A news by daily mail UK reported, a woman who paid £100 for a locked trunk belonging to Agatha Christie has uncovered Agatha Christie mom treasure box with items worth £100,000. The Lucky woman, Jennifer Grant bought the battered brown leather case at an auction held at Greenway House, Christie's former home near Kingswear, Devon, and found another box inside. The Agatha Christie's fan, who is a keen follower of Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, paid just £100 for the memento and kept it at her home in London as a ‘dinner party talking point’. But when she asked her builder to force the two brass locks on the case, she was stunned to find a metal strong-box inside.
Photo: Jennifer Hawkins' with John BenjaminJennifer contacted the original auctioneers who had no knowledge of the strong-box or a key so Jennifer wrenched it open and found a lost hoard of the Christie's family jewels. There was a hoard of gold; 35 sovereigns and 17 half sovereigns in a small crocheted bag, a diamond ring and a beautiful buckle shaped brooch wrapped in crumpled tissue paper in a cardboard box. In her autobiography, published in 1977 a year after her death, Christie described some jewellery of her mother’s that she and her sister Madge hoped to inherit. She wrote of ‘my mother's valuable jewellery’ and ‘my diamond buckle, my diamond crescent and my diamond engagement ring’.
Photo: a diamond ring and a beautiful buckle-shaped broochThe larger trunk bought by Jennifer bears the initials 'C.M.M.' the same as Christie's mother, Clara Margaret Miller. The jewellery found in the antiques box formerly owned by Agatha Christie's mother. The individual items are worth at least £20,000 but experts say if the evidence can be verified they could be worth at least five times as much with the Christie provenance. Jennifer says she is ‘thrilled’ to have ‘created her own mystery’ by accidentally stumbling on The Queen Of Crimes' family jewellery.
Jennifer bought the luggage in September 2006 at an auction at Christie's former home held by auctioneers Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood. They sold hundred of items including books and furniture following the death of Christie's only daughter, Rosalind Hicks, who had lived there until she died. Andrew Thomas, a senior consultant at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, who oversaw the original Greenway sale, said he was ‘not pleased’ by the find. It is not known whether Christie inherited the items and chose to store them in the trunk, or whether she kept the trunk without realising that the jewellery was inside.
Jennifer contacted Homes & Antiques magazine, which arranged for a valuation of the jewels by John Benjamin, a contributor to the BBC's Antiques Roadshow. John valued the coins at £5,500, the ring, which is set with three brilliant cut diamonds, at £2,500 to £3,000; and the brooch at £5,500 to £7,000. But he said the items could be worth significantly more if evidence confirmed the story behind them and the link to Agatha Christie.
Photo: Novelist Agatha ChristieI love to read Agatha Christie mystery novel. Its so generous of the people who auction the box without even checking what is the item inside the box. People doing auction to collect moeny is it? But look like someone in that company doesn't do their job very well. Agatha Christie Treasure found by Jennifer certainly bring her a little bit of fame. She just need to make sure the story about that item related to Agatha Christie is true and it will be raining money on her side. Can you imagine paying £100 and receive £100,000?
Source: Daily Mail UK
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