Art expert’s visit to face county critics

A BBC presenter who caused a stir earlier in the year with his comments about the ankles of Shropshire women will be visiting the county to explain his remarks.

Antiques Roadshow art expert Rupert Maas caused indignation across the county in September when he described a figure in an impressionist painting as having a Shropshire ankle - in other words, thick set.

But he is now preparing to face his critics with a visit to a Shrewsbury branch of the Women’s Institute next week, which will be filmed for a BBC programme to be aired in the spring.

Carol Pagett, chairwoman of the Frankwell Little Boro’ branch, said the members were very excited about the visit, which will take place at their weekly meeting next Tuesday evening.

“Someone from the Shropshire federation of the WI made some comments about the ankles of WI members and that led to Mr Maas coming back to face his critics,” she said.The visit will be filmed as part of a follow-up series to the Antiques Roadshow, which will revisit stories from the past 30 years of the show.

Mrs Pagett said: “They’ve chosen him to come to us after the Shropshire ankle outrage. As far as I know they will film the whole meeting, starting with our normal business at the start, then he will give a talk, and then we will finish with coffee and cakes.

“We have been asked to wear nice shoes and skirts, which could cause some problems for me as I don’t own a skirt.

“But the idea is that the camera is going to be panning down towards our ankles.”

Mrs Pagett said members were looking forward to the evening.

“It should be good fun,” she said. “Rupert will give a short talk and we are delighted about that.

“Several of our members are interested in antiques and to have such a renowned art expert visit us is something we could never normally have been able to do. We couldn’t have afforded it.”

The group has been running for just over a year and now has 44 members.

By Pam Griffin