Antiques Roadshow: World War One perfume bottle valued
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During an episode of Antiques Roadshow, BBC presenter Fiona Bruce welcomed viewers to the Scarborough Spa Pavilion for another busy day. The experts were presented with a number of interesting items including the likes of a paperweight from Winston Churchill’s desk, and a sparkling tiara which brought the house down with its value.
However, it was a unique perfume bottle which caught the attention of expert Eric Knowles.
Speaking about who the bottle belonged to and where it came from, the guest began: “My grandfather, the family joke is that he was responsible for the First World War because everywhere he went there was a major scrap.
“He was on the [Battle of the] Somme, he was at [the Battle of] Passchendaele and at one stage he was buried under a building for four days.
“And when they took him out, they made him mayor of the town, and we know which town it is but we haven’t been back yet.
“He came back with shrapnel in his knee, a liking for stong drink and this scent bottle and that is what history we know.
“We know he came back with it when he was repatriated in 1980.
“We don’t know whether it was new, whether it’s French, [but] he came back from France. So most servers would have come back to France.”
“Where’s it been lurking?” the expert went on to ask as the guest replied: “In a draw.”
He told Eric his grandmother wouldn’t have it in the house and because his grandfather didn’t want to part with it, he hid it away in a drawer.
“It begs the question, why?” Eric asked before the guest replied: “I think just good old-fashioned Yorkshire reserve.”
The expert quickly turned his attention to the detail of the bottle, adding: “When you look at an object like this, the emphasis is in the stopper, isn’t it?
“And when you look at that stopper it is beautifully sort of moulded with what appeared to be sort of mermaids or ladies dancing away.
“The shape of it is almost geometric, it’s almost like a cog, isn’t it?
“And I can understand if I dare use the word, Yorkshire prudery, can I use that word?”
As the guest agreed, Eric removed the stopper so he could see the stunning perfume dropper.
“The idea being that you would actually take and dab it behind your ears.
“There is something rather sensual about dabbing perfume behind your ears with a lady in a certain state of undress.”
Despite admiring the item, Eric admitted he had no idea who made the bottle.
“But the thing is, you say this came back in 1918, which is quite early,” he continued.
“Most of these bottles didn’t really sort of materialise until the 1920s. So I’m learning something now.”
When it came to the valuation, Eric explained that if the guest wanted to replace the bottle today, it would cost between £100 and £150.
Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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