An Antiques Roadshow specialist was taken aback after a guest unveiled what she had been using her rather valuale jug for.
WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.
An Antiques Roadshow expert left a guest almost speechless after discovering she’d been using a highly collectible jug as a simple watering can for her plants.
The beloved BBC programme visited Hopetoun House in Queensferry, near Edinburgh, where Roadshow expert Steven Moore encountered a visitor clutching a green jug that sparked memories of a beloved 1960s children’s series.
“Were you by any chance a fan of The Clangers?”, he enquired.
She replied: “No I wasn’t a fan”, prompting him to ask: “So was this the reason you bought this very ugly jug?”
“No, I bought it because I needed something to water my plants.”
The guest revealed she’d snapped up the piece for a mere £2.50, adding that it “certainly lives up to its purpose”.
“Right so this was last used for watering plants when?” he probed as she admitted it was just a “couple of days ago”.
Moore then warned the guest: “Well, we might want to stop you doing that.
“It’s made by one of the Ewenny Pottery’s in Wales, very conveniently dated to 1902 and even more conveniently, we have a Welsh member on our team and she tells me that this literally means ‘The Wild Pig’.”
He tried to pronounce the inscription ‘Y Mochyn Gwyllt’ but quickly chuckled: “I apologise if I’ve said that wrong!”
Moore went on: “But I think it is a wild pig, not a Clanger, although there’s some suggestion it could be a hedgehog but I’m not even going to go down that route.
“But Ewenny Pottery is very collectible so your £2.50 flower jug to a Welsh pottery collector, in the right sale, would be estimated at £800 to £1,200.”
Upon hearing the staggering valuation, the guest took a sharp intake of breath before simply responding: “OK.”
The specialist added: “So if I give it back to you, will you promise not to water any plants with it? And go buy a nice £2.50 plastic jug.”
Grinning, she replied: “I promise. I will do that.”
Antiques Roadshow can be viewed on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
