An Antiques Roadshow expert was left baffled when a couple brought along a mysterious object from the 16th century.

The guests said the wooden ornament has been with the family over 90 years yet no one had a clue what it could be.

Appearing on the BBC show, the couple showed expert Ronnie Archer-Morgan the circular object with four wooden legs.

He said: "The energy that this fantastically worn old piece of wood exudes to me is that quintessentially mystery object that makes me want to be an antique specialist."

Unable to identify what the antique item was, he asked: "Is this something you've inherited? Something you've been bought?"

The woman shared some insight, saying: "Well this is a piece that's been in my husband's family for over 90 years.

"It belongs to my father-in-law who's just turned 90, he's never found anything about it, all we know is it's a stool and it's had generations of our family sitting on it and now resides next to the fireplace."

Upon examining the piece, Ronnie asked if the object could be a stool to which the owner answered: "That's what we use it as."

Ronnie then added: "It looks like a stool, it’s almost a milking stool but it definitely isn’t that, way too heavy.

"I’m not sure exactly what it is. It’s got something about it that looks like it’s come from a ships workshop, from a ships carpenter I don’t know if that fits in with anything you know about it."

The guest then said her father-in-law's ancestor was a shipwright at Milford docks and had travelled around in roughly 1900.

“That fits in with what I think it is,” the expert shared. “It [could be a] ship's mortar for pounding grain to make bread for the ship’s crew or something like that.

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"The way it’s made, this recess is definitely made to stabilise and contain something heavy on top of it."

Ronnie then gave the valuation to the nautical-themed antique, detailing: "Even not knowing what it is an object like this has quite a value I reckon someone would pay between £1,500 and £2,500 for something like this."

He then pleaded viewers to find out more information about the object.

"“They may have seen one before it may be unique and I’m so thrilled you’ve brought it in to show me," he sad.

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