
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Ronnie soon gave him some more information, revealing: "It's from a tribe, in Gabon. They are just south of Nigeria and this is a Kota guardian figure and they put these on the bones of their ancestors to protect them.
"They polish this metal and in the 19th century, the brass and copper - this is just copper - but the brass and copper was like gold to them.
"They are so highly revered in the art world, that they have one of these in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. They are such iconic examples of African tribal art.
"They hammer the metal over the wood sculpture and then they chase the metal with these designs and it's the geometric design of them that makes them so desirable. They also influence the greatest modern artists of all time. They are very, very sought after."
Anticipation rose for the valuation following Ronnie's comments, and it continued as he said: "One of these made, I think a few years ago, £250,000."
The crowd behind the men could be heard audibly gasping at the high figure, while one said "Wow".
But Ronnie soon brought everyone back down to earth when he added immediately after: "But unfortnately, this one is a very fine copy.
"It's slightly the wrong size and this was probably made in 1980. One like this is probably worth about £150. Unfortunately not the quarter of a million that one of them actually made."
Trying to hide his inevitable disappointment, the man said: "Well, it's a lot more than I paid for it."
Ronnie replied: "It's 100 times more than what you paid for it."
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Antiques Roadshow airs Sundays at 8pm on BBC One.
