Mini Angel of the North is worth a million

Nov 17 2008 by Dan Warburton, The Journal

THE Antiques Roadshow revealed its first ever seven-figure valuation last night – for a mini Angel of the North.

A bronze model one twentieth the size of the iconic North East landmark appeared on last night’s show, filmed at the Sage Gateshead.

The 4ft tall maquette, which has an 11ft wingspan, took five council workers to transport it from its home in Gateshead Civic Centre to the set of the show.

It has been kept in the council offices for 13 years but last night more than nine million viewers saw expert Philip Mould slap a £1m price tag on the piece.

But Gateshead Council cabinet member John McElroy said the authority would not be cashing in on its success.

Coun McElroy, who appeared on the programme, said: “The Angel of the North really does belong to the people of Gateshead and obviously this is such an important part of our history we could never sell it.

“I couldn’t believe it when they told me the value.”

The model was built in the mid 1990s as council chiefs attempted to sway opinion in the lead-up to the unveiling of the 66ft high, 178ft wide statue by the A1 in 1998.

Although the Labour-controlled council was keen on Antony Gormley’s work, there was opposition from Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and local residents.

In response, the sculptor and the White Cube gallery in London made several models, some in iron and others in bronze.

Coun McElroy said: “A few people questioned why we built the Angel at the time, but the real value was that it did something money can’t buy – it put us on the map and started the regeneration in arts and culture.

“It led to the building of venues such as the Sage Gateshead where The Antiques Roadshow was held.

“This one small piece alone is now worth more than we have spent on 50 pieces of public art in the borough in the past 25 years.”

Earlier this year in July a different scale model of the statue broke records by selling at auction for more than £2m.

The 6ft 6in high replica was sold at Sotheby’s. An anonymous buyer paid £2.28m for the sculpture, which was expected to fetch £800,000.

Last night, series editor Simon Shaw said: “This is one of the most exciting moments that we’ve ever had on the Roadshow. The item is very rare and the owner knew it was valuable but they were speechless when the valuation turned out to be seven figures.

“This will undoubtedly become a favourite moment with viewers.”

The programme makers see about 15,000 items every episode and Philip Mould was the lucky expert who passed judgement over the piece.

He said: “It’s a great thrill to me that something produced in the last 15 years has broken the record for the most valuable item to ever have been on the show.”

The most expensive items on the Antiques roadshow

1. Maquette of Angel of the North (Gateshead)

2. Mayoral Silver Collection (Arundel) One of the two chalices was made in the reign of Charles II and has an inscription which shows that it was the gift of Thomas Ballard, onetime mayor of Arundel. Valued at more than £300,000.

3. Beatrix Potter collection (Dumfries) Expert Clive Farahar identified the amazing collection of 23 original pictures and drawings of animals as being by the popular children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter. Worth £250,000.

4. Crawley silver (Crawley) The owner’s father had collected silver extensively throughout his life as a secret passion. Valued at around £250,000.

5. Painting by John Lavery (Hereford) Painted in the 1880s, a sunlight scene of a lady in the park with a pram. Valued at between £200,000 and £250,000. The owner’s grandfather bought it and gave it to the owner’s mother.

6. Richard Dadd painting (Barnstaple) The owners thought this rare painting was a print and hung it on their sitting room wall. Found to be a lost work by Richard Dadd. Bought by the British Museum in 1987 for £100,000.