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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Entertainment
Sophie McCoid

Antiques Roadshow guest gutted after discovering value of bird

An Antiques Roadshow contributor was left very disappointed after finding out the true value of her pottery bird.

The guest said how the blue bird, made by Martin Brothers, had always been in her family and had been brought by her great-grandfather.

She said how as children they had always been told to look after it "because it was a Martinware" which didn't mean much to her at the time, but she said she had since researched it and discovered they could be " quite valuable."

Expert Will Farmer said: "To all intents and purposes what we're looking at is a Martin Brothers bird, but he's not all that he seems."

Will explained that the four Martin brothers had all brought something to the factory and Robert created the birds in the 1880s.

Will pointed out the date on the bird was 1937, but Robert died in 1923, and he explained that Robert's son Clement had reopened the factory in 1928, hoping to recreate his father's success.

The Martin Brothers bird on the Antiques Roadshow (BBC)

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But by then, times had moved on and Art Deco was now in fashion instead.

Will also said that Clement had struggled to get the bright colours on the glaze that his father and uncles were famous for.

Since then, the antiques expert said, the Martin Brothers market had since exploded and that some of the birds could go for as much as £100,000.

But sadly the guest's bird was only valued at £6-8,000.

After hearing the news, she pulled her face and said: "Oh well, I love him."

And viewers at home could also sense her disappointment.

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Mark Brooks said: "The colour is draining from her face the more he speaks..."

@rainbowanne1 said: "Bird lady disappointed. Been looking on line at the more expensive versions."

@joannemh said: "Oh the disappointment on the face of that woman who owned the bird."

Rocketman said: "Gutted about that ugly bird."

Martyn Notman said: "Wow she looks really p***ed off."

*Antiques Roadshow continues next Sunday on BBC1

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