Antiques Roadshow guest giggles she learns value of dad’s £12 junk shop trunk
An Antiques Roadshow guest laughed when she discovered the real value of a trunk her father had found in a junk shop years ago.
The popular BBC daytime series set up at Ham House in Richmond to meet with guests and examine their unique items.
Among these was a well-worn trunk that was unmistakably a Louis Vuitton design.
The owner shared its history with expert Mark Hill, saying: "It was bought by my father for me as a present to put in my first flat."
"He went to St Margaret's to a little junk antique shop and he came back with that which he bought for £12."
"Well it's certainly been through the wars hasn't it? ", Hill noted, to which the guest replied: "It certainly has, it's had a life."
Hill continued: "As one would expect. In many ways, trunks like these for me talk about the history of travel in some aspects as well."
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"So we might have had the sort of domed trunks of the 18th Century that'd be on a carriage or a coach or something like that."
"One of Louis Vuitton's great innovations was the flat-top trunk which could be stacked in the new railway carriages."
"Then bang, along came the aeroplane. Heavy, large, kind of killed it for this sort of piece of luggage."
Hill, the expert on Antiques Roadshow, opened up the trunk to reveal its webbed trays. He commented that it was a "much more standard trunk".
When asked about its current location, the guest revealed: "It lives in my flat at the moment. We just have it in the corner. At the moment it's covered up as well.
"We fostered cats so we have to keep them away from the trunk, otherwise it'd have more character than it's already got."
Hill then highlighted the "typical quality Louis Vuitton construction" of the trunk, noting the printed fabric and strong metal corners. He suggested it could be from the 1920s or 1930s.
In conclusion, he said: "You paid 12 whole pounds or your dad paid 12 whole pounds. £3,000? "
The guest responded with laughter, saying: "Wow. That's rather nice. It's going back where it was though."
When Hill asked if the trunk would be covered again, she replied: "While we've got the cat. When there's no cats, we'll uncover it."
Antiques Roadshow can be viewed on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.