Animal lover Ann O’Connor had kept out of her sight an inherited rhino horn carving but after a visit to the Antiques Roadshow when it came to Saumarez Park, she auctioned it for the benefit of Save the Rhino – and made a lot more than she expected. (Picture by Steve Sarre, 0892628)

THE slaughter of a rhinoceros in the 19th century may not have been in vain.

When animal lover Ann O’Connor inherited a horn carving in 2001 she found it repulsive and hid it under the stairs.

But when the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow came to Saumarez Park in June, curiosity got the better of her and she took it along.

She was told it was worth between £15,000 and £20,000.

Last month, the full-tip libation cup sold at a Bonham’s Asian art auction for £15,000 and Miss O’Connor plans to donate the proceeds to the Save the Rhino charity.

‘I went to the roadshow after work. Someone must have spotted it and I was picked out from the queue,’ she said. ‘The carving was taken away and then somebody came back and said they wanted to film me.’

Miss O’Connor, 55, who works as a receptionist for a finance firm, was made up and put at a table in front of programme expert George Archdale. Then the cameras rolled.