One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. A brooch purchased for under $25 from a British antique store is now headed to auction and is expected to sell for up to $19,000.
Flora Steel was watching a “Most Wanted Finds” clip from a 2011 episode of “Antiques Roadshow” when she recognized some sketches that were shown on screen from the Victoria and Albert Museum’s archive. The designs were for brooches designed by Victorian Gothic Revival designer and architect William Burges.
The drawings reminded Steel of a brooch she had purchased from an antique store for less than $25 in 1988. “I decided to have a better look at the V&A drawing and lo and behold there was my brooch. I practically fell off my chair,” Steel said.
Steel brought her brooch to the Christmas Eve special “Antiques Roadshow” and had it appraised by Geoffrey Munn, who described it as a “breathtaking discovery.” The silver, coral, lapis lazuli and malachite brooch is now scheduled to be auctioned off in a few months by Gildings Auctioneers who are expecting the piece to sell for up to $19,000.
“The brooch originally caught my eye for its strong design, strange lettering and unusual stones,” Steel said. “I always loved it and thought that it was so particular in its design that sooner or later I would discover who had designed it.”
Source: https://www.gildings.co.uk/news-item/our-remarkable-story-with-burges-brooches-continues/?pc=63