Bright bubbly male valuer to rather stolid "flat-cap" couple, who had offered a slightly chipped old mug.
"Well, I know it looks like a Wedgewood screen print, but actually, from the feel of it - it's come from over the border ... haha"
Dead silence
"Er, I mean it's from their Leeds Pottery - you can tell by the fact it's light, the decoration on the handles, and see this green tinge on the bottom - that's arsenic in the glaze, which is a hallmark of Leeds Pottery ..... so, now we have to think of the valuation ..."
Dead silence
"Well, taking everything into account, I'd say ...... around £500 !"
Shuffle of feet - husband: "£500. Is that all?"
"Well yes, I think that would be a fair valuation"
"You mean - I've kept that mug for 40 years, and it's only £500 ???"
Camera panned away rapidly ....
