4,000-year-old relic uncovered in city garden is worth £10,000
AN Egyptian relic dug up in a Derby back garden has been valued at £10,000.
The owner of the item, a stone bust shaped as a pharaoh, appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow where the item was valued by antiques expert Henry Sandon.
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The Egyptian relic dug up in a garden
Asked how he came across the item, the owner, who did not want to be identified, said: “I was doing some gardening when I hit it with my spade.
“I’m just glad I didn’t do too much damage to it.”
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He did not know how the relic came to be in his back garden.
Mr Sandon said the bust originated from around 1700BC to 1750BC.
He added: “It is absolutely beautifully made. It possibly did have a beard and a nose and over time these have fallen off.
“But it looks fantastic considering its age.”
He said it was “incredible” that it was found in a back garden in Derby.
“It’s 4,000 years old yet found in the city of Derby,” he said.
“It goes back before the city was even founded. It really is that incredible.”
Mr Sandon said it was “difficult” to give it a valuation but said it was “probably worth around £10,000”.
He added: “It is a major thing. It really is fantastic and yet there it stands having been found in a Derby garden.”
Mr Sandon told the owner that the item would be better placed in the British Museum in London, which has a large Egyptian collection.
The owner said that shortly after discovering it 18 months ago, he took it to the museum to verify whether it was genuine.
He said: “I took it down to London to see the curators. I think they thought it would be fake, maybe a fake made during the Roman times but a fake nonetheless.
“When I showed it to a curator his jaw just dropped. Before I knew it everyone from the department was standing round the table looking at it in amazement.
“They looked at it and all realised that it was genuine.”
It is not yet known whether the owner intends to sell the item.
Last night a spokesperson from the British Museum was unable to confirm whether they would put the item in the Ancient Egypt collection.
The Antiques Roadshow was filmed at Chatsworth House and shown on Sunday.
Comments
by Katie, Derby
Tuesday, December 07 2010, 9:45PM
“Egyptian relic? Thats nothing, I have 3 hamsters and a goldfish buried in my garden! :P”
by haha, derby
Tuesday, December 07 2010, 9:18PM
“@ tom.
You've got mates?”
by Tom Fulep, Sinfin
Tuesday, December 07 2010, 7:00PM
“I once found a live hand grenade in a mate's back garden in Reading. Caused major panic when we took it to the police station. Never seen coppers run so fast. :-)”
by Christopher, Derby
Tuesday, December 07 2010, 3:38PM
“Where is the back garden in question?
The reason I ask is because it was fashionable for the the "well to do" to collect antiquities during the late Georgian period, and throughout the Victorian period; if this is the garden of a large house of the period, the find may not be so unusual.
Joseph Strutt was one such person who had quite a collection of Egyptian and Middle Eastern artefacts, including a Mummy! But don't worry he did not bury this in his garden.
This piece might have been brought over by someone who lives in Derby, or someone who had travelled the East as part of the "Tour" that many people of the period did, and sold the item as such things were very popular amongst members of the upper class.
This, like certain artefacts found in the Strutt collection mmay have been used as a garden ornament. It is certain that no one would have brought a pyramid back with them, but who knows what treasures lie beneath some gardens of the older properties in the city?”
by John, Derby
Tuesday, December 07 2010, 11:25AM
“I'm going to dig my back garden once it thaws, in the hope of uncovering a pyramid. :-)”
by Angela, Derby
Tuesday, December 07 2010, 10:16AM
“Amazing, it certainly makes you wonder how it ended up in a Derby garden. He will be more careful when he digs in future in case there are more things under the soil. Good luck to him.”