Antiques Roadshow expert ecstatic as ‘little gems’ make BBC show history

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.

An Antiques Roadshow expert was jumping for joy at the sight of two rare glasses which made history on the BBC series.

Glass expert Andy McConnell was present at the Woodhorn Museum, Ashington, to meet with guests and their beloved items where he came across something particularly thrilling.

Presented with two small Masonic glasses, the BBC specialist began: “These glasses are absolutely the cream and of course, they’re firing glasses ‘Yes, here! Cheers!’ for toasting.

“So how on earth do you end up owning these wonderful little gems?”

Explaining their provenance, the guest shared: “Well I got a bit lucky really. I’d seen them come up at an auction but they were just with a general lot, I think they were valued at £50 to £70.

“I pretty much knew what I thought they were. Sadly, they’d been spotted by somebody else so they did go up in value but I managed to win the lot.”

The visitor added that they ended up costing him a whopping £6,000, leading McConnell to question: “So what makes an apparently sensible person spend £6,000 on two glasses the size of a thimble?”

He replied: “They’re local glasses, I just like collecting things that come from Newcastle. It’s beautiful stuff, it’s just a passion.”

The BBC expert then shared: “What do you recognise them as, was the work of the Beilby family, William Beilby, who were in Newcastle.

“1768, it’s exactly what it says on the tin and they were Britain’s leading enamellers, the greatest enamellers, working exclusively on glass.”

He went on to point out the detailing on the matching glasses which had the Masonic compasses, as well as a “rococo style white floral banding around the top”.

Classifying them as a “well known set”, it was time to put a value on the glasses.

McConnell began: “The first one that came up that we know about was bought by the British Museum in about 2009 for £12,000.

“Then one sold for £8,000 and another sold for £6,000.

“But yours, I know today would fetch at auction, you’d get somewhere like £16,000 for the pair.”

The guest’s expression didn’t change upon hearing this staggering figure, as he simply stated: “Wow.”

Unlike the glasses’ owner though, McConnell couldn’t have seemed more thrilled.

He exclaimed: “So look, I mean what a pleasure! These are by far the most glasses that I’ve ever had in 16 years on the Roadshow.

“I’m so made up with these. So cheers to you and William Beilby!”

The guest’s face broke into a smile at McConnell’s enjoyment with the audience clapping in delight.

In a separate interview, McConnell added: “It’s about rarity. We are linking these to one person, William Beilby, this is the best at its peak.”

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