British TV program Antiques Roadshow takes a look at Ming Dynasty relic found in Gascoyne by Shark Bay duo

A treasure found on a remote Gascoyne beach has featured on the most recent episode of the UK’s Antiques Roadshow, with an expert identifying a Shark Bay duo’s Buddha figure as the oldest Chinese artefact in Australian history. Shark Bay historian and filmmaker Leon Deschamps appeared on the BBC show on Sunday night, UK time, with a small bronze Buddha statue he and his filmmaking partner Shayne Thomson found in 2019 while exploring sand dunes in the Shark Bay area with metal detectors. Mr Deschamps said he believed the item could have been a relic of a Ming Dynasty treasure ship from around the 1420s which washed up on the Australian coast, and could be a sign of an early interaction between China and Australia. Presenter and antiques expert Lee Young confirmed it was from the Ming Dynasty, making it the oldest trace of Chinese culture in Australia. “We’re very fortunate on the Antiques Roadshow that we do get to see some wonderful items and objects, but occasionally an item, an object, comes our way that has an amazing story that makes it almost a world treasure,” Mr Young said. “The story about this little Buddha and the journey that it’s made to get here today, it makes this an exceptional little object.” Mr Young said it would have been the item of an important figure which would have been used in religious ceremonies. Without its story, the presenter said it would be worth £3000-£5000 ($5000-$9000), but with its historical significance he said he wouldn’t be surprised if it was sold at an auction for £10,000, £50,000 or even £100,000, (around $180,000). “There are only one of these with that story,” he said. “It’s history making.” Mr Deschamps was visibly moved, and said that if the 600-year-old figure did go on to the market, he planned to use the money to honour a close friend who passed away. “We’d very much like something in his honour, that tells the story of the Buddha,” he said.