0:00:33 > 0:00:39This week, Antiques Roadshow is at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42Its romantic exterior is, in fact, a disguise -
0:00:42 > 0:00:47beneath is a red-brick house dating back to Tudor times.
0:00:47 > 0:00:53Knebworth was bought by the Lytton family in 1490. Sir Robert Lytton was a favourite of Henry VII
0:00:53 > 0:00:59and fought alongside him at the Battle of Bosworth. The family have lived here ever since.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03Each generation has adapted the house.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08In 1810, Elizabeth Bulwer-Lytton demolished three sides of the quadrangle,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12added towers and battlements, covered the red brick with stucco,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16and altered the windows to a Gothic style.
0:01:16 > 0:01:22Her son went further - adding domes, turrets and gargoyles to ward off evil spirits.
0:01:22 > 0:01:27Elizabeth was a formidable lady. When she arrived at Knebworth,
0:01:27 > 0:01:33she had a row with the rector, who wanted to claim a tithe on the produce that came from the estate.
0:01:33 > 0:01:39The dispute became so bitter that Mrs Bulwer-Lytton refused to go to church and held services at home.
0:01:39 > 0:01:45She even set up a screen of trees around the church so that it couldn't be seen from the house.
0:01:45 > 0:01:52Finally, she built her own mausoleum in the park, so that she would not have to be buried in the churchyard.
0:01:52 > 0:01:57When the 2nd Earl of Lytton made his alterations to Knebworth in 1908,
0:01:57 > 0:02:01he called on his useful brother-in-law, Edwin Lutyens,
0:02:01 > 0:02:07who embellished the house and remodelled the gardens. The lime avenues are world famous
0:02:07 > 0:02:12and the herb garden is the work of the famous designer Gertrude Jekyll.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15Charles Dickens and Winston Churchill visited here,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19but a little too early to enjoy Knebworth's open-air rock concerts.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23The first festival in 1974 was known as The Bucolic Frolic
0:02:23 > 0:02:27and featured the Allman Brothers band.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Status Quo did their gig in 1986.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32# Rocking all over the world! #
0:02:32 > 0:02:37All we're hoping is that the weather won't give us "the blues".
0:02:37 > 0:02:42They say it's going to start nicely, then become grey, dull and wet.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46But it's nice at the moment and we offer a very warm welcome indeed
0:02:46 > 0:02:50to the people of Hertfordshire as they join our experts.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53It was my mother's aunt's, and as a small child,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57we used to go and see her on Sundays, and it stood by the fireplace.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02- Really?- One Sunday we went there, and she put it out in the garden
0:03:02 > 0:03:09- and she said, "If you want it, you can take it home." But Mother wasn't very pleased.- Really?
0:03:09 > 0:03:14- But it did come home with us. - And you've had it ever since?- Yeah.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18- And when we got married, I didn't want it.- You didn't like it?- No.
0:03:18 > 0:03:24- He had to talk me into keeping it. - How funny.- And we've had it for the last 35 years.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29- Do you still hate it?- No, I love it. - Ah, a conversion.- A conversion.
0:03:29 > 0:03:34Well, as I'm sure you know, it's an umbrella stand.
0:03:34 > 0:03:36It's probably Minton.
0:03:36 > 0:03:42- Minton was the largest manufacturer of this class of ware, which is called majolica...- Yes.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48..in Stoke-on-Trent. They made a lot of these wares - it was hugely popular at the time.
0:03:48 > 0:03:54It dates from about 1870-75, somewhere around there,
0:03:54 > 0:03:59so he's pretty old. It's now hugely popular, particularly in America -
0:03:59 > 0:04:03the Americans have gone absolutely berserk for it.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07- You've got a lot of damage...- Yes. - You've got a riveted bottom,
0:04:07 > 0:04:11you've got a wing off there...
0:04:11 > 0:04:14one of his toes has gone...
0:04:14 > 0:04:18we've got this off here, bit gone off there...
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Um, so... Oh, and that's been off as well, I see.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27That makes a difference. But of all wares, if you have damage,
0:04:27 > 0:04:31this is the ware to have, because it makes least difference.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34- Oh, right.- If you did sell it,
0:04:34 > 0:04:36what would it make?
0:04:36 > 0:04:40- It would make £4,000 to £6,000. - Oh, really?- Really?
0:04:40 > 0:04:44- Do you like it any more? - I still wouldn't part with it.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49- Thank you for bringing it in. It's a joy.- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Yes, she's my doll. She was originally my aunt's doll,
0:04:53 > 0:04:58and I was the only niece and I was given her when I was about 10.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02- So you played with her? - A little bit, but not a lot
0:05:02 > 0:05:07- because I was told to look after her. - Well, you looked after her well.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- She's got such a pretty face.- Yes.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Now, she is a mould 117a.
0:05:13 > 0:05:18Mould 117a means that's she's called Mein Liebling or My Darling,
0:05:18 > 0:05:22and the world record, which still stands,
0:05:22 > 0:05:27for a bisque doll, or for any doll, for that matter, at auction,
0:05:27 > 0:05:31was by the firm of Kammer and Reinhardt. It wasn't the 117,
0:05:31 > 0:05:33it was a 108.
0:05:33 > 0:05:38I don't want to pick your spirits up too high, because it made...
0:05:38 > 0:05:44- £188,000, but yours is not worth... - I'd rather not...!
0:05:44 > 0:05:47So, um, she is by the same make.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50She's got lovely sleeping eyes,
0:05:50 > 0:05:57and...shall we turn her head? She has a lovely, mohair wig...
0:05:57 > 0:06:01- And...there, you see.- Oh, yes.
0:06:02 > 0:06:08"KR" - is Kammer and Reinhardt, then "117a", which is what she is - she's absolutely right.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12So she's got ball-jointed limbs,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16where they...at the knees and at the shoulders.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21She's got her original, lovely little velvet coat and dress
0:06:21 > 0:06:27- and this little hat. She's absolutely enchanting. I think she's one of my favourite dolls.- Yes.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Original shoes, and I see you've got some original clothes here,
0:06:32 > 0:06:37so you've a wonderful little doll. Have you any idea of her value?
0:06:37 > 0:06:43None at all, except you read books and you know that she might be worth £300, £400 - I don't know.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47Add a nought.
0:06:47 > 0:06:53- Oh! No wonder I haven't given her to my grandchildren to play with! - Thank goodness you didn't!
0:06:59 > 0:07:03A friend of mine died, and her husband gave her trinkets to me
0:07:03 > 0:07:07to sell for a charity we were all interested in, at a car-boot sale.
0:07:07 > 0:07:12I sorted through them and I looked at that one, and I thought,
0:07:12 > 0:07:18- "That's too good for a car boot. I'll find out what it's worth." - You've got gimlet eyes, haven't you?
0:07:18 > 0:07:23If the sky wasn't covered in clouds right now, this would be blazing.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28- I think you suspect that this is made of diamonds.- Yes.- You're right.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32I'm looking at the quality of them - they're rather marked,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37but, nonetheless, they ARE diamonds and probably really rather valuable.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42- It's part of a much bigger jewel - it's from an Edwardian necklace.- Ah.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46At a car-boot sale, what would you have sold it for?
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- Well, 50p, £1.- £1, OK.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54- Well, what about £2,500?- That's more like it!- Much more like it!
0:07:54 > 0:07:59- Thanks you.- Thank YOU.- Lovely story. I'm gonna follow you around.- Oh, do!
0:08:01 > 0:08:03I'll point there.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07- What does that say? - 1580.- 1580.
0:08:07 > 0:08:14- Really?- No.- Oh.- It's an imitation. Made in the 19th century,
0:08:14 > 0:08:19copying the 1580 style. And it's called a schnelle...
0:08:19 > 0:08:22a drinking tankard.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28And it's worth about...£30.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32Really?! I'm not surprised!
0:08:32 > 0:08:36- A genuine one would be £1,000 plus. - Oh, right.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41- Oh, well, I can pretend, can't I? - Have a drink - console yourself. - Yes. Lovely(!)
0:08:41 > 0:08:47Well, you have a hat to go to Ascot, you have a hat to go to Chelsea,
0:08:47 > 0:08:51why not have a hat to go to the Antiques Roadshow?
0:08:51 > 0:08:58- What a wonderful way to think. Is it an antique?- No. I made it in half an hour yesterday.- Really?
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Well, the experts might have something to say about those items.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06- Well you've certainly brightened our day! Good luck.- Thank you.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09I'm from a mining village in Durham,
0:09:09 > 0:09:13and all of my family are from Tyneside.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17- Much of this was in my grandmother's house.- They're all inherited?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21- Bar that big one. - Yeah. Which came from?
0:09:21 > 0:09:28- That came from my husband as a birthday present.- So you're now turning into a collector?- Probably!
0:09:28 > 0:09:31It's all Maling ware, Tyneside pottery,
0:09:31 > 0:09:36and Maling was producing pottery right throughout the 19th century.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41- This 20th-century lustre-ware is getting more popular.- Right.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45It's an interesting process - it's partly printed and partly painted,
0:09:45 > 0:09:50and Maling's quite difficult stuff to date, they used over 40 marks,
0:09:50 > 0:09:55and it may be a one-word difference on the mark which changes it.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00- Most of these are from the 1920s to 1940s period.- Right.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03You've no idea how much Maling is?
0:10:03 > 0:10:08I know it's getting more expensive, but when it's handed down, you don't think about it.
0:10:08 > 0:10:13A pair of vases like these two here, which are in very good condition,
0:10:13 > 0:10:18- would fetch about £500 themselves. Really?- Oh, gosh.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22This one is a bit later, but if you start totting these up,
0:10:22 > 0:10:26- it's going to amount to quite a lot of money.- It is.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31I bought it off a friend who got it off an art teacher at a big school.
0:10:31 > 0:10:38- And where was he keeping it at the time?- He had it in his dining room. - In his dining room?- Yes.
0:10:38 > 0:10:42- And where do you keep it now? - In my front room.- Oh, do you?
0:10:42 > 0:10:45- Yeah.- It's a big enough room?- Yeah.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47It is the most fantastic tableau.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52In the bottom right-hand corner, right down here, it says,
0:10:52 > 0:10:57"WJ Cole, naturalist and plumier" I think Mr Cole probably wasn't...
0:10:57 > 0:11:01a taxidermist as such, but he obviously dealt in feathers,
0:11:01 > 0:11:06so he had contacts around the world sending him exotic birds.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10And one always wonders whether he, perhaps, had a catalogue -
0:11:10 > 0:11:14he was producing large cases and this was a sort of Rolls-Royce case,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19- because you've got a fantastic array of birds here, haven't you?- Yeah.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21I think it's about the 1880s.
0:11:21 > 0:11:28It's an interesting example, really, of what was known in the world at the time as well,
0:11:28 > 0:11:32- because we've got very little from Africa.- Yeah.
0:11:32 > 0:11:38In the 1880s, South Africa was fully colonised, as Northern Africa was,
0:11:38 > 0:11:44but there's a big gap in the middle. At the time, in 1859, Darwin had written The Origin of the Species,
0:11:44 > 0:11:49and whilst it probably wasn't taught in schools because it was considered revolutionary,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52there is a finch here,
0:11:52 > 0:11:58and a lot of Darwin's theories on evolution were based on the development of the finch's beak,
0:11:58 > 0:12:02so one wonders whether Mr Cole was putting these in
0:12:02 > 0:12:06as a hint that Darwinism was very much of the day.
0:12:07 > 0:12:14And, of course, people today will probably think, "Gosh, it's a pretty horrible thing, this,
0:12:14 > 0:12:18"all these birds have been killed and stuffed," but at the time,
0:12:18 > 0:12:22this wasn't considered bad taste, and, you know...
0:12:22 > 0:12:28it is a wonderful period piece. Do you have any particular favourites?
0:12:28 > 0:12:30- I like the blue bird.- What is it?
0:12:30 > 0:12:33I think it's a blue jay.
0:12:34 > 0:12:38And I like the parrot - he's a bit roughed up. We call him Woody
0:12:38 > 0:12:45- after a friend who's losing his hair in the same sort of way, you know. - Perhaps that's why I like it too!
0:12:45 > 0:12:48- So you bought it recently? - 18 months, 2 years ago,
0:12:48 > 0:12:54- something like that.- And what did you pay for it?- £400.- Really? Right.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59Well, a case like this in this sort of condition, today,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02- would make £3,000 or £4,000 at auction.- Right.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05- So quite a nice turn, really.- Yes.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12Great English houses of the 17th and 18th century often contained Oriental lacquer cabinets
0:13:12 > 0:13:16which were brought back from the Far East or made by English makers.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20This tradition went on into the 19th century.
0:13:20 > 0:13:25Lacquer scenes - flowers and people, traditional, but of its own time.
0:13:25 > 0:13:30- Where did you get it?- Well, I seem to have remembered this all my life.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33I spent my childhood out in China,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37and both sets of grandparents worked out in China,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41- my parents were born out in China. - Where were you?- I was in Shanghai.
0:13:41 > 0:13:48- There was the Japanese invasion. - That's right.- Was that '38 or '39? - I can't really remember.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52- The Japanese took over Shanghai? - They did.- You were there?- We were.
0:13:52 > 0:13:59We tried to come home, but we couldn't, so they interned us for the duration. My father, who...
0:13:59 > 0:14:05He was a civil servant, and the first thing, when we got into the camp,
0:14:05 > 0:14:09- he was put straight into the cookhouse.- Oh.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12And my mother, I can remember her in her fur coat,
0:14:12 > 0:14:18scrabbling around in coal piles trying to get enough coal together
0:14:18 > 0:14:23- to make coal balls to put on a chatti.- Which was a little heater.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25It was like a tin -
0:14:25 > 0:14:32- which was the only form of heating. - Have you got any records of this period? Or is it all just memory?
0:14:32 > 0:14:36Mostly it's memory. I've got some in this film here. Those are negatives.
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Have you had them printed?
0:14:39 > 0:14:44- Yes, well, a friend tried to, but not...- Let's have a look.
0:14:44 > 0:14:48So we've got various images here. Let's look at some of them...
0:14:48 > 0:14:52- They're corrugated huts, are they? - They were wood.- Wood?
0:14:52 > 0:14:56- Yes, they were all identical. - And each hut was one family?
0:14:56 > 0:15:00- Yes. Rows and rows of them. - What an extraordinary experience.
0:15:00 > 0:15:06- And that one?- And that is the last day, when the Japanese were leaving.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10- They were piled into a truck. - And driven off?- And driven off.
0:15:10 > 0:15:16- They weren't terribly happy. That one there was in tears. - What, at leaving?- Yes.
0:15:16 > 0:15:23- You'd built up relationships?- Yes. They liked children and there were an awful lot of us kids in that camp.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- And the Americans relieved you?- Yes.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29Images of this sort of period are so unusual.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34It's extraordinary the way it brings to life something that is history.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38Now, the cabinet. This you didn't take with you into the prison camp?
0:15:38 > 0:15:42- Oh, no.- So how did it come back? Did you get the house back?
0:15:42 > 0:15:48We were lucky again. We had a high-up Japanese official living in our home
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and he actually respected it.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56It's a very nice cabinet and, in Roadshow terms, worth about £1,000.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00But it's taken us into this extraordinary story
0:16:00 > 0:16:06- and I'm so glad you could bring it and tell us about it.- I'm glad you were interested in it.- Thank you.- OK.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10It came from my husband's side of the family -
0:16:10 > 0:16:15his father and his grandfather before that. More than that we don't know.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19- So we go down four generations into the 19th century.- Yes.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23Well, in the 19th century, there was a huge fad for this sort of object,
0:16:23 > 0:16:28and this was produced in Germany on the Rhine.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32The Rhine had ample supplies of stoneware clays,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36but the colour, this brown colour, is achieved
0:16:36 > 0:16:41by dunking the actual material in a wash of iron oxide.
0:16:41 > 0:16:47Very, very popular in the 19th century - the Germans were producing huge quantities of this,
0:16:47 > 0:16:52and the style of this piece is very 16th century.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57- Can you tell me what that says? - Never looked that closely at it. There's little flowers,
0:16:57 > 0:17:04- then, "S84"?- 1-5.- Oh, 1-5.- 1584.
0:17:04 > 0:17:10Now that's the period in the 19th century these German stoneware potters are copying.
0:17:10 > 0:17:16Now, the nice thing about yours is it's not a 19th-century copy,
0:17:16 > 0:17:22- it's a 16th-century original.- Good heavens!- So that is actually...- I've never actually looked at the date.
0:17:22 > 0:17:29That is actually the date of the piece, and considering that it's over 400 years old,
0:17:29 > 0:17:34- it's not in a bad state. - No, I suppose it's survived pretty well, really.
0:17:34 > 0:17:39It's known as an Enghalskrug - a narrow-necked flagon.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44Very often, when they come to England, they are mounted in silver.
0:17:44 > 0:17:51They were highly prized in the late 1500s, 1600s, sometimes they're even used for Communion.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Now, a 19th-century copy is not really worth a great deal of money -
0:17:55 > 0:17:59it's worth maybe £40-£60. But yours is original,
0:17:59 > 0:18:04it's really a museum piece and if you were to put it up for sale,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08I suspect you'd get a price somewhere between...
0:18:08 > 0:18:12- £1,000 and £2,000. - Which is a lot for a small brown pot.
0:18:12 > 0:18:14It is.
0:18:14 > 0:18:18Now, each generation at Knebworth has made its changes.
0:18:18 > 0:18:24- Lord Cobbold, what have you been concentrating on?- Well, on restoration rather than innovation.
0:18:24 > 0:18:31We decided early on, 30 years ago, that we would try to preserve the Gothic fantasy element of Knebworth.
0:18:31 > 0:18:38I don't think there's another house in England like this, whereas there are lots of red-brick Tudor houses.
0:18:38 > 0:18:45And that is an expensive option, because these gargoyles are... They fall off after a while.
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Most people think they're stone, but, in fact, they're plaster.
0:18:49 > 0:18:54This is an old one. They were a mixture of plaster on brickwork,
0:18:54 > 0:18:58and they fixed it to the brickwork with these cast-iron nails,
0:18:58 > 0:19:04and once the water gets in, the cast iron rusts and then the gargoyles fall down.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08What is the appeal of gargoyles? What do they mean?
0:19:08 > 0:19:13Bulwer-Lytton, who was responsible for them all, was into the occult,
0:19:13 > 0:19:19and I think there are quite a few occultist references. The four big dragons on the top of the pillars
0:19:19 > 0:19:24are supposed to be warding off the spirits of the night.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28A lot of the smaller... There's a lot of bats on barrels.
0:19:28 > 0:19:34I think the medieval French for bat is lyt and ton is another word for barrel,
0:19:34 > 0:19:39so it's a play on the Lytton family name. These extraordinary figures
0:19:39 > 0:19:45on the top of the balcony are again bats on barrels.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48They'd long since gone
0:19:48 > 0:19:52and we've had to remodel those from 1880s black and white photographs
0:19:52 > 0:19:56- which we then blew up.- And cost - enormous?- The cost is horrendous.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02Since 1984, we have had a private charitable trust here.
0:20:02 > 0:20:07The charitable trust has spent, on this particular phase, £1 million,
0:20:07 > 0:20:12and English Heritage contributed £700,000, which was wonderful.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Just under half the house is done,
0:20:16 > 0:20:23and we're looking at £3.5 million to £4 million to do the rest, but we'll have to wait a while for that.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29Henry Edward Tidmarsh was my great-uncle
0:20:29 > 0:20:35and he made his living as an artist and book illustrator.
0:20:35 > 0:20:39He obviously had a great love of painting,
0:20:39 > 0:20:42because many of his works, such as these,
0:20:42 > 0:20:47were never offered for sale and consequently are still in the family.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52That's true, because I'm not used to seeing his work on the market.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56I know him as a book illustrator and you occasionally see drawings,
0:20:56 > 0:21:01but they're nothing like these. These are extraordinary and they're in such good condition.
0:21:01 > 0:21:08It's almost as if he used particularly colour-fast pigments because... What date are they?
0:21:08 > 0:21:14- Are they dated?- Er, 1909 is this, this one.- Yes, I see.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16He's obviously an artist of record,
0:21:16 > 0:21:21meaning they are topographically very accurate, they seem to me.
0:21:21 > 0:21:25What's remarkable is that the overall effect is terribly dramatic.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28And also, he's got these figures in it.
0:21:28 > 0:21:35- They're very convincing.- The interesting thing is that he painted over a considerable period of time.
0:21:35 > 0:21:41The earliest known works of his date from the late 1880s, and he actually died in 1939,
0:21:41 > 0:21:49and you can follow the date through his paintings by the changing fashions and the road vehicles
0:21:49 > 0:21:53- and the street scenes. - He's that accurate, yes.
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Well, London, this has got to be...
0:21:55 > 0:22:00- This is where he really begins to shine.- Yes.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04I just love this kind of view because you're high up,
0:22:04 > 0:22:09probably about the same height - 450 feet or so above the ground -
0:22:09 > 0:22:13as the the London Eye, the great wheel, you know,
0:22:13 > 0:22:19- so you can really see how London has changed.- The interesting thing is
0:22:19 > 0:22:24that there is no vantage point from which this painting could have been painted.
0:22:24 > 0:22:30The dome of the Central Hall here is the highest building,
0:22:30 > 0:22:36- so it must have been painted from that position.- So he's either in a hot-air balloon or he's made it up!
0:22:36 > 0:22:39- Exactly.- Well, coming to value...
0:22:39 > 0:22:45I think that, that a picture this size, particularly the London one,
0:22:45 > 0:22:50I'd have to put between £4,000 and £5,000 on it, perhaps,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53for insurance, at least. And then the Italian one...
0:22:53 > 0:22:58possibly £2,000 to £3,000 because it's smaller.
0:22:58 > 0:23:04These days, you only need two people to get excited and the value will be more.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08We went and viewed them and we were in an old cottage and we left bids.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12We'd never done it before, so we just left.
0:23:12 > 0:23:19We rang up in the middle of the following week and we said, you know, "How did we get on?"
0:23:19 > 0:23:21And they said, "Oh, you got them,"
0:23:21 > 0:23:28and we said "Which ones?" and they said, "All of them," and so we got 21 chairs
0:23:28 > 0:23:32for £112, which in those days was quite a bit.
0:23:32 > 0:23:38Two of the Gothic ones and a whole assortment of odd ones. Not this one.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43- That came later, did it? - No, it came from my family.- Right.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46- They're called Windsor chairs.- Yes.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51But they're not all made in Windsor or High Wycombe, the main centre.
0:23:51 > 0:23:55These are West Country chairs, and the way to identify them quickly
0:23:55 > 0:23:59is the way the arm here is made of three pieces.
0:23:59 > 0:24:06You've got the arm there, the centre back rail there, and the same on this one, so it's a three-part arm.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10I suspect that one is West Wycombe, rather than High Wycombe.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15It's a slightly later back, but you've got this nice wheel splat -
0:24:15 > 0:24:19pierced, beech, and then a heart shape at the bottom. Very nice.
0:24:19 > 0:24:25And very nice with this ash arm with this little attachment here -
0:24:25 > 0:24:29typical of that West Wycombe area.
0:24:29 > 0:24:35These two are probably late-18th century, very difficult to date, so 200 years old.
0:24:35 > 0:24:40The one on the right is probably 1850-80, something like that.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45- This one really interests me. This has come from where?- No idea?
0:24:45 > 0:24:49I lived in London. I was born in Notting Hill.
0:24:49 > 0:24:55Well, it's a High Wycombe chair - a typical High Wycombe configuration,
0:24:55 > 0:24:59lovely yew arms, very nice hoop back here, elm seat.
0:24:59 > 0:25:05There's a family called the Prior family, Robert Prior, around the turn of 1800,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08making this particular type of chair,
0:25:08 > 0:25:14with these three splat backs here, pierced by sticks, and these lovely roundels.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19But Prior put these little miniature versions on the side,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22and that's almost his hallmark.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27What's interesting is that is about the Prior family, but it's unsigned,
0:25:27 > 0:25:34and most Prior chairs are signed with a little stamp on the back, but this is not - I've had a good look.
0:25:34 > 0:25:41And that probably means that it was his son-in-law who came into the business and made identical chairs,
0:25:41 > 0:25:44so this is a new discovery.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48So we have to come to value these chairs. This one is a family piece,
0:25:48 > 0:25:53the others have come in a motley collection of 21 chairs.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56I think... Let me just do a little bit of quick...
0:25:56 > 0:26:00You've got about £5,000 sitting in front of us here.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05- We'll sit on that!- All of them together.- Extraordinary!
0:26:05 > 0:26:09But the most value is probably in this one.
0:26:09 > 0:26:15This new research about the Prior family is going to make much more interest in these chairs.
0:26:15 > 0:26:21- So of the £5,000, this is probably at least £2,000 worth.- Mmm.
0:26:21 > 0:26:27If there's one thing everyone thinks about when they think of Rolls Royce, it's the Spirit of Ecstasy,
0:26:27 > 0:26:32- this, I suppose, vision of ethereal beauty.- Yes.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35It's a wonderful bronze.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40The original was designed by Charles Sykes in 1911,
0:26:40 > 0:26:45which was when the first Spirit of Ecstasy - a much smaller version -
0:26:45 > 0:26:49was first put on a Rolls-Royce. Interestingly enough,
0:26:49 > 0:26:52it was an optional extra to begin with.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56She's commonly believed to be Eleanor Thornton,
0:26:56 > 0:27:01who was Charles Sykes' favourite model. Where did you get her from?
0:27:01 > 0:27:07We bought it at an auction in New Jersey. We lived there for five years, and we bought it in 1987.
0:27:07 > 0:27:12It was an auction of Chinese things, mostly, but this was one odd item there.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17- It was not listed as the Spirit of Ecstasy.- It wasn't?
0:27:17 > 0:27:22- No, it was just a bronze figure. - Well, she certainly caught the eye.
0:27:22 > 0:27:28- But very few people at the auction actually...- Your lucky day.- Yes, it was.- OK, what did you pay for it?
0:27:28 > 0:27:35- About 800.- 800 in 1988. - That was about £400.- Yeah, OK.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38Well, it's a wonderful bronze figure.
0:27:38 > 0:27:45Bronze figures of this size were actually used by Rolls-Royce for their main showrooms,
0:27:45 > 0:27:49as a showroom model. Rolls-Royce, I believe,
0:27:49 > 0:27:54only know of about nine or ten of these models.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59But the interesting thing here is this particular one is numbered.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01- What's the number?- 28.
0:28:01 > 0:28:07So it may be that there were more than nine or ten made. I think the records were lost in the war.
0:28:07 > 0:28:13The only other thing is that there are a tremendous number of facsimiles around,
0:28:13 > 0:28:18not just of bronze, which this is, and you can hear it,
0:28:18 > 0:28:21- but also of plaster, coloured to look like bronze.- Yes.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24It's very difficult to know,
0:28:24 > 0:28:30without a really good provenance, whether this is an original
0:28:30 > 0:28:36that was made specifically for one of the Rolls-Royce franchises, or whether this is a later casting.
0:28:36 > 0:28:41If you look at the base here, this black marble base,
0:28:41 > 0:28:45it's quite unusual to find these with a rectangular base,
0:28:45 > 0:28:52because all of the later castings I've seen, are on circular bases.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55- So this is quite a good plus point, I have to say.- OK.
0:28:55 > 0:29:00So you can't just discount that. What about value?
0:29:00 > 0:29:04The facsimiles, the later castings,
0:29:04 > 0:29:10are not worth a huge amount of money and they can fetch anywhere between £800 and £1,200.
0:29:10 > 0:29:18If we were able to prove that this was absolutely genuine, that it came out of a dealer's showroom,
0:29:18 > 0:29:23- then the likelihood is it could be worth £8,000 to £10,000.- Wow!
0:29:23 > 0:29:28So it may well pay you to do a little poking about, a little research.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31- It might be worth a trip back to the States.- It could be!
0:29:36 > 0:29:40These are called Georgian dummy boards,
0:29:40 > 0:29:42and they were made as fire screens
0:29:42 > 0:29:49and when they were placed in front of the fire, it looked as if someone was in the house.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53They're fine, fine military and naval figures.
0:29:53 > 0:30:01- Do you know anything about them? - Only what my son's partner told me - they belonged to her grandmother.
0:30:01 > 0:30:06- Right.- And she was a maid and her grandfather was a chauffeur,
0:30:06 > 0:30:10but what part of the country, I can't tell you.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14They've gone on holiday to Corfu and they've asked me to bring them here.
0:30:14 > 0:30:19- Right, well, you'll have something to tell them when you get back.- Yes.
0:30:19 > 0:30:25This is a Georgian figure of an officer in the Royal Horse Artillery
0:30:25 > 0:30:27wearing his Tarleton helmet.
0:30:27 > 0:30:32And on the side of that helmet is two battle honours -
0:30:32 > 0:30:35one of the Peninsula, the other one would be Waterloo.
0:30:35 > 0:30:39So they wore that particular uniform until 1828.
0:30:39 > 0:30:44Now, on the other side here we have a naval officer.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Now, when William IV came to the throne,
0:30:47 > 0:30:52he wanted the Royal Navy in scarlet uniforms
0:30:52 > 0:30:59and I think they settled for making the collars and cuffs scarlet,
0:30:59 > 0:31:03and then when we get into the period of Victoria,
0:31:03 > 0:31:06we're all back in blue again.
0:31:06 > 0:31:10- I think it was obnoxious for the navy to have scarlet.- Yes.
0:31:10 > 0:31:16They're fine fellows - beautifully painted, and quite scarce and desirable,
0:31:16 > 0:31:22- and today in auction, these would fetch between £500 and £800 each. - Oh, as much as that?- As much as that.
0:31:22 > 0:31:26- That's a nice present for when they come back.- Yes indeed, yes.
0:31:26 > 0:31:33- This is a beautiful contraption. What's its history?- I bought it about 40 years ago and renovated it,
0:31:33 > 0:31:40- and we've been showing with it ever since.- And how old is it?- It's just the beginning of the 1900s -
0:31:40 > 0:31:47- we found out it was built. - And does it have a name? What type of...?- A round-backed gig.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51- It sounds like something to do with the Knebworth rock concerts!- Yes!
0:31:51 > 0:31:55- So how much work did you do in it? - We stripped it down,
0:31:55 > 0:31:59undercoated and repainted.
0:31:59 > 0:32:01Do you take it to shows?
0:32:01 > 0:32:07We've won the Welsh Cob Championship at the British Driving Society Show at Windsor,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09and presented to the Queen twice,
0:32:09 > 0:32:14and we've won most championships throughout the south of England
0:32:14 > 0:32:16in the county shows.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20They belonged to my grandmother and then I inherited via my mother,
0:32:20 > 0:32:25and these were the ones that my grandmother most wore.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28- Have you worn them? - I've worn the arrow.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31I haven't worn the sapphire and diamond one.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35The arrow's got a most interesting action called a surete pin -
0:32:35 > 0:32:40it has a twisting action. There's a little notch in the end here
0:32:40 > 0:32:47which catches into a key mechanism that secures it and then you push the bar through the material
0:32:47 > 0:32:51and it looks as if you've been speared with one of Cupid's darts.
0:32:51 > 0:32:56It's beautiful. The materials couldn't be more of the period.
0:32:56 > 0:32:59Do you know what the black stone is?
0:32:59 > 0:33:04- I wasn't sure. Onyx?- Mm, bang on. Black onyx and diamonds.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08A chic combination of black and white in this Cupid's dart.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10This one here possibly pre-dates it.
0:33:10 > 0:33:14There are five beautiful little diamonds in platinum.
0:33:14 > 0:33:18That the settings of these jewels are completely consistent -
0:33:18 > 0:33:21we call it "millegrains" - 1,000 grains.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26Around the diamonds you can just see these tiny little perforations,
0:33:26 > 0:33:30- like the edge of a stamp. Do you see those little...?- Oh, yes.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34- I hadn't noticed that.- It's very distinctive of that period.
0:33:34 > 0:33:41- These are pure and lovely diamonds and...- I feel it looks ostentatious when I wear it.- Do you?- Yes.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45English girls are all terrified of diamonds now.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49Years ago, they didn't mind, but now it's not popular, which is a shame
0:33:49 > 0:33:56- because they're all languishing in drawers.- Yes.- It's like nightingales singing and nobody hearing them.
0:33:56 > 0:34:02Anyway, this is lovely jewel - a sort of conventionalised blue and white ribbon
0:34:02 > 0:34:04made of sapphires and diamonds,
0:34:04 > 0:34:09and again we can see the millegrains setting in operation here,
0:34:09 > 0:34:12in the drop more obviously than anywhere else.
0:34:12 > 0:34:17If I put it up against you... It's a good scale, isn't it?
0:34:17 > 0:34:21The diamond moves just as it should to get this lovely return of light.
0:34:21 > 0:34:27They're beautiful, beautiful things and with jewellery there's always talk of value -
0:34:27 > 0:34:30the subject's almost inseparable, really,
0:34:30 > 0:34:33and so we've got to consider it a bit.
0:34:33 > 0:34:40I think they are exactly the kind of scale that everybody would like to wear - they're not too large,
0:34:40 > 0:34:45so I'm thinking sort of, perhaps, £2,500 to £3,000 for this one...
0:34:45 > 0:34:49maybe more, actually. Why not a bit more?
0:34:51 > 0:34:56And, and um... I'm thinking this one, too -
0:34:56 > 0:34:59very contemporary and amusing
0:34:59 > 0:35:03and I do love it, I must say. £2,000 for that one.
0:35:03 > 0:35:10- Ouch?- Oh, dear, they're not insured separately.- No, no, well, maybe they will be. And this one -
0:35:10 > 0:35:15is the most sophisticated one. It's possible that this is made
0:35:15 > 0:35:19by one of the great French houses - Cartier or Boucheron or Mouboussin -
0:35:19 > 0:35:22or Van Cleef & Arpels in 1900.
0:35:22 > 0:35:26The stones are cut exactly for this jewel,
0:35:26 > 0:35:29they occupy the space very elegantly and nonchalantly
0:35:29 > 0:35:33and it's a lovely thing that everybody would want,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36so £6,000. Ouch!
0:35:38 > 0:35:42I don't know an awful lot about chronometers.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46- No.- It was left to me in a will by an old drinking pal.
0:35:46 > 0:35:51- How long ago?- Um, he left it to me about six years ago.- Right.
0:35:51 > 0:35:57Let's have a look at the dial. It's signed Parkinson and Frodsham, Change Alley, London -
0:35:57 > 0:36:01Very, very nice firm of makers and retailers.
0:36:01 > 0:36:03And rather unusually, above that,
0:36:03 > 0:36:07engraved into the dial and then waxed in red,
0:36:07 > 0:36:12we've got "Frodsham and Keen" and underneath, "Resprung 1891".
0:36:12 > 0:36:18Frodsham and Keen, I think, worked in Castle Street, Liverpool,
0:36:18 > 0:36:23so, at some stage, this has gone up to the northwest. It's coromandel,
0:36:23 > 0:36:29which is very unusual for a chronometer box. It's also fully brass-bound, as you can see.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32- Yes.- And double stringing as well.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37This would have been a VERY expensive thing, new.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41You can imagine the extra work that's gone into this sort of case,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43rather than a standard mahogany box.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48This would have probably been on some very expensive private yacht.
0:36:48 > 0:36:54Well, we undo this gimbal lock here, move that across,
0:36:54 > 0:36:59and if you can imagine a ship pitching and rolling in a heavy sea,
0:36:59 > 0:37:06notice that the chronometer bowl should - and is - remaining in the horizontal.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09I'll re-lock it
0:37:09 > 0:37:13and then to have a look inside, we undo this front bezel...
0:37:16 > 0:37:23..and there are various different ways. Remove that, otherwise that's going to fall out,
0:37:23 > 0:37:27and then I'll literally just invert the whole box
0:37:27 > 0:37:30and out comes the movement.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36This is a nice touch - the dust cap,
0:37:36 > 0:37:40which has a bayonet fitting on the movement. Pull that off
0:37:40 > 0:37:44and there we have a lovely marine chronometer movement.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47And you've got a lovely balance,
0:37:47 > 0:37:51a superb helical spring - it's all freesprung -
0:37:51 > 0:37:55it has the normal sort of escapement, and it should keep time
0:37:55 > 0:38:01- to within a couple of seconds a week.- A couple of seconds a week? - Better than that, yeah.
0:38:01 > 0:38:07So your drinking chum didn't give you any indication of value on it?
0:38:07 > 0:38:13Well, he did, because he gave me a receipt from the place where he bought it from, in 1979, I think.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16- Right.- He paid £1,300 for it then.
0:38:17 > 0:38:23- That's a lot of money in '79. - Sounds a lot to me.- A lot of money. Do you know where he got it from?
0:38:23 > 0:38:27- He bought it as Aspreys.- Ah, well,
0:38:27 > 0:38:29that would have been top retail money at the time.
0:38:29 > 0:38:35He started a small collection of timepieces of various sorts,
0:38:35 > 0:38:40but, unfortunately, a lot were stolen in a robbery and this one escaped.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44It's a great piece - very, very commercial in the current market.
0:38:44 > 0:38:49If I were selling it at a good antiques fair, I could look towards...
0:38:49 > 0:38:53£5,000. It's a good piece.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58It'll pay off his bar bill that he left me, then, won't it?
0:39:01 > 0:39:06It's a family piece, it's just been handed down through the family, and it's ended up with us.
0:39:06 > 0:39:09It's actually Japanese,
0:39:09 > 0:39:11and it's popularly called Satsuma,
0:39:11 > 0:39:16which is a high-fired earthenware
0:39:16 > 0:39:22with a crackled glaze - the crazing is part of it, it's not a defect.
0:39:22 > 0:39:29Er...it developed really in response to Japan opening up to the West,
0:39:29 > 0:39:32which it did in 1853-54.
0:39:34 > 0:39:41The Satsuma type wares - one of the great makers was a man called Sobei Kinkozan,
0:39:41 > 0:39:45from a long family of potters. Kinkozan was interesting
0:39:45 > 0:39:52because he had this factory turning out this stuff and you could just go and buy a piece and go away again.
0:39:52 > 0:39:59If you said, "Have you got any really good bits?" you were taken to his own house
0:39:59 > 0:40:05and he had a decorating studio attached to his house where all the best stuff was done,
0:40:05 > 0:40:10so it was a two-tier manufacturing process. This a top piece,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13this is a really knock-out piece.
0:40:13 > 0:40:19It's in the form of a tea canister, but I don't think it was meant for serious use.
0:40:19 > 0:40:25On the bottom we'd expect to find - and have got - his mark "Kinkozan",
0:40:25 > 0:40:29and the bottom character is "sukuru",
0:40:29 > 0:40:31which means "made".
0:40:31 > 0:40:35Round it, what appears to be just simply decoration,
0:40:35 > 0:40:39but actually, it's in very stylised characters, it says "Dai Nihon" -
0:40:39 > 0:40:42"great Japan", and then "Kyoto".
0:40:44 > 0:40:49The decoration on here is just breathtaking.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52It is just unbelievable that someone
0:40:52 > 0:40:55could take a brush with enamel colours on it
0:40:55 > 0:40:59and do this extraordinarily detailed painting.
0:40:59 > 0:41:02The scenes are absolutely typical -
0:41:02 > 0:41:08we've got a woman and her daughter, we've got a mountainous landscape,
0:41:08 > 0:41:11we've got a cockerel perched on a blue rock,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14we've got a couple of children,
0:41:14 > 0:41:21another landscape with figures going up to a...house in the mountains,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23and here, which is very nice,
0:41:23 > 0:41:28a dog-like character - it looks like a cross between a dog and a cat.
0:41:28 > 0:41:34Um, the sort of grey clouds which appear to be up here - up close -
0:41:34 > 0:41:39every single dot is painted with the single hair of a brush
0:41:39 > 0:41:43and that's actual gold, and that's continued over here.
0:41:43 > 0:41:49Now one of Kinkozan's introductions was this dark blue enamel which he then gilded,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52and the problem is with it,
0:41:52 > 0:41:57the gold doesn't like sticking on it very much and is usually worn off.
0:41:57 > 0:42:02Here, it's with very slight wear, it's still in pristine condition.
0:42:04 > 0:42:09Some of the panels are actually signed by the painter,
0:42:09 > 0:42:14and you've got at least two painters on this piece.
0:42:14 > 0:42:19This one is one I can read - it says "Oshizan".
0:42:19 > 0:42:22It's, I think, a remarkable find,
0:42:22 > 0:42:27- it's as good as a piece of Satsuma as I've seen on the Roadshow.- Oh.
0:42:27 > 0:42:33- Really. Where do you have it at home?- Stuck in my husband's office.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Whereabout in his office? Offices sound like crashing about -
0:42:37 > 0:42:44- telephones, files...- On a shelf. - On a shelf. It's safe, is it? - Um, well, I thought so.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49- ..I'll put it in a glass cabinet when get home.- Put it in a glass cabinet,
0:42:49 > 0:42:54- because it's worth £8,000 to £10,000.- Blimey!
0:42:55 > 0:42:58Thank you very much.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01Thank you for bringing it in.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06Well, the rain stayed away, the people came along and there were some interesting stories -
0:43:06 > 0:43:11like the jewellery that was about to be sold in a car-boot sale for £1,
0:43:11 > 0:43:17was brought along here instead and found to be not paste but real diamonds. That's a happy ending.
0:43:17 > 0:43:24We shall be back at Knebworth next week for a closer look inside the house. Until then, goodbye.
0:43:47 > 0:43:50Subtitles by BBC - 2000