Video: TV show Flog It unearths Cleethorpes woman's £30,000 treasure
A COLLECTION of tribal art stored in a Cleethorpes woman's wardrobe turned out to be rare Aboriginal artefacts – and went on to sell for £30,000.
Ann Bromley took along the items to a valuation day for the popular TV programme Flog It! at Normanby Hall last July.
On the day, the items were valued at £200 to £400 and were sent to auction in Lincoln with a reserve price of £150. However, they sold for an astonishing £30,000.
It turned out the collection was Aboriginal and contained a rare Broad Shield, which has been bought by the Sydney Museum of Primitive Art and has since been returned to Australia.
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Ann was given the items by a friend who disliked them and they had been stored in her wardrobe for several years.
The pieces were selected for filming by long-serving Flog It! expert Michael Baggott, who initially also believed them to be of African origin.
Ann said: "I was happy with the initial estimate of between £200 and £400.
"I went to the auction expecting to possibly get the lower end of that amount. When the bids were going up so high during the auction I felt like I wasn't there, it was the strangest feeling ever. I was so shocked by what was happening.
"I'm really pleased the shield has been returned to its homeland where it belongs. I'd definitely recommend anyone taking their items to Flog It! you never know, you might have a hidden treasure like I did."
Michael continued: "During the auction it quickly became clear that I'd missed something, but I wasn't sure what it was at that point.
"I just liked the items and thought they were unusual, that's why I selected them for filming at the valuation day.
"This is what antiques are all about though, you can't be an expert on everything and you never stop learning, from this experience I certainly learnt a lot."
Ann isn't planning to use the money to head to Australia to visit the shield that made her a small fortune. Instead, she has used the funds to renovate her dining room.
And sadly, she has no more tribal art hidden away in her cupboards at home.
The BBC has produced more than 850 editions of Flog It! and it is continuing to increase in popularity. Each year, thousands of people attend valuation days to have their possessions valued for free by a skilled team of experts.
The programme telling Ann's story is being aired today at 4.30pm on BBC1.
YOU don’t have to be an antiques expert to find valuable items, but you can help yourself.
A general antique price guide is enough to learn some basics.
Look out for jumble sales and so on in older, more historic areas of the community. They are most likely to produce old jewellery, glass, books and others.
Get to sales early, and make a plan of the sort of things you are looking for.
Look at everything - digging around on your hands and knees in that cardboard box full of clutter at a carboot sale could reveal a gem.
When attending such sales, take lots of change with you.
Take a chance. If you like something but are not sure if it’s valuable, go ahead and buy it. Research may prove it’s worthless, but every purchase is a learning experience. If you don’t want the item, donate it to charity.
Need more advice? Check out our antiques column, published every Friday in the Grimsby Telegraph.
4 Comments
by ricardo121
Monday, March 11 2013, 7:13PM
“in the bad lands of australiar they are having a big pow wow and are thinking of selling a boomerang but may want it back”
by Wesselton
Monday, March 11 2013, 5:15PM
“OMG! Well done, hope the friend that gave you them was treated! I was buzzing watching it, so you must have been like jelly!”
by davidmantle
Monday, March 11 2013, 5:01PM
“I just seen it on TV - bloody marvelous. Good on you girl.”
by Hedgewood
Monday, March 11 2013, 4:32PM
“Love it, had to check the date. well done.”