Look: Brooch purchased for under $25 expected to sell for up to $19,000

Ben Hooper
·2 min read
UPI
A brooch purchased for less than $25 at a British antique store in 1988 is now headed to auction and is expected to fetch up to $19,000. Photo courtesy of Gildings Auctioneers

Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A brooch purchased for under $25 from a British antique store in the 1980s is now headed to auction and is expected to fetch up to $19,000 after an appearance on Antiques Roadshow.

Gildings Auctioneers said Flora Steel was watching a "Most Wanted Finds" clip from a 2011 episode of Antiques Roadshow when she recognized some sketches showed on screen from the Victoria and Albert Museum's archive.

The designs were for brooches designed by Victorian Gothic Revival designer and architect William Burges, and they reminded Steel of a piece she had purchased from an antique store for less than $25 in 1988.

"I decided to have a better look at the V&A drawing and lo and behold there was my brooch! I practically fell off my chair," Steel told the auction house.

Steel brought her brooch to the Christmas Eve special of the BBC One series, and appraiser Geoffrey Munn described it as a "breathtaking discovery."

The silver, coral, lapis lazuli and malachite brooch is now scheduled to be auctioned in the spring, and is expected to sell for up to $19,000.

"The brooch originally caught my eye for its strong design, strange lettering and unusual stones," Steel said. "I always loved it and thought that it was so particular in its design that sooner or later I would discover who had designed it."

Gildings director Will Gilding said Steel's piece is the third of Burges' brooches to be brought to the auction house as a result of the 2011 Antiques Roadshow episode.

"For it to happen once, amazing. Twice, remarkable! A third time? Pinch me," he said.