Two historic plates that stunned Antiques Roadshow experts after being carried to the BBC show in their owner’s handbag have sold for more than £20,000.
The blue and yellow Delftware plates – one of which has a crack running across the middle – depict King James II and a Chinese figure.
The rare seventeenth century artefacts sold for £12,600 and £7,560, including buyers’ premiums, at Woolley and Wallis auctioneers in Salisbury, Wiltshire on February 5.
Unaware of their spectacular worth, the owner brought the decorative plates to Antiques Roadshow in 2014 in her handbag – and said they had been hanging in the hallway of her husband’s family home for years.
She broke down in tears once their jaw-dropping value was revealed by ceramic expert John Sandon, who called them ‘as rare as you can get’.
Speaking on the show, the owner said: ‘I remember them on the wall of my husband’s parent’s house and traditionally in the family they were said to be very valuable.
‘But no one else seemed to know anything else about them and in due course they came to my husband.
‘When I asked about them, he said all he knew was that they came from his mother’s family.’
Mr Sandon then told her: ‘I mean this one is in a bit of a shocking state. It’s been broken in half, I mean someone liked it enough to stick it back together just about but it’s barely held together.
‘But this is really quite an important piece of pottery because you’ve got a picture of the king on a rare shape and rare colours.
‘It doesn’t get much more special than this so we can forgive the poor condition.’
The woman then announced to onlookers: ‘I bought them here in my handbag!’ Mr Sandon replied: ‘That’s all right it’s a good strong handbag.’ The owner then added: ‘Can I cry now?’
Both plates were produced in Brislington Delftware, a form of tin-glazed earthenware, from the Brislington pottery established in Bristol in the 1650s.
Clare Durham, ceramics specialist at at Woolley & Wallis, said the two items were incredibly rare adding neither had been seen on the market for upwards of a century.
Ms Durham said: ‘The sale of two historic Delftware plates shows that Delftware still has a following.’
‘The price for the plate featuring King James II was strong considering it had been broken in half.’
Woolley & Wallis said the plate depicting the last British Catholic monarch, who reigned between 1685-1688, was one of the strongest clues to their date and value.
The split in the plate is thought to have been deliberate and happened to many other pieces picturing the King following The Glorious Revolution which saw the monarch deposed for his political and religious beliefs, which he tried to impose on British society.
Alarmed protestants feared a Catholic revival and the monarch was criticised for the misuse of the army to intimidate the public.
Family legend has it that a member of the Devon-based family broke the plate, but it was rescued by a relative who was loyal to the King and his descendants.
The hit BBC show, which started in 1979, is now on its 47th season, with viewers still tuning in to see antiques owners receive often life-changing valuations.
Last year a guest took in a broach that she believed to be a piece of a costume jewelry, but was in fact a Sri Lankan ‘bright cornflour blue’ sapphire, weighing around 25-30 carats.
The show’s resident expert John Benjamin said: ‘Now I have to be honest with you, I’ve done this show for so long, [and] I’ve never seen a sapphire of this size brought into the Antiques Roadshow. This is a real first time for me.
‘If I were to take such an item of jewellery into an auction, I would expect it to make £40,000 to £50,000.’
