BBC Antiques Roadshow guest pats expert on the back after sharing unexpected price for 'stylish' chairs

An Antiques Roadshow expert surprised a guest when he revealed the staggering value of a pair of chairs that he had been given as "part payment" for a job.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers for Antiques Roadshow.

An Antiques Roadshow couldn't believe it when he discovered the true worth of two chairs he had received as "part payment" for a job.

The BBC's popular daytime show visited Castle Ward in Northern Ireland, where expert Mark Hill met with a guest who brought along his pair of "supremely stylish chairs".

Hill started off by saying: "There's always an exception to every rule and this pair of chairs by Terrence Robsjohn-Gibbings, are really typical of that.

"While everybody else in the 1960s was looking at Scandinavian modernism and mid-Century modern design and plastics, here, Robsjohn-Gibbings, looks all the way back to ancient Greece."

"So do you see yourself as an exception to the rule I wonder?", to which the guest enthusiastically responded: "Absolutely, always! And I love that you brought the Greek into it, because that's what I see when I see these, ancient Greece, they're beautiful, beautiful lines."

Hill went on to explain: "Well they're based on the klismos chair and it's those lines, those fabulously simple curves that really identify it, on the legs and on the back here.

"It appeared in ancient Greek pottery that Robsjohn-Gibbings had seen and he was very unusual in his day so he became perhaps one of America's most influential and important interior designers in the 1930s and 1940s.

"They really are superb quality. They're made out of walnut with this great quality leather webbing on the top.

"They were designed in 1960 and if we look underneath them, you'll find that there's a label clearly marked on the back here: 'Designed by TH Robsjohn-Gibbings, manufactured by Saridis of Athens.'".

When the expert suggested testing their comfort, the guest invited him to take a seat and experience it firsthand.

"You know, I think I might actually, it's quite warm out here. They're very, very comfy, that I can attest to," the expert responded after sitting down.

Hill then asked, "So was it the comfort or the fact they're so elegant that made you buy them?"

The guest replied: "Both. The look of them - and you would look at these and think 'they don't look very comfortable' but as you can see, they're extremely comfortable. And I use them all the time."

Acknowledging the cost of style, the expert remarked, "stylish things come at a price" prompting the guest to reveal his unique purchase deal.

"I got these with some other furniture and they were kind of part payment for a job that I'd been doing.

"So you got this pair as a part payment?" Hill probed, leading to the revelation that the owner had not two, but four identical chairs.

Hill pressed on: "Four? OK so you have four as a part-payment. Just ballpark-y figure?" and the guest estimated the value at around £1,000 each.

The expert stated: "So £4,000, that's what they owe you for that job. Come on, sit down as well. You might need to be sitting comfortably."

As the guest joined him on the chairs, Hill continued: "They're fabulous quality, they're supremely stylish, they make a statement, and as we can both see, they're extraordinarily comfy.

"My feeling is that they'd do much, much better in America than over here. But I think they're worth about £4,000."

Caught off guard, the chap questioned, "£4,000 each?"

To which Hill confidently affirmed, "You've got it", prompting the owner's repeated query: "Each?".

Without missing a beat, Hill declared the total value: "£16,000 worth of chairs."

Elated, the man couldn't hide his delight, saying, "I'll take that, that's amazing!", followed by a pat on the back for Hill.

Overflowing with gratitude, he continued, "Thank you so much, that's really, really good!"

Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.