A SCULPTURE bought at an Anglesey car boot sale for just £50 has been valued at around £15,000 as the BBC's Antiques Roadshow visited Beaumaris Castle.
The first visitor on the programme last Sunday night delivered a real blockbuster find. He presented a black stone sculpture which he said he 'believed to be African' that he had picked up at a car boot on the island three years ago for £50.
He admitted for the past year it had been used as a door stop and that he only took it to the Roadshow expecting to maybe doble his money.
"I came for a nice day out," he said. "I thought it would be worth £100. If I could double my money I’d be laughing."
But laughter was the least of his emotions as expert John Foster explained exactly what he had.
He explained that what the owner had brough along was a Ben Enwonwu sculpture. An acclaimed Nigerian sculptor, he was born in 1917 and worked in bronze and stone.
In the 1940s the Zwemmer Gallery in London began to sell his works - including this one, labelled 'Igbo Sculpture'.
"What was so brilliant about him was that he was a pioneer in mixing Nigerian art with Western Art," said Foster.
The expert went on to explain that this sculpture had all the correct markings and was likely made in the 1970s.
He then revealed his 'conservative estimate' for this piece at auction would bt £10,000 to £15,000 - adding that some Enwonwu pieces have been sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds.
"I'll have to speak Welsh - bendigedig," said the stunned and emotional owner. "Can you say that again please?"
And in a twist he admitted that, unlike most people on the Roadshow who say they plan to keep their items regardless of value, he would have to think carefully about whether to sell it.
"I could cry," he said. "I had no inclination at all that this was going to be worth so much money.
"In an ideal work I'd love to keep it but probably not. I have to be pragmatic and think seriously about what I should do with it."
Watch the full episode now on the BBC iPlayer
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