BBC Antiques Roadshow family in tears over late dad's 'obsession' worth £200k

An expert was taken aback by the mass collection of shoe buckles a guest's late husband had collected over the past 50 years.

The show set up at the scenic Burton Constable Hall and Parkland, where Miller encountered a woman flanked by her daughters and granddaughter, all presenting an impressive array of shoe buckles.

Intrigued by the collection, Miller inquired: "So absolutely surrounded by Georgian shoe buckles. How did you get them?"

The widow explained: "Well my late husband, it was his collection and he collected them for over 50 years."

Judith praised the collection as "marvellous" and delved into a brief history lesson: "They had buckles in the Medieval period but then they went out of fashion and then they came back in the mid 17th Century.

"People like Samuel Pepys wrote about putting buckles on his shoes but of course a lot of these are from the golden period of shoe buckles from 1750 to 1780."

Curious about the origin of the husband's interest, the guest revealed it began with a gift from his father and grew from there.

"From then on, he just liked them. When we went to antiques fairs, we were always looking for shoe buckles," she said, recalling how they would find bargains even in upscale antique shops.

Miller quizzed the guest: "And did it become a bit of an obsession?" The response, accompanied by laughter, was: "Yes. Just a bit."

She then engaged with the guest's three daughters, enquiring about their views on the buckles.

One daughter commented: "I think it's amazing he collected it over so many years, he was so proud of it.

"He researched them, he cleaned them, he catalogued them, he loved showing people, he loved talking about them."

Another daughter humorously revealed: "And yes, there are even more."

The guest revealed, in response to Miller's curiosity, that they owned around 1,500 buckles.

Miller observed, to the guest's amusement: "So I think we're going back to a little bit of an obsession".

After considering the buckles "fabulous", the owner reflected: "It's hard to think it was men who wore these, not the women.

"They had the silver ones which they kept for best and then they had the more paste type ones which was more or less an everyday type of buckle."

Miller's attention was then drawn to cream ware buckles and declared them "absolutely beautiful and so impractical".

The owner agreed, stating: "Well this is partially why there aren't that many around. Because obviously they got broken.

"We did go to Northampton Museum once and saw the curator and at that time, she only knew of about five pairs of those particular shoe buckles."

Miller remarked: "Obviously as soon as you put them on, they would break. You can't imagine they survived one single wearing.

"But of course the others are much more practical and beautiful."

It was then time to reveal the collection's value, with Miller estimating a modest £100 for the "lesser" pairs, yet around £600 for the more exquisite ones in cases.

She continued, saying the sought-after cream pair could easily garner a stunning £1,000, but the greatest surprise was yet to come.

Wrapping up her valuation, Miller astounded everyone: "So if you look at the collection as a whole, and it's pretty staggering to me, I think we're looking here with your collection, at £200,000."

The owner was dumbstruck by the revelation, which elicited audible gasps from the crowd and her family members.

One of the daughters couldn't hide her astonishment, blurting out "Oh God", while the camera caught the rest of the women, including the granddaughter, shedding tears.

Once the emotions subsided somewhat, the guest reflected: "We don't really sort of think of that. I mean, they are a collection and we are keeping the collection.

"They will get passed down to my three daughters and possibly even further down the line than that. He just loved them. Absolutely loved them."

Rounding off the conversation, Miller observed: "Well isn't it lovely you've got this lovely inheritance, you've got your daughters and granddaughter, it's a lovely family story."

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