BBC Antiques Roadshow expert tells guest to 'sit comfortably' before revealing eye-watering valuation
Antiques Roadshow expert Mark Hill shared his valuation for a pair of "supremely stylish" chairs, which left their owner stunned and overjoyed
An expert on Antiques Roadshow advised his guest to "sit comfortably" before revealing the significant value of his chairs.
The BBC show visited Castle Ward in Northern Ireland, where specialist Mark Hill inspected the guest's "supremely stylish chairs".
Hill started by stating: "There's always an exception to every rule and this pair of chairs by Terrence Robsjohn-Gibbings, are really typical of that."
He added: "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."
When asked if he saw himself as an exception to the rule, the guest enthusiastically replied: "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 continued: "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."
He explained that the design was inspired by ancient Greek pottery that Robsjohn-Gibbings had seen, making him one of America's most influential and important interior designers in the 1930s and 1940s, reports the Express.
"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 remarked on their comfort, the owner encouraged him to have a seat and try it himself.
"You know, I think I might actually, it's quite warm out here. They're very, very comfy, that I can attest to," replied the expert upon accepting the invitation.
Hill then enquired: "So was it the comfort or the fact they're so elegant that made you buy them?"
The guest answered: "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."
The expert noted that style usually doesn't come cheap, to which the guest divulged that he got the chairs plus some other items as partial payment for work he had done.
"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 asked, with the guest clarifying there were actually four such chairs involved.
Hill exclaimed with surprise: "Four? OK so you have four as a part-payment. Just ballpark-y figure?".
The guest estimated each chair's value at around £1,000, prompting the expert to jest: "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."
Hill concluded with enthusiasm: "They're fabulous quality, they're supremely stylish, they make a statement, and as we can both see, they're extraordinarily comfy."
He estimated the items' worth, adding: "My feeling is that they'd do much, much better in America than over here. But I think they're worth about £4,000."
The owner, taken aback, sought confirmation, asking, "£4,000 each?" to which Hill affirmed confidently, "You've got it".
Echoing his shock, the owner repeated, "Each?".
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Hill unambiguously reinforced the stunning appraisal: "£16,000 worth of chairs."
Brimming with happiness, the owner could hardly believe his luck and joyfully exclaimed: "I'll take that, that's amazing!", subsequently delivering a grateful pat on the back to Hill and exclaiming with gusto: "Thank you so much, that's really, really good!".
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