Some treasure hunters have all the luck – and yet it never seems to be me

A wooden carving bought at auction for £75 likely belonged to Anne Boleyn – it is now valued at £200,000. When will my fortune turn, asks Rupert Hawksley

Anne Boleyn was executed with a single stroke in 1536 (National Portrait Gallery)

One of the reasons we love to root around in charity shops and study auction catalogues is the hope, always faint, that we may unearth treasure – or at least something old and undervalued. It always happens to other people, of course. That’s one of the rules. The rest of us must instead sulk in front of Antiques Roadshow.

I recently found, in a local junk shop, what I absolutely knew was a lucrative gold necklace with a small diamond pendant. Six quid. Now to retire, I thought. My brother, a gemologist, looked at a grainy WhatsApp picture, however, and quickly suggested I rethink retiring. Ah, well.

But we keep on looking because stories do occasionally emerge that quicken the pulse. It was recently revealed that an “antique carved wooden bird”, which sold for £75 at auction in 2019, actually belonged to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife (beheaded), and would likely have been on display in one of her private rooms in Hampton Court Palace in the early 16th century. This, naturally, changes things – that small oak carving has now been valued at £200,000.

Speaking to The Guardian, Tudor historian Tracy Borman said: “The irony is that Anne Boleyn is the most popular of the six wives and she’s probably the one with the least surviving evidence [...] because she was obliterated by Henry. So that makes this really quite special and obviously I’m very excited about it.

“It is a remarkable survivor. The really interesting thing is that somebody obviously wanted to save it for posterity. So it’s likely to have been a supporter of Anne.”

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Now I must confess that I’m no great Tudor enthusiast. The historical details of the carving are less interesting to me than its discovery at auction in 2019 – for £75! And this is where, for the amateur treasure seeker at least, the story takes an unfortunate turn. The man who spotted the carving, Paul Fitzsimmons, is an antiques dealer. He has what’s called an “eye”, something which I – and I suspect, you – do not. I can just imagine myself flicking idly past this little block of wood and thinking, “No, not for me. Ooh, look at that diamond necklace”.

Fitzsimmons told The Guardian: “I didn’t know immediately that it was the badge of Anne Boleyn, but I knew that it had some sort of royal connection because it had the crown and sceptre, and it was a royal bird.” I would not have known any of those things which is, of course, why I have not yet retired. We like to think that luck is dished out fairly but it isn’t. Luck is earned. Depressing thought, but true.

Still, mustn’t be too downbeat. I shall certainly be taking a much closer look at any and all wooden carvings in future. Henry VIII did have six wives, after all.

Yours,

Rupert Hawksley

Voices senior commissioning editor