Victoria and Albert Museum Antiques Roadshow

Welcome to a new series of Antiques Roadshow and my first programme.

As a new boy, I'm looking forward very much to what lies ahead,

as we take our caravan to castles, stately homes and local halls all over the country.

Hopefully, there'll be much to see and interesting people to meet.

We start in London, at the greatest treasure store in Britain - the Victoria & Albert Museum.

The place is unmatched, with some of the best pieces of all periods, all styles, from all parts of the globe.

There are ceramics from England and from China,

paintings from France and from India,

glass that's 3,000 years old and glass that was made yesterday.

You'll find furniture that's ornate and furniture that's very simple.

There are textiles, costumes,

silver, old illustrated books, musical instruments, stained glass from Germany,

and the museum houses every kind of sculpture, from delicate wooden figures to towering bronzes.

There are seven miles of galleries and all in all, the V&A owns about four million objects.

It's difficult to know where to start. It started in 1852, right after the Great Exhibition of 1851.

Over six million people have been to the Crystal Palace to marvel at treasures from around the world.

Ticket sales were huge. The museum was founded on the proceeds.

Pieces were purchased from the Exhibition to start the collection.

It was set up in an iron building - the Brompton Boilers,

and over the next 50 years it grew,

and visitors have got lost in its maze of galleries ever since.

Turning yet another corner, you come upon this.

Your first thought is, "Michelangelo's David! It can't be here!"

It is a copy, as are the other treasures of Italy in this room.

Plaster casts were taken from the originals, and they're here for students to study and draw.

Turn another corner, you find these.

There are those who will say this is not art, this is something else, but it is very much part of the V&A.

It's not just a museum for antiques, it's for anything that will help designers of the future.

And this, the V&A hope, IS the future - a new building for the V&A for the 21st century.

The model is of the design by Daniel Libeskind, to be fitted into the remaining plot of land on the site,

and it's entirely different from the Victorian buildings which will surround it.

Naturally, some people love it, and a lot of people loathe it.

It is true to the founding principle of this astonishing institution, to educate and to surprise.

The Roadshow has been set up in the grand entrance hall, and also in the sculpture galleries.

Let's see what our experts find.

My wife had it for five or six years.

It's probably come down through the family.

-She was wearing it as costume jewellery.

-What did she wear it on?

Denim jackets, anything that she thought... Nice, sparkly thing.

We took it to a jeweller's to get the clasp repaired.

-He said, "You do realise it's the real thing?"

-The real thing.

-She's not worn it since, more's the pity.

-Diamonds and denim!

-Yes.

-Thought about the design?

-I did notice that the two ends unscrewed, but...

-They unscrew

because there is probably not only this brooch but a cascade of them

running down the front of a corseted dress in about 1900.

You think your wife had problems. Think of Princess Youssoupova walking around with this.

-Not bad.

-No.

-I say Princess Youssoupova as I can tell it's a Russian brooch by the safety clasp.

It's a strange sort of twist like a question mark at the end,

which stops the owner pricking her finger, or her lady's maid pricking her finger,

as you'd never put this on yourself in pre-Revolutionary Russia.

It's what we call a stomacher because it runs along the front of the stomach of such a lady.

I can't think how it could be more beautiful.

Underneath here, there's a break in the design

which I think is where the second and however many more brooches went down to meet it -

a tiny little groove here.

And also observe the beauty of this gallery here, the pierced gallery,

and the fact that the back is made of gold

and yet the front is of platinum, to give the whiteness of the effect.

I think it's a late brooch - 20th Century.

The Russians - it's a curiously sort of feudal life they lived there -

and in the early 20th Century, things couldn't be more sumptuous, bejewelled and exotic,

so this is a fantastic context, really, isn't it?

I'm going to look for hallmarks. Russian hallmarks usually appear on the clasp of the jewel,

and along the pin, which is strange, and yet there are more here.

It's good that I did check. There are the initials of the maker there.

Feodor Lorie - Art-Nouveau jeweller making things in the Lalique manner.

Serpents, butterflies and the like.

A slightly conventional one for him, but very beautiful. What did the jeweller's say?

-They must have admired it very much.

-They did, yes.

-Mm.

-They said it was a lovely piece and...

-and even said "I'll give you £5,000 scrap for it." I said no.

-Wow!

-I don't think so.

-Scrapping it's not the right word.

-Exactly.

-We've gone beyond scrap.

-It's too beautiful to break down.

-Fabulous context.

-If he's going to offer you £5,000 scrap for it, double it for insurance. £10,000.

-Ooh!

-For insurance? Yeah.

-Dear me.

Pembroke tables we've seen before -

this is the nicest type which is an oval, which if we lift the flaps,

that is just the greatest shape.

A typical Classical period,

just in that time between 1775 and 1790.

A transition piece,

-because you have an element of carving on the leg and this element of inlay.

-Right.

So that's how we date it, it's between purely carved and purely inlaid, for decoration.

One of the tricks that they learned early on, was to make the top look very thin

by putting a simple moulded edge... If you'd a half round moulding, it would look thick and clumsy.

If you lessen it by just a sixteenth of an inch, the eye catches on and it's a thin, elegant top.

And then the distance between the edge and this banding

-is just perfect to make the proportion look good.

-Right.

This is boxwood and ebony.

Each one of those little chevrons is created by dipping the point into hot sand and scorching it,

-giving a 3-dimensional effect. What about family history?

-My grandmother gave it to me when I was 21,

-and I've said I'll give it to my eldest grand-daughter when she's 21.

-Oh, wonderful.

I'll show you why it's special. Turn it upside down, for a better look.

OK, just rest it on its back. Now, first of all...

You have an inlaid patterae at the top.

-Ten years earlier, this would have been carved. Ten years later this would not have been carved.

-Golly.

That again confirms the date. Look at the top. What a wonderful way to finish moulding.

A Cupid's bow at the top - not straight across - boring.

It doesn't stop the eye following the line up. Now this is a lovely Cupid's bow in reverse, in section,

all the way down, tapering down here,

and then the most magic bit of all, that single punch hole,

which gives the whole thing an architectural touch to it.

-See this wonderful little peg?

-Yes.

That's the hinge for the loper. It's a sign of authenticity when you see where it's rubbed on the side.

Back to that peg - the original wooden peg, never ever been touched.

-You've trouble with that leg.

-Yes.

-Somebody put a piece of brass on it.

That is so easy to remedy.

-You should have something done with that - it will spoil the carcase.

-Right.

There, the prettiest Pembroke table you could wish to see.

For purposes of insurance you'd be thinking of probably £12,500 to £15,000.

-Ooh, good grief!

-Well, for all the reasons I've said.

-An ordinary one is £5,000 or £6,000. This is extraordinary.

-Really?

-It's lovely.

-Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

-I love it.

We're from New Zealand. Timaru in the South Island. We're in London for a week visiting then going to Europe.

-Did you come to buy antiques, or to have a good look?

-To have a look.

Love your programme in New Zealand. About six weeks ago, you showed a programme of Blenheim Palace.

And that prompted us - on Friday we're going to visit it.

-So which one of you is the older sister?

-I am.

-By how much?

-Half an hour.

-Makes a difference.

Yes, she's half a size bigger in everything and I just lag behind.

-We all like different things.

-Yes.

-So you like some of those. We happen to like, um, that.

These three were acquired by my parents some time or other,

I don't know where.

-This I bought in an auction.

-Right.

-But I believe that one to be a fake.

-Oh, right.

-The rest I don't know about.

-We give them the weight test,

and really feel the weight of them.

This one does feel too light, it's too thick on the rim,

it's got a yellow colour... It's well-made glass, but that is a fake.

-So I was right.

-Yeah. You've got nothing there. But this one, on the other hand, is just right.

Heavy, a beautiful brilliant colour.

What super engraving! The rose, with one bud and two buds, the emblem of the Jacobites.

You've got an oak leaf and "Fiat",

the Jacobite motto which means "that is so", "my claim's real".

The whole thing commemorates the supporters of Bonnie Prince Charlie,

-so a very collectable wine glass, lovely condition, and valuable, worth £1,200.

-Blimey, that's good!

Expected £200-£300, top whack.

-I think it's a fake teapot.

-A fake?

-Yes.

-You collect teapots?

-I do.

-And you think you've got a fake.

-I think so.

-It's quite a genuine... called a Cadogan teapot.

-Really?

Named after Lady Cadogan, who brought the shape back from China, but turned it into a teapot.

-Made around about 1830.

-How interesting!

-170 years old.

-Yes.

-And, of course, it pours in the most extraordinary way - it fills in an incredible way.

-No...

-How do you...? How do you think you fill it?

-Maybe here?

-Spout? No.

-Oh, dear.

-You pour hot, strained tea into there.

-Oh?

-Let's use this.

-Let's actually... May I use it?

-Yes, please, do. The first time.

-Gosh. This is pretend hot tea - it's only cold water.

-OK.

-Right, you pour... You pour that into there,

-like that...

-Ooh, how strange.

-And then what do you do?

-I have got no idea.

-Well, you simply turn it over like that.

-It's like a magic teapot, really.

-Then you pour it out like that.

-How interesting.

-Absolutely genuine.

A perfect one would be something like about £150.

-A little bit damaged on the spout.

-Yes.

-So we're perhaps below £100.

-What did you pay for it?

-About £15, 30 years ago.

-Very good.

-And absolutely genuine.

-Oh, that's great - thank you very much.

-A Cadogan you can use.

-I love it.

I bought it in Tokyo in the mid-'70s. It was my first time in Tokyo.

-I'd been reading Shogun...and thought he was a wonderful piece.

-I think you're right,

-but do you actually know what he is?

-No.

-I assumed it was in the doll category and I collect tin toys.

-Do you?

He's a splendid character, but you're quite right, he is a doll, made for a boy on Boys' Day.

The girls had dolls on Girls' Days.

And he would've had a lot more armour. I think, obviously, it's gone missing over the years.

-His head is made of what we call gofum - crushed shells.

-Interesting.

He would've had a head-dress which is known as a kabuto,

a very high head-dress with an emblem on the top.

What I love is the underside of his shoe, which... I'll turn it round.

I mean, it just defies anything to do with armour, doesn't it?

-This wonderful latticework of straw.

-That's in reasonable condition.

-And in very good condition.

So, um... he has a very grand silk-covered...

-This is all backed in paper.

-Right.

-And hard paper too, so that it sticks out. It's very grand.

I would say he's probably around circa 1800 - not more than 1820.

He's highly collectable, particularly to the Japanese.

-He would be worth in the region of £1,500 to £2,000.

-That's very good.

I'm not a Doulton collector, I like them because they've got mermaids.

I collect things with mermaids and fish and marine motifs on, and shells and things,

and I saw these and I thought they were wonderful, so I bought them.

I think they're wonderful too.

The Art Nouveau movement started on the continent, but these at the same time are so English, really.

I think they're splendid decoration.

We've got the initial of the painter there. Individual painter, of course, that's Margaret E Thompson.

All these Doulton pieces were signed with initials, most are female.

This is one of the great specialities of Sir Henry Doulton, that he was employing these ladies.

Art school starting etc, being trained, not really anybody wanting to employ them.

Doulton was one of the first to employ the talented female artists.

-I think those are splendid. Did you go out and buy them or are they family pieces?

-No, no.

I bought them in an auction about 12 years ago.

-I saw them and I liked them.

-How far did you fall for them? What did they cost?

-About £400.

-Did they?

-12 years ago.

-Today, certainly, 12 years on,

well over £1,000. I would have thought, £1,200 - £1,500.

-You must have a lot of pleasure from that £400.

-I'll never sell them.

-An Archers tea towel.

-Because I'm Charles Collingwood, but I play Brian Aldridge in the Archers.

-Yes.

-Just as important, I'm married to Judy Bennett who plays...

-Shula. -

-You're Shula!

-Shula Hebdon Lloyd.

-You must have difficulty remembering who you actually are.

-Yes.

-Sometimes.

It's easier being on Radio - you don't lose your identity so easily.

-So in here...

-Right.

..is a very charming little plate with a monogram in the centre and a signature on the back - Mason 1876.

-William Mason would have been my great-great-grandfather on my mother's side.

-Mm, yes.

Very much a Londoner,

obviously, a colourist,

did illustrations,

but he became best known by being the first person ever to be commissioned to colour Christmas cards -

-apparently up till then they'd been in black and white.

-Yes.

-Commissioned to paint the first Xmas cards.

-Paint over a print?

-Exactly.

Yes, well, do you have any examples of his work? Of his Christmas cards?

-No.

-No, sadly we don't.

The plate is very charming, and obviously painted by him,

just as a little amateur painting I think.

-He wasn't at any china factory - he would have got a blank and painted it.

-For his children?

-Possibly.

As a family thing, with the monogram on the centre.

But the painting is very extraordinary, it's after James Hardy Junior.

-Right.

-There were two James Hardys and this is by W Mason, 1856,

-painted from the life, but in the style of...

-In the style of Hardy, as I believe.

Hardy was a fine painter and this is quite a good copy.

I like it particularly for this stoneware jug there, which is the time of George I or George II -

an import from Germany, in Rhenish stoneware.

Anyway, that's fun, and the plate is not worth a great deal because it's a little personal family treasure,

but the painting has a fair value.

-One's looking at about £400 or £500.

-Jolly nice!

-But it's nice.

Here's a charming letter written by Charles Dickens and he subscribes his name at the bottom here.

It's not written by him, but by a clerk or a secretary,

but it's to Mrs Clarke and Mr Vellow.

I dare think that these are people who played with him,

when he took his touring company around the country doing Shakespeare plays and modern comedies.

Miss Cowden Clarke I think her name was.

Anyway, he says, "I the undersigned,

"mindful in my heart... of your kind remembrance of me in your beautiful and careful to be pleased gift..."

"..proffered with all love and friendship..."

It's a charming letter. It's lacking its integral blank leaf which it should have,

but nevertheless a letter like that, would be worth somewhere in the region of £400-£450.

And delightfully... You can always tell George Bernard Shaw's writing -

this lovely paragraph caught my...caught my eye.

"May I suggest that you request the Duke of Westminster to resign his place on the General Committee

"because of his campaign against pianofortes in Board Schools?

"If you do that, and get it into the papers,

"it will do the society better. George Bernard Shaw to Mrs Beavington Atkinson, Kyle Society."

That's a wonderful letter.

That would be somewhere in the region of £350, possibly £400.

Anyway, this is a remarkable collection. What is the core of it?

The main part of the collection was left to me by my grandmother when I was 12.

-An extraordinary thing to have given a child of 12.

-I suppose she thought I would be interested in books.

I was interested in painting and drawing, and I presume that's why she did leave them to me.

The letters were written to a cousin of hers, Mrs Beavington Atkinson,

and she was a member of the Fripp family of painters.

And her husband was the president of a literary society

and I was always fascinated by them. I thought they were wonderful,

-because holding these letters is as near as you'll ever get to the person who wrote them.

-Right.

You see every little ink spot. People say, "Oh, you could collect clothes."

-But it's their thoughts at the time.

-Absolutely.

But you've got an incredible collection here.

Thomas Carlisle, Amelia Edwards...

You've got a couple of Ruskin letters. It goes on and on... artists, writers, everybody there.

But this is a very good collection,

I'm thrilled to have seen it. You've a Yeats letter here. Yeats - incredibly highly collectable,

and even though this doesn't say very much - it is still quite an important letter, worth £400-£500.

But also in the collection - and I have to pull this out, because I think this is probably the star.

To have a writer who actually pens a poem like this - and the Cradle Song -

and this I assume is a draft of the Cradle Song...

-It's not the same as the published one.

-That's the most important thing.

Terribly exciting. It's a wonderful poem, all in Yeats' hand - a Cradle Song - and the final verse reads:

"I sigh that kiss you for I must own that I shall miss you when you have grown."

-It's rather sad, but rather poignant and rather lovely.

-Yes, very.

-That is probably worth the best part of £4,000.

-Oh, my goodness.

So looking through the collection - have you any idea? I suppose not.

-Adding up...

-No. Nobody has seen them until I've shown them to you.

-I'm very privileged, but you've got, I suspect, the best part of £10,000 worth of autographs.

-My goodness.

-Your show has been running for how long?

-I think it's 50 years on January 1st.

-1st January next year.

-Well, that sounds like a cue for a very good meeting - the Roadshow comes to Ambridge.

-That'd be fun.

So good. I've got all the land for you to have it on. Brian's got 2,000 acres.

To think that these silly cartoon men were painted 350 years ago.

-They look very modern.

-They do. Did you realise how old they were when you bought them?

-We knew nothing.

-So where do they come from?

-We lived near the Kensington Church Street and liked looking in windows there.

-I went into one shop and on the floor was a pile of big ones like this and little ones like that.

-Right.

They looked very decorative. The big ones were £1, the little ones 10/-.

-How many did you buy?

-Those two, we've been happy to have them ever since.

-You left the rest in the pile?

-Yes. I'd love to go back for more.

-When was that?

-The early '50s.

Yes, here we're looking at dishes made in Tuscany. They're from the potteries in the region of Montelupo

and they depict local characters, painted in a wonderful naive way.

Looking at that character, I suppose he's a soldier of some sort. He's holding a flag, or something.

-What a splendid hat he has on.

-He's lovely.

-And always painted in this funny pose, legs wide open.

-Soldiers with guns or flags.

-Yes.

-Occasionally, young ladies. This one I think is unusual, being...

-I suppose he's a harlequin.

-He's got a mask on.

-A carnival mask, a little pointed beard.

-Yes.

He has the soldier's uniform, but it's the Italian comedy character inherent in early Italian art.

-Made to hang on a wall.

-Yes.

-When we turn them over, there'll be pierced holes.

-They have a method of hanging them.

-Yes, this has a chain in it.

-D'you...?

One is on the wall, one is standing up.

-It hangs up from there on the wall.

-Picture rail.

-Perfectly safe, as long as you make sure wire's tight.

Not being used, the colours are as fresh as when they were made in about 1650.

-As early as that?

-As early as that, and they look so modern.

Picasso was influenced by these dishes. He made modern ceramics and painted figures in this style.

-You could almost believe that these were made by someone like Picasso.

-That's wonderful.

But these are the real picture dishes from that region of Italy, made in maiolica and lovely things.

-Today your pound has become £1,000 there.

-Really?

-£500 for that one.

-Oh, thank you very much.

I came to the V&A Art Nouveau Exhibition

and browsed through the shop afterwards. I saw one of these.

-A reproduction. I thought maybe this is the real thing.

-OK.

-Can you tell me?

We'll have a look at it.

-What's the background to it? Is it a family object or...?

-Yes.

My father is French, my grandmother was French and so it came from her.

-So you think the odds are it's going to be French?

-That's my thinking.

You're forgiven for saying that, because the French did dominate the Art Nouveau scene in 1900,

but this girl, I can tell you, she's not a mademoiselle - she's a Fraulein because she's German,

and if we turn her upside down, it's all there in the marks,

because, get it the right way round,

you've got a mark in the centre and the initials WMF and a little stork in a lozenge.

That's for the Wurtemberg Metal Workshops

and they produced a lot of this Art Nouveau art pewter.

Datewise, about 1900-1905, and it was retailed in quite a few London shops.

I think Mr Liberty in Regent Street was very big on retailing German art pewter.

So much so that he actually started his own art pewter called Tudric.

But anyway, this is so typical - commercial Art Nouveau,

especially with the use of these whiplash curvilinear supports and the maiden with her hair en chignon.

It's so typical but right as rain. It's not obviously a reproduction. You've got to be careful.

The ones to look out for at the moment tend to use an angel within an oval, as a mark.

So if you have one and it looks cheap, or you're about to buy one, be suspicious.

Now I know for a fact that the reproductions were selling for around about £200-£250,

-but when you've got the real thing, you're nearer £750, so not bad.

-Right.

-So, not...not bad.

Wow! Well, frankly if I didn't know what this jewel was, I'd be happy to find the inscription in the lid

which tells me its history. It says, "The Guild of Handicraft".

That's the big key to the fascination of a jewel like this. Tell me what you know about it.

It was a present from my grandmother when I was eight years old.

-You've worn it since?

-Yes.

-And enjoyed it?

-Yes I do.

-These are most delicious-looking rubies.

-Very pretty.

-And enamelwork.

-Have you been allowed to wear it?

-No. Not yet.

-You're queueing up.

Well this is made by one of England's greatest Arts and Crafts jewellers, Charles Robert Ashbee.

He was an architect and furniture maker and had a huge influence on the Arts and Crafts Movement,

second only to William Morris. We know Ashbee opened this business in 1888 and it was finished in 1908.

So we've a brilliant context to its date too.

The enamelling work derives from the Renaissance - it's an English Renaissance type of jewel.

Set with two rubies and the tiny pendant loop is a little miracle of filigree work here,

and again there's an antique reference to the twisted gold work

suspending the ruby and the pearl.

It was felt they wanted to evoke ancient goldsmithing techniques,

to look at Medieval and Renaissance forms with a modern interpretation.

And having taken on board the value of the two rather beautiful little rubies,

we have to think about a value of between £4,000 and £6,000 today.

Oh... I didn't expect that!

I don't know a lot about it. It belonged to my mother-in-law,

and I've had it since the '60s. Late '60s.

-So it's a true family piece?

-Yes.

-It has that nice feel to it.

-Well used.

-And enjoyed and loved, right?

What is nice about it is that it's a plain good Georgian piece. It has all the line in the world.

This wonderful baluster stem, nice bit of turning in the middle,

good shaped legs, nothing fancy about it,

but the special part is this rim.

Now many tables were just a thick plank top, so this is among the rarer type.

Later, to make the plain ones more fashionable, people dished them out.

This is the original dishing.

We used to use tables for different occasions in different ways. Our rooms weren't set as they are now.

This would be used as a tea table, say, after dinner. We didn't have afternoon tea when this was made.

During the day, when we'd have met and gathered for the equivalent of a cocktail party in the afternoon,

this would've been stood against the wall, tipped up, like so.

So that's the view you'd have seen of this table.

One thing that is a problem to collectors, particularly nowadays,

is whether the top belongs to the bottom.

Where this top here has been in contact with the block, you can see signs of contact, here, and here,

where it matches a little block which is the top of the tenon, coming through from the base,

and in the corners, you can see a dry patch there which matches that patch there.

There's no way anybody marrying the bits together could've done that,

so all of those signs just lift it out of the ordinary,

and the colour under here, where hundreds of hands have done exactly that, created their own patina here.

You can't make that.

It happens over 150 or 200 years - so that's really why I think it... you know, I love the table

and of its type it's exceptional in this old and original dishing

-and the colour and the feel of it, you know... You like it too?

-I like it, yes.

-Sure.

-Good. I mean, I would insure it for £6,000.

-Right.

-All right?

-Yes.

-Very good, thank you.

-What's the type of wood?

-Mahogany.

-Right.

-And these three pieces were all made at the same date, the beginning of the 18th century,

but what is interesting, of course, is this one was made in China,

and these two were made in Europe,

although they've got Chinese subjects in them.

These little pots intrigue me a lot,

one, because I've actually never seen two pots of the same size -

both of milk jug size - with the same pattern on. That doesn't normally happen.

I have seen this pattern before

and it's a pattern that occurs

on porcelain made by Bottger, at Meissen, between 1715 and 1720.

They're very early, or the porcelain is very early.

There is an intriguing question that surrounds them

and that is where this decoration was done,

because they have traditionally been called "Dutch-decorated wares".

-Because you get this... See this rather brittle blue enamel here?

-Yes.

-Slightly flaky.

You get that not merely on Meissen pieces, but on Chinese and Japanese pieces decorated in Holland.

They were originally bought, I think, just after the war, from a collector

and what you've told me now ties up

with what I've been told subsequently by a friend, some years ago.

I mean, this is marvellous to see -

what the early Meissen porcelain, early Bottger porcelain, looked like.

It's absolutely classic. This creamy surface and this is a typical unglazed foot rim.

That is a Meissen handle. Only Meissens made a handle like this.

-From silver designs.

-From silver designs made by Mr Erminger, who designed all their pieces.

But they are slightly different. This is... This is...much a bigger body, this is much more waisted.

I think that's just a question of the way they were made, the way they were potted.

They are meant to be the same size.

-..No. No, the lids don't - the lids never do exchange on Meissen pieces.

-No.

So there they are, very good condition.

You've got a bit of loss of gilding, but I mean that really doesn't matter,

-and I think you should certainly insure them for £5,000.

-As much as that?

-Yes, I think so.

If you wanted to buy them again, you'd have to pay that order of money.

So, John, how do you define your job here?

I have to look at a piece of furniture, and decide from the features that are decorative,

or its construction, or its design, as to how old it could be, whether or not it's authentic,

and then, hopefully, tell the surprised and delighted owner

the benefits of something they've used for 40 years perhaps. That's basically it.

You also have to break bad news to them - they might have a hybrid piece of furniture.

Yes, I often think there's more interest in a hybrid than in the purest piece of furniture

as it shows that through its history something's happened to it, which we may not know, but can surmise...

History of furniture as a utility object is involving and interesting. It's a fascinating thing to do.

What do you most look forward to? What are you hoping will come up?

The thought of finding a piece of furniture which to the untutored eye looks quite ordinary,

is enjoyed by the owner and they don't really know why,

and to be able to say - this is why it's so wonderful,

this is what went into making this piece which makes it stand out.

I've been very lucky, I've had a piece like that today and it's wonderful, very exciting to do.

The right owner - very keen, knowledgeable, but not a connoisseur in that way

and a piece of furniture which looked - because of its condition - something you'd dismiss,

-but with all those special features that just lifted it - great fun.

-Make their day.

-Made mine!

"Lovynge hartes, dethe onlye partes". That's really rather sweet.

-It sort of harks back to the Medieval period.

-Yes.

Those things that they had with mottos inside.

-Where did you find these?

-I found it in a dustbin, in a paladin bin.

-Do you make a habit of this?

-Yes, I'm rather...

-I've had some good finds.

-Yes? Amazing what people throw away.

-Mm.

This is dated 1881. Not a terribly exciting thing but it's nice because of the Medieval revival motto.

-This, however, I think is a lot more exciting and this you found in the same way?

-Yes.

-Amazing.

-But they weren't like this.

-No.

-They were very black.

They hadn't been cleaned for ages.

This very attractive box, probably a tobacco box, was made by the well-known silversmith Omar Ramsden,

and hallmarked on the back, "made in 1936",

-and it's a very attractive box with these two little cupids.

-Yes.

This one's holding a pineapple - a symbol of hospitality.

Yes, I quite like the way it gathers here, the silver.

-D'you see? It's almost as though it's been pinched.

-I think this is an example of the auricular style,

-which is nothing to do with gold, but to do with ears.

-Right.

Developed in the 17th C by a Dutch designer, it's the shape of your ear lobes and the curves of your ears.

It's really delightful.

The bangle's not terribly valuable. I thought the inscription was fun.

-But this is quite a different kettle of fish and whatever it's worth, it's all profit.

-Of course.

Well, I think that for insurance purposes,

-I'd value this today at £1,500 to £2,000.

-That is a good find!

-You did well.

-I shall keep looking.

It's wonderful to be here in the Victoria & Albert Museum

-but I never expected that we'd get brought in a museum-quality picture, but that's what you've brought.

-Wow.

Look at the way he has handled the whole light in this market scene,

the way the light comes off the candle and illuminates her face. It's a most brilliant piece of work.

-Lovely.

-You have the source of light,

then you've another candle light here and tremendously subtle lighting in...

Look at the reflections on this copper jug - wonderfully handled -

and the way these - this boy and this young man - are conversing.

He's looking at him but he's looking across at her.

Wonderful little narrative details in this overall scene.

-Has it been in your family for some time?

-It was in my husband's family.

-Right.

-And I think his father bought it many years ago.

Was there a particular significance to the subject for your father-in-law when he bought it?

-He worked in the fish market as a young boy.

-Did he?

-And his father was in the fish market before him,

and so I imagine that because it's a market scene, that's what appealed to him, but I don't know really.

-Also the fact that it's on the quayside.

-Yes.

-There probably is fish being sold...

-I would guess so.

-And he'd have remembered the moonlit night-time markets.

-He had a good eye for paintings.

-Certainly did.

-And I had a good eye,

because when they split the house up when the parents-in-law died, this was the one thing I really loved.

Very good choice you made. There's so much more when you get into it -

there's this wonderful moonlight at the top of the picture,

again sort of illuminating the silhouettes of the buildings

and the rigging of the ships behind.

-I didn't know what they were.

-Rigging of sailing vessels.

-Of course.

-Incredibly beautifully handled.

Very subtle, and then to reveal all, at the bottom is the signature here.

-Yes.

-P Van Schendel.

-Yes.

-Petrus Van Schendel - a Dutch painter, but he worked in Belgium and Holland

and he absolutely specialised in these moonlit/candlelit scenes.

He was... It was his trademark, if you like, what he was absolutely brilliant at,

and he was working in the middle of the 19th century.

Between about 1830 and 1870, was when he was really in his prime.

Painted in oil on this very nice bit of wood.

Well, just quality is the word for it.

It is by probably the leading, um, candlelight painter of the 19th Century.

-That I didn't know. I did see some of Van Schendel's paintings in New York.

-Yes.

Two, three years ago. Perhaps five years ago.

Yeah, well, his work does come up quite regularly at auction,

so we know reasonably clearly what this probably would make.

I think at auction now, he's very much in vogue.

He's very much sought-after - a lot of people collect him.

-Probably make between £70,000 and £90,000.

-Oh!

-So you should probably insure it for £100,000.

-Wow!

Thank you.

Almost like winning the lottery. Almost. £100,000 for insurance.

My first Roadshow. What luck to witness one of the great discoveries we make occasionally on this show.

And in such perfect surroundings!

We shall be back here later in the series,

when Paul Atterbury, who's setting up a new exhibition on the Victorians, opening here in April,

will tell me more about the history of this remarkable place. Until next week, goodbye.

Subtitles by BBC Scotland