BBC Antiques Roadshow fans 'gasp' as expert 'ruins' rare scrapbook

ok.co.uk:

In a BBC Antiques Roadshow rerun set against the stunning backdrop of Salisbury Cathedral, viewers were captivated when a guest showcased a peculiar scrapbook for valuation.

Expert Fuchsia Voremberg was taken with the book, which boasted an assembly of unique collages.The rightfully proud owner shared that it came down to her from her great-great uncle, saying: "He sent it as a Christmas present to his mother and it was passed down to me through the family." The lady noted that the keepsake traced back to India, where her kin had been stationed during his military service.

Inferring that it may have been sent around 1890, she guessed her great-great uncle must have been 19 when he crafted it, but sadly, he died just two years later.

Fuchsia highlighted that the scrapbook's collages were ingeniously fashioned from printed scraps and ferns. Fuchsia observed: "This is an interesting example of a Victorian phenomena called Fernmania or Pteridomania.They collected them, they painted them, they printed with them and in this case, they pressed them and put them in this beautiful book," as reported by the Express.