WARNING: This article contains spoilers from Antiques Roadshow.

Antiques Roadshow guests were pleasantly surprised when they discovered their family heirloom was worth a tidy fortune.

Filming at Firstsite in Colchester, the daytime series saw expert Serhat Ahmet meet with a couple who presented him with a bust of a man’s head wearing a headdress.

“I don’t know about you but I feel the rest of the body is slowly going to rise out of this chest,” Ahmet joked.

The woman teased: “His eyes do sort of follow you around the room”, as he agreed: “They do, they’ve got a very intentional stare about them.”

The woman described the sculpture as “beautiful”, and Ahmet went on to explain that it was made by Doulton “master artist” George Tinworth.

The piece had not only been signed by him but by inventor Henry Doulton, and had been made during the early stint of Tinworth’s career which ran from the late 1870s to the early 1880s.

When asked how the bust had come into their possession, the man answered: “Well we’ve had him about 15 years but before that, it was my great-grandfather, in about 1910, he bought a house off the Doulton family in London and he came with it as well.

“He’s had a fairly exciting life so at one stage he was cemented to my grandfather’s garage for 20 years outside.

“My grandfather also had him lurking in the outside toilet to scare people and then he was in the garden and for the last 15 years he’s been inside with us and come , he has his tinsel around him so he’s a very loved bit of the family.”

“And do I detect a bit of paintwork at some point?” Ahmet queried, with the guest commenting: “Yes, my nan decided she wanted to brighten him up so she painted him white.”

Ahmet went on to say: “Well, despite all that, he is a wonderful looking chap.

“Tinworth was very prolific, using his artistry in pottery to decorate buildings.

“If you go to Doulton House today in Lambeth, you will still see his panels all around the building and he really loved making this sculptural pieces that would be used outdoors. And that was the point.”

The expert elaborated: “He was always made to be outdoors. Now these are rare. It would probably take you several years to track one down and that’s mainly because they are cemented in place at grand houses who may not even know it’s a Doulton bust.

“I think it’s just such a wonderful story, we’ve got this perfect line of provenance from your family to today. Do you both love it?”

While the pair said they “absolutely” loved the piece, when they were asked what their family thought of the piece, the guest laughed: “Most of them. Some of describe it as a creepy head.”

Ahmet replied: “Creepy head. I get that.

“Now value it cost you nothing, I guess that’s not the point.

“If you wanted to find another one of these today, if you could find one, it’s probably going to cost you in excess of £2,000.”

Taken back by the value, the guests didn’t quite know what to say apart from “wow”.

It was at this point that Ahmet jokingly warned them of what they shouldn’t do from now on: “No more painting though and maybe not on a garage roof anymore.

“Keep it safe, enjoy it indoors”, with the guests thanking Ahmet for his valuation.

Antiques Roadshow is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.