A former museum curator and star of Antiques Roadshow has decided to sell off his private collection.
Henry Sandon, best known as an expert on the Antiques Roadshow, is having to sell his collection as he can no longer look after it properly.
The 94-year-old MBE who joined the hit BBC show in 1979, says it is time to let other collectors enjoy his life's work.
"Now that I am older than most of the ceramics in my collection, I am no longer able to pick up and hold and cherish every one of the hundreds of pieces I have lived with all around me,” he said.
"I need other people to help care for me now and so it’s time to find new owners to care for all my beloved pots.
"Apart from just a few special favourites for my family to treasure, it is time for all of my pots to join new study collections.”
Before becoming known nationally for his stint on the show, Mr Sandon was appointed curator of the Dyson Perrins Museum at the Royal Worcester Factory in 1967, a job he says "changed my life".
Reflecting on his early days he said: "I dug up Roman and Medieval pots in my garden by Worcester Cathedral and was captivated by their history.
"Digging up broken pots led me to attend local auctions and antique shops filled with Worcester porcelain.
"It didn’t matter that I could only afford damaged examples of the early pottery I coveted. I knew it was important to buy as much as I could and to hold it and live with it.
"Experts would come to the museum to help me sort the finds from my important excavations on the site of the earliest Worcester china factory.
At this time, fifty years ago, Worcester still had a flourishing china factory."
Mr Sandon became friends with Arthur Negus, the first TV antiques expert, and through an appearance on his show was taken onto the Antiques Road Show.
His 1,000-piece collection, titled The Henry Sandon Ceramic Study Collection, is due to be auctioned by Chorley's auctioneers in April.
It is split into 380 lots and is expected to fetch at least £50,000.
The auction will feature pots from 2000BC to the present day and people will have the opportunity to buy a piece of history, as well as a memento of one of our ‘National Treasures’.
Simon Chorley said: “Chorley’s is delighted to have been instructed to sell the collection, as we have had a wonderful, long-standing relationship with both Henry and Arthur.
“I first met Henry Sandon at the Three Choirs Festival at Gloucester in 1965. I was a chorister at Gloucester Cathedral, while Henry was a Lay Clerk at Worcester.
“After Arthur’s death in 1985, I was involved with arranging the auction of his treasured collection.
“Henry very much enjoyed that sale and it is now a privilege for me to be involved in arranging Henry’s sale."
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