BBC Antiques Roadshow guest in tears as sculpture he used as doorstop turns out to be worth huge sum

Antiques Roadshow guest was left in disbelief when a sculpture he had been using as a doorstop turned out to be a rare piece by celebrated Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu

An Antiques Roadshow punter was gobsmacked during Sunday’s episode when a quirky car boot bargain sculpture he had been using as a doorstop turned out to be a rare treasure worth a small fortune.

Broadcast from the picturesque Beaumaris Castle on Anglesey, Fiona Bruce and her team dug up some gems, including what might be an original Winnie the Pooh edition, a dazzling ballerina brooch and a quirky wooden chair by the legendary ‘Mouseman’, Robert Thompson.

Stealing the show though, was one visitor’s peculiar piece, which he confessed puzzled him, remarking: “I’ve always been perplexed by it, wondering what it is.”

He amusingly added: “It’s been my doorstop for the last 12 months,” mentioning he snagged it for a mere £50 at a local car boot sale in Anglesey three years earlier. Clueless about its background, he mused: “Someone mentioned it could be African; I don’t know.”

Expert John Foster then delivered the shocker – revealing the sculpture as the creation of Ben Enwonwu, a giant in Nigerian art history.

The guest purchased the rare art piece at a car boot sale (
Image:
BBC)
Foster painted a picture of Enwonwu’s prestigious journey, a man who flawlessly fused Nigerian and Western art techniques, gaining recognition in the 1940s thanks to the Zwemmer Gallery, before spreading his influence through exhibits from New York to London and Milan. Foster continued, “The sculptor Ben Enwonwu [is] one of Nigeria’s most celebrated sculptors. He was born in Nigeria in 1917 and died in the sort of mid-90s.”, reports the Express.

Expounding on the artist’s reputation, notably with bronze and stone, Foster speculated that the carved stone work likely hailed from the 1970s.

The expert revealed: “He was the first pioneer in mixing Nigerian art with Western art. Known really as a sculptor in bronze and stone, and this being in carved stone style-wise I thought it sort of dates from the 1970s. He was picked up by a gallery in the 40s and it was a gallery called the Zwemmer Gallery. And that, literally from there, skyrocketed him to having shows in New York, London and Milan.”

John Foster valued the piece as worth £10,000 to £15,000 at auction (
Image:
BBC)
He then valued the sculpture between £10,000 and £15,000. The guest was stunned, exclaiming: “You’re joking! I could cry. I had no inclination that it was going to be worth so much money. It’s shocked me.”