Rare Fabergé flower worth £1million is Antiques Roadshow's most expensive item ever

The most expensive item in Antiques Roadshow history is set to hit our screens later this year, with it being revealed that an incredibly rare six-inch high Fabergé flower was taken to the BBC filming event near Birmingham by two soldiers back in June.

The detailed flower is one of just 80 surviving pieces in the world, and it is thought to be worth a staggering £1million.

The show’s executive producer, Simon Shaw, dubbed the flower as “one of the most significant jewellery finds in 40 years” of the programme’s history, with the BBC keeping the discovery top secret for months ahead of the show’s anniversary special.

The rare piece is engraved with ‘QOWH South Africa 1900′ and features a pear blossom sprig sat in a crystal vase.

Speaking about the history of the piece, Tatiana Fabergé, the great-granddaughter of Fabergé founder Peter, revealed that the flower was a gift from society aristocrat Georgina Ward, Countess of Dudley, to a British army regiment.

She explained: “Look in the book Fabergé Flowers on page 61 there is the exact same flower which is in the Queen’s Own Warwickshire and Worcestershire Yeomanry Charitable Trust.”

The flower was part of a botanical study that was created by Fabergé in Imperial Russia, and it was presented to the Queen’s Own Worcestershire Hussars (QOWH) in the early 1900s as a regimental trophy for their service in the Boer War, with the piece remaining in the Army ever since.

The countess’ late husband had been the army regiment’s commanding officer, and she’d previously given the soldiers sprigs of pear blossom for good luck.

A Fabergé spokesman said: “Only about 80 of Fabergé’s botanical studies are known to have survived.

“They are among the most beautiful objects produced by the company.

“We can reveal more about the piece taken to the Antiques Roadshow; it is 13.3 cm in height. In the form of pear blossom in a vase, its chased and engraved gold stem is placed in in a rock crystal vase carved so it appears to be half full of water.

“The six flowers of blossom are gold with white enamel and shades of pale pink. Their stamens are oxidised silver with a diamond at the centre, while the leaves are carved nephrite.

“Georgina, Countess of Dudley presented the study to QOWH in the early 1900s as a regimental trophy. Three pears feature on the county’s Arms, hence the choice of pear blossom.

“Indeed the Countess, whose late husband had been the regiment’s commanding officer, gave a sprig of pear blossom worked in silk to every soldier in the squadron of volunteers from the QOWH which sailed on 7th February 1900 to South Africa to form part of the Imperial Yeomanry.

“The idea was that they should wear it in the hats. The Countess was a great friend of Queen Alexandra, and like the Queen, was also a customer of Fabergé.

“Over the years there have been changes in the structure of the British army with regiments amalgamating. Two soldiers in dress uniform took the study to the Antique Roadshow.

“The name of the regiment that currently owns this treasure will be revealed when the programme is screened.”

The episode featuring the flower will air on the BBC this Autumn.

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