Antiques Roadshow’s latest episode saw a unique item which had left the owner of it intrigued to find out more about it as she admitted it had been somewhat of a mystery to her.
The guest brought along a netski – also known as a netsuke – a miniature sculpture originally used by Japanese men as an ornamental toggle.
The intricately carved accessory became an art form in itself, and after Asian art expert Yexue Li revealed the valuation of the item, the guest was left in disbelief.
“Thank you for bringing this smallest object I’ve seen today,” Li quipped before asking: “So what do we have here?”
“I know that it’s called a netsky, but I don’t really know anything else about it,” the guest admitted.
Explaining how she came to own it, she continued: “Well, it was my mother’s, but we don’t really know where she got it from.”
“So you kind of lived with it when you grew up?” Li probed, to which the owner responded: “Yeah, we didn’t used to be able to touch it too often.”
“Let’s open up and have a look,” Li suggested, adding: “This is a Japanese netsuke in the form of a sack bag, and it opens up to a Japanese immortal, Hotei, which is one of the seven lucky gods.
“And they’re playing a board game with a boy on the opposite side. And then, the most interesting part is that in the right hand, it’s got the tiniest dice I’ve ever seen!
“And then on the bottom is signed with a maker’s mark. From all of the evidence here, I think it’s from the Edo period, which is 1603 to 1868.
“And it’s quite a long period, but I think it will be towards the end of the Edo period. So the first half of 19th century, so it’s about 200 years old.”
Stunned, the BBC guest replied: “Oh, my goodness, it’s such a tiny thing to be so old!”
“And it’s survived!” Li pointed out, enthusing: “It’s one of the nicest netsuke I’ve ever seen. It’s very, very nice. And it’s of the highest quality as well.”
Putting a price on the tiny item, she revealed: “So value wise, I will put £2,000 to £3,000 on it.”
Gasping, the guest put a hand to her face as she replied: “Oh, my goodness. can’t believe that something so tiny is worth so much money!”
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“I know but it’s totally worth it,” Li assured her before stating: “And then at the auction it might worth more!”
“Oh, I don’t think we want to sell it, my sister and I, but it is lovely to know that it’s a really special thing,” the owner of the item shared.
“It is a really special thing, and I hope you guys treasure it,” the art specialist commented.
