WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow. Antiques Roadshow guests were taken aback when their family heirloom in the shape of a toy bear was said to be worth a five-figure sum. The BBC daytime series travelled to the Botanic Gardens in Belfast to film another fascinating episode of the hit show with expert Marc Allum on hand to meet a couple and their stuffed bear.
Right from the get-go, Allum appeared to be very impressed by the item that he carefully held up for the surrounding audience to see. He shared: “I’ve been working in the world of antiques for some 36 years and I’ve handled many amazing items in that time but I have never handled a black Steiff bear like this so this is a real honour for me to do this today. It’s an object that has a connection to Belfast too. What’s his name?”.
The man said the bear was called Edward and so the expert continued: “So Edward, basically, made by Steiff, German company, was issued in 1912 for a very particular event and that was the sinking of the Titanic in April 1912. And that is why Edward is black, he’s a mourning bear in essence. So tell me your side of the story.”.
The owner elaborated: “He was given to my mother who was born in 1908 and all of her mother’s sisters had emigrated to Providence Rhode Island in the United States. So there were, of course, a lot of to-ing and fro-ing across the Atlantic at that time and we think associated with the bear.”.
