0:00:33 > 0:00:38Welcome back to Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. This grand residence,
0:00:38 > 0:00:43home of the Lytton family for 500 years, is 30 miles north of London,
0:00:43 > 0:00:48so it would be quite handy for commuting to the capital.
0:00:48 > 0:00:55Beneath its romantic confection of 19th-century stucco lies a solid Elizabethan manor house.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59This is the banqueting hall, which highlights many of the themes of Knebworth.
0:00:59 > 0:01:02It's said to be one of the finest rooms in England, with its oak screen
0:01:02 > 0:01:04and its minstrel gallery.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10And on the ceiling, the oak decoration dates to about 1600.
0:01:10 > 0:01:17Portraits always bring a room to life and there are some first-rate examples here -
0:01:17 > 0:01:23Sir Robert Lytton, the first owner of Knebworth, gazes sternly out.
0:01:23 > 0:01:30And here, a very fine likeness of Sir Philip Sidney by Jan de Critz. A few centuries later,
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Winston Churchill regularly visited the second Earl and his wife Pamela.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Churchill was himself a successful painter,
0:01:38 > 0:01:43and this is his 1930s version of the banqueting hall -
0:01:43 > 0:01:46very little has changed since then.
0:01:46 > 0:01:53In 1850, it even served as a theatre when Charles Dickens and his amateur troupe sang for their supper.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58Around the ceiling is carved a sort of family motto -
0:01:58 > 0:02:04"Worth in all, wit in some, laughter open, slander dumb."
0:02:04 > 0:02:11Those lofty sentiments expressed by Edward Bulwer Lytton came to have an ironic ring to them.
0:02:11 > 0:02:16Bulwer Lytton was an extraordinary man - a politician and a writer,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19he had a colourful personal life.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23Details of that later, from our expert Clive Farahar.
0:02:23 > 0:02:29First, some exchanges from previous roadshows. We start in Selby, in Yorkshire.
0:02:31 > 0:02:39Both my parents were pharmacists and they had a chemist's shop in London where they had the mortars.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41- They had them on display?- This one,
0:02:41 > 0:02:46cos my mother said anybody who could lift it and run was welcome to it.
0:02:46 > 0:02:52That's a good pitch! Unusual that both your parents were pharmacists.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Was your mother an early pharmacist in the business?
0:02:56 > 0:03:02She was, yes. She was the first pharmacist at Allen and Hanbury's at Ware.
0:03:02 > 0:03:07Interesting that they had all three, as they're a spread of varieties.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11This one in cast brass is dated 1576,
0:03:11 > 0:03:15but I'm sorry to tell you it doesn't actually come from that period.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19It was probably made in the 20th century
0:03:19 > 0:03:22and would have a value, I suppose,
0:03:22 > 0:03:26of about, um...£30 or £40 only.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29The one on the far side is older,
0:03:29 > 0:03:35probably dating from the early part of the 18th century.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Nice to have it with the pestle.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42But the prize of the piece is this large fellow,
0:03:42 > 0:03:47which is in bell metal - which is a good period material -
0:03:47 > 0:03:53and if we revolve it, you can see it's got, on the top band,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58the maker's name - Jan Van Boydbergen,
0:03:58 > 0:04:05who was probably operating in Rotterdam in the 16th century...
0:04:05 > 0:04:11and as we progress in our circular tour, you see the date 1573.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16So it's from that period, and from that point of view quite rare.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20Nice band of swagging round the middle
0:04:20 > 0:04:23and underneath, this affair of amarini,
0:04:23 > 0:04:27these children holding hands,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30cast in as a decorative technique.
0:04:30 > 0:04:34This one is of a good size. It's a nice colour.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Er...it's a mortar that, if you were selling it,
0:04:38 > 0:04:44- you would probably get between £3,000 and £5,000.- Oh, right.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48- My husband came across it about three years ago in Kent.- Yes.
0:04:48 > 0:04:50And he gave it to me.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53- What did you feel?- I laughed,
0:04:53 > 0:04:58and I said it was the first time I'd been given a loo for a present.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03And he says, "Put a plant pot in it, you know, just stick it in a corner."
0:05:03 > 0:05:06It indicates, as we've done here,
0:05:06 > 0:05:12that these were fitted pieces of furniture, completely boxed in,
0:05:12 > 0:05:18and all the works, which is underneath, were completely hidden from view.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23You used it, the seat was all one sort of built-in piece,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26and when you'd finished your business,
0:05:26 > 0:05:30there was a lever here that you simply pulled.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34As we shall see if we take the seat off...
0:05:34 > 0:05:38the lever operated a complicated system of plumbing,
0:05:38 > 0:05:40so that in pulling the lever,
0:05:40 > 0:05:45the trap opened and it was simply a gravity drop.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49What is unusual is that it's all here.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54The date of this is probably 1840 to 1860, and we can do that
0:05:54 > 0:06:00simply from the transfer printing on the bowl. It's in a darker blue.
0:06:00 > 0:06:05Sometimes, of course, when they were designed to be free-standing,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08you get patterns on the outside too.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10Personally, I'd try to reinstall it.
0:06:10 > 0:06:17If it wasn't the only loo in the house, it would be a great eccentric loo for occasional use.
0:06:17 > 0:06:21I'm just having a house built, with two bathrooms.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25Show it to your plumber. It can be made to work.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30Somebody doing up a house might pay £1,500-£2,000 to have it working.
0:06:30 > 0:06:36In this condition, you're probably looking at £300 to £400, but still a jolly good present.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- Thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:06:39 > 0:06:44I seem to remember many years ago that it had a very pleasant smell,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47so I assumed it was a perfume box.
0:06:47 > 0:06:54You're right - it's a vinaigrette, and what's inside is the grille
0:06:54 > 0:07:01under which, originally, there would have been a little sponge soaked in perfume.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04- People didn't wash.- Oh, dear!
0:07:04 > 0:07:06And when things got a bit bad,
0:07:06 > 0:07:11out came your vinaigrette and you took a little whiff,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15to overcome the stench of unwashed humanity.
0:07:15 > 0:07:17How did you come by it?
0:07:17 > 0:07:22It's just been literally in a drawer for years and years doing nothing.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27OK. It's interesting we've got the maker's mark - NM.
0:07:27 > 0:07:32Now, that's a very interesting maker - that's Nathaniel Mills,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37who is THE Birmingham box maker everybody wants.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42Always with these, you get the marks spread between the two sections,
0:07:42 > 0:07:46so you get some on the top and some in the body,
0:07:46 > 0:07:51- and tucked in there we've actually got the date letter.- Oh.- For 1851.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54They have become very collectable,
0:07:54 > 0:08:01- particularly Nathaniel Mills and particularly those that have scenes on the top.- Yes.
0:08:02 > 0:08:06The value does depend a great deal on the scene.
0:08:06 > 0:08:13So some scenes are quite common, others are more difficult to find. St Paul's is a difficult one,
0:08:13 > 0:08:18and that would be much sought-after by a collector.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22- So, have you thought about value? - No, I haven't.
0:08:22 > 0:08:27Right. I think here we're looking at somewhere in the region of £800.
0:08:27 > 0:08:30A very pleasant surprise.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36It's been in the office where I work since about the turn of the century.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41Oh, it's in an office. I think it dates from a bit earlier than that -
0:08:41 > 0:08:45more like the 1870s,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49given the slightly architectural quality there.
0:08:49 > 0:08:54But its pedestal is really rather heavier than one would imagine
0:08:54 > 0:08:58for a pretty oval mahogany top like this.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01I think the weight of the pedestal
0:09:01 > 0:09:05belies the secret of this table.
0:09:05 > 0:09:11- Because it's a metamorphic table, isn't it?- Yes.- Show me what it does.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17I think that's really smart. You've got a very decorative oval table
0:09:17 > 0:09:20which expands into a dumb waiter.
0:09:20 > 0:09:26What's interesting is that I don't think you often see an oval one -
0:09:26 > 0:09:33you frequently see rectangular ones, particularly from the early 19th century, with standard ends,
0:09:33 > 0:09:38but this, with its decorative base and oval shape, is more unusual.
0:09:38 > 0:09:45I think one with the decorative qualities of these but also combined with the solidity
0:09:45 > 0:09:48will be worth a bit more, so an auction value
0:09:48 > 0:09:54- would be around £2,200, something like that.- More than I thought.
0:09:54 > 0:09:59- I'll have to stop storing the old invoices on it.- Yes, you should!
0:09:59 > 0:10:05Ah, Clive - has Knebworth yielded up some interesting papers?
0:10:05 > 0:10:09One that struck me - which there is a copy of,
0:10:09 > 0:10:14up in the Elizabethan room, from the Public Record Office -
0:10:14 > 0:10:18shows conclusively that Queen Elizabeth did stay here,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22and that document wasn't found until quite recently.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25I find this collection exciting -
0:10:25 > 0:10:30letters from Charles Dickens to Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton.
0:10:30 > 0:10:35He starts off, as you can see, quite formally - "My dear Sir Edward" -
0:10:35 > 0:10:41but his friendship goes right on through here until we get to about the 1850s, when he says,
0:10:41 > 0:10:46"My dear Bulwer Lytton" and indeed "My dear Bulwer", in the later ones.
0:10:46 > 0:10:52But it's a wonderful correspondence, the younger novelist taking advice,
0:10:52 > 0:10:59with a wonderful story about Dickens handing Bulwer Lytton the proofs of Great Expectations.
0:10:59 > 0:11:06Yes, we saw the original recently in Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. Did Bulwer Lytton have any influence?
0:11:06 > 0:11:11Here he did, because he suggested a softer ending to Dickens -
0:11:11 > 0:11:18that Pip and Estella get back together - and of course they do in the published edition,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20so he obviously had some influence.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23But there is a note at the beginning
0:11:23 > 0:11:26on Charles Dickens - a critique -
0:11:26 > 0:11:31but I think it says more about Bulwer Lytton than about Dickens.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34"He has been fortunate in escaping the envy of fellow writers,
0:11:34 > 0:11:41"and has aided this good fortune by very skilful care of his own fame, watching every occasion
0:11:41 > 0:11:45"to refresh it when it has seemed to fade a little."
0:11:45 > 0:11:48I'm not sure Dickens' fame DID fade.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52- I think that shows a touch of envy. - Yes, a bit sharp.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59What an absolutely splendid Royal Worcester vase.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03It's a terribly rare object. It's in the Japanesque style, of course,
0:12:03 > 0:12:07with these strange handles and this turreted top to it.
0:12:07 > 0:12:14It looks like a Grecian urn for ashes or something like that. Never been used for such a thing, has it?
0:12:14 > 0:12:18We believe it has been, but not in our knowledge of it.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22- No, not Uncle Charlie!- No. - He's not in there now?
0:12:22 > 0:12:24No, and anyway I've washed it out!
0:12:24 > 0:12:29But it's absolutely beautiful, isn't it? What's its history?
0:12:29 > 0:12:33It was left to me by my uncle. He died last year.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37- I think it came from his wife's family.- Yes, what are we in date?
0:12:37 > 0:12:41We're, er...we're letter P - 1879.
0:12:41 > 0:12:46The marvellous decoration on both sides is outstandingly wonderful.
0:12:46 > 0:12:52What is very nice is that you've got combinations of gold and platinum - platinum resembling silver.
0:12:52 > 0:12:59You can't use real silver on this because it would tarnish in the kiln, so platinum was used instead,
0:12:59 > 0:13:01and you've got bronze as well.
0:13:01 > 0:13:08Three wonderful colours, gorgeous gilding - exotic butterflies and Japanese prunus blossom,
0:13:08 > 0:13:13and on this side there's these fantastical flying cranes.
0:13:13 > 0:13:20They're crazy kamikaze cranes, which are sort of doing...zooming about, and all this spotted gold -
0:13:20 > 0:13:23very, very much in the style of Japanese,
0:13:23 > 0:13:28but, of course, Worcester has taken it over and made it its own self.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31The decoration is probably by James Callahill.
0:13:31 > 0:13:36This was his speciality - these raised cranes. It's marvellous.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42It's in good condition - slight little nibbles in the gold,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45but it's not bad at all, is it, really?
0:13:45 > 0:13:49I suppose it would go to someone perhaps in Australia or America.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52The great vogue for this is abroad.
0:13:52 > 0:13:56I imagine it going at auction to either of those countries
0:13:56 > 0:14:00for something like about £3,000 to £3,500.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03I was a Sister at the Royal London Hospital,
0:14:03 > 0:14:06- and I wore this uniform. - This exact uniform?
0:14:06 > 0:14:08I wore one exactly like that.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12It looks like a 19th century design of costume.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17Yes, over the years it's been modified and redesigned.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20We were literally held together with pins.
0:14:22 > 0:14:28Yes, it's true, because of washing, going to the laundry. We had real mother-of-pearl buttons.
0:14:28 > 0:14:34- So, these buttons here were mother-of-pearl?- Pearl. - Held in by pins?- Held in by pins.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37The collar was held on by pins.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40When we were on duty, the sleeves detached from here,
0:14:40 > 0:14:45and you undid the cuffs and you took the sleeve off.
0:14:45 > 0:14:50It's a wonderful story about the uniform - this marvellous story that you actually wore this.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54- That makes it very special to you. - It does indeed.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59It is, in fact, a special object in its own right. It's a limited edition.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01Only 500 were made.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03Now with limited editions,
0:15:03 > 0:15:08not just Royal Worcester ones, the value tends to go down.
0:15:08 > 0:15:14- Really?- This is because they are often sold at high prices to begin with
0:15:14 > 0:15:16and there's quite a lot of them,
0:15:16 > 0:15:21and there simply isn't the demand, so they fall in price,
0:15:21 > 0:15:23but this is an exception.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27It is such a charming one that most of them were bought,
0:15:27 > 0:15:32like you, by members...the Sisters, and the doctors and the staff,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34so they rarely come on the market.
0:15:34 > 0:15:40Today, this, with its certificate and its box, if it came up at auction,
0:15:40 > 0:15:45- would make £1,000 to £1,250.- Really? - And it's still going up.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48It's rather precious to me, this.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50It reminds me of my youth!
0:15:54 > 0:15:59You used to undress Field Marshal Montgomery?
0:15:59 > 0:16:02I'm sure not many people have had that pleasure!
0:16:02 > 0:16:05His head is made out of a composition.
0:16:05 > 0:16:11He looks like the smiling chap that everybody thought he was from the photographs.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16What I like about him is, firstly, he's in reasonably good condition,
0:16:16 > 0:16:19which is amazing since he went through your childhood,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23but also he's got his telltale thumbs-up.
0:16:24 > 0:16:29He's not terribly valuable, probably in the £200, maybe £300, bracket,
0:16:29 > 0:16:34but he tells a story and that's actually the most important thing of all.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39It's captured all the excitement of lustreware and I think it's great.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42- So how much is it worth? - I haven't a clue.
0:16:42 > 0:16:47- What do you think?- Gosh! Well, anything between £5 and £5,000.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51- That's all right! - Well, about £400 to £500.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53- Really?- Oh!
0:16:53 > 0:16:56"That's the way to do it"!
0:17:00 > 0:17:03- That nearly gave me a heart attack. - Oh, I'm sorry!
0:17:03 > 0:17:08It's from a house sale. The gentleman owned a furniture shop in Lytham.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11It was just there and I liked it.
0:17:11 > 0:17:17I didn't like the house, but I liked the furniture, so I asked the lady if she wanted to sell any pieces.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21- So, it was quite by chance that...? - Totally by chance.- How interesting!
0:17:21 > 0:17:27Well, there is the Gillows stamp and usually... certainly by the sort of date...
0:17:27 > 0:17:31Yes, here you've got the very characteristic Gillows construction,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33putting a slot behind the screw,
0:17:33 > 0:17:40so that the bottom of the drawer can expand and contract without pulling the drawer apart.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44- Oh, right.- It's one of the problems with this sort of construction.
0:17:44 > 0:17:51The problem with the style that I have is that the lower part of this piece
0:17:51 > 0:17:55LOOKS like something from the early part of the 18th century.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59- It's got nice cabriole legs with claw-and-ball foot.- Right.
0:17:59 > 0:18:04- Sort of date of this style... one would think of, er...1720, something like that.- Oh.
0:18:04 > 0:18:10- Whereas the top part here, now this is much more like a 17th century cabinet.- Right.
0:18:10 > 0:18:16So you've got an early 18th century style base with a 17th century style cabinet,
0:18:16 > 0:18:21but here you've got something really sort of jazzy with this coromandel here,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24and, interesting, a burr... a pollard oak.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27Gillows is a very high quality manufacturer,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30and you can see the quality of this.
0:18:30 > 0:18:37At the end of the 19th century, the last two decades, they were making furniture in these earlier styles
0:18:37 > 0:18:44and I think that accounts for perhaps the slight disparity in the top and the bottom.
0:18:44 > 0:18:51- They weren't that bothered about mixing a 17th century element with an early 18th century part.- Right.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Have you any idea what it's worth?
0:18:53 > 0:18:58- Erm, we've had it valued for £1,000 on the insurance.- £1,000?
0:18:58 > 0:19:01For insurance? I think you could up that
0:19:01 > 0:19:05to make it around £5,000 as an auction estimate.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09It might well go higher than that and with the potential in the future
0:19:09 > 0:19:14for going even higher, because it's a classy piece.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18- You did extremely well to forget the house and get the furniture.- Yes!
0:19:18 > 0:19:23What kind of life did Bulwer Lytton have? How did he become a writer?
0:19:23 > 0:19:28Well, he led the life of a Regency dandy. He dressed flamboyantly.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31He had the most extraordinary hairstyle and whiskers.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34He was in society, knew everybody.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38He was reputed to have had an affair with Lady Caroline Lamb.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42Obviously he knew Byron, Thackeray and Dickens, those sorts of people.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45He was moving in the best society.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49He met a young lady - a young Irish lady called Rosina Wheeler -
0:19:49 > 0:19:51and she he fell in love with.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55She had no money. He wanted to marry her.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59His mother said no - very strong woman, his mother.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03So he married her, of course, and she cut him off without a penny.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07He decided to make a living out of writing and going into politics.
0:20:07 > 0:20:09But did he have talent as a writer?
0:20:09 > 0:20:14Oh, he had an enormous talent as a writer. He wrote over 70 books.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19He combined the Titanic energy of a Churchill...with politics,
0:20:19 > 0:20:24but he was more like a Jeffrey Archer, I suppose, as a popular political novelist.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27And life with Rosina? Were they happy here?
0:20:27 > 0:20:31After all that, sadly, they didn't live here, she never lived here,
0:20:31 > 0:20:37and theirs was to be one of the most tempestuous, most grotesquely tempestuous marriages
0:20:37 > 0:20:39of the 19th century.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46Now, I like this box. Let's see what's inside it.
0:20:46 > 0:20:49- Oh, it flies out to meet you.- Yes.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54It's the most marvellous Russian case in the old Russian taste.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56What do you know about this fellow?
0:20:57 > 0:21:01- He was... Was he a tsar? - Well, he could be a tsar.
0:21:01 > 0:21:06He's really an old Russian warrior, a boyar, an aristocratic warrior.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09A fantastically flowing beard here,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12- set with what we call cabochon cut stones.- Yes.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16- Did you know they're rubies and sapphires?- No.- Well, they are!
0:21:16 > 0:21:18That's called a chrysoprase.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22It's a semi-precious material - chrysoprase -
0:21:22 > 0:21:26doing the job of an emerald there, but to huge effect, isn't it?
0:21:26 > 0:21:33There was a huge revival in Russia in the late 19th century for all things old Russian.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37The Romanovs were getting a little bit twitchy about their ancestry.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41This is perfectly typical and a rather dramatic example.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46- Tell me its history. We've a bit on the back.- I can't tell you much.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49- I think Captain Dawson was my mother-in-law's father.- Right.
0:21:49 > 0:21:53- It says here, "To Captain Dawson," doesn't it?- Yes.
0:21:53 > 0:21:58And then, "From the Russian officers, 1906."
0:21:58 > 0:22:00- Tell me why.- I can't tell you much.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05I think he was on convoys or something like that and, er...
0:22:05 > 0:22:08- And this was a nice present from them.- Yes.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11In Russia, you'd expect the most sumptuous ones.
0:22:11 > 0:22:17Russia was an enormously wealthy country at this time and lavish gifts were part of it.
0:22:17 > 0:22:21The market's coming up as there's enormous wealth yet again in Russia,
0:22:21 > 0:22:24and so I think that this object
0:22:24 > 0:22:27should be put down in an insurance policy
0:22:27 > 0:22:30for about £2,000.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34SHE CHUCKLES
0:22:34 > 0:22:37- Thank you.- Thank YOU very much.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43They're so lively. I think they can only have been done on the spot...
0:22:43 > 0:22:46- from life. - I'm sure they're from life.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50Do you think he was purely an amateur who did these?
0:22:50 > 0:22:53He IS an amateur, but a good one.
0:22:53 > 0:22:57I say that because of this slight awkwardness that's not professional.
0:22:57 > 0:22:59That gives them all the more life.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04This is General Ramsay, who was at the Battle of Waterloo, I believe.
0:23:04 > 0:23:10- Here's these wonderful whiskers on this man.- Yes. - This is Sir Lytton Bulwer.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13- Bulwer, the writer. - He was a well-known writer.
0:23:13 > 0:23:19Yes, it's a marvellous head of hair he's got there, and this lovely tall hat.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23That's great. I always thought it was Bulwer Lytton.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29Certainly by the 19th century, the late 19th century, there was a Bulwer Lytton around.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33The last one, which I think is wonderful, is this elderly fellow,
0:23:33 > 0:23:37who's being helped by a footman, presumably to get into a cab.
0:23:37 > 0:23:43Yes, the Earl of Westmoreland, and that was about a year before he died.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47- I think he was about 90 at the time, but...- Yes.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49I see how spindly his legs are.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55On the back, some other person has written, "Known as Old Rapid".
0:23:55 > 0:23:58- Old Rapid!- Most extraordinary.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01We'd call him "Speedy Gonzalez" now.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06It's a lovely book. It has this amazing freshness as if one was a witness to the 1820s -
0:24:06 > 0:24:10a direct window onto them.
0:24:10 > 0:24:14- About £200-£250, that sort of thing. - I see. Right.- Yeah.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19- Yes, fine.- But a wonderful record. - Excellent.- A most enjoyable find.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23I've never seen a pair of figures like this before in my life.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25I mean, they're quite exceptional.
0:24:25 > 0:24:30They are pretty definitely French, I would say.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33No markings on the bottom.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37They're a terracotta body, which has been what we call "cold painted" -
0:24:37 > 0:24:40that is not fired colours, but cold colours.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44They were made at a time - we're looking at the 1860s, 1870s -
0:24:44 > 0:24:48when...it was just...
0:24:48 > 0:24:51You couldn't refer to a "leg" of anything.
0:24:51 > 0:24:57The Victorians had to drape the table to cover the legs up because they were rude.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59If you talked about the table leg,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02it was an "unmentionable", which is ridiculous.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Yet here are two figures of ladies,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08if that's what they are, exposing themselves.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12- I think these were made for a brothel.- Oh!
0:25:12 > 0:25:15I think they were made for a French brothel.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21I can't think of anywhere else. You could never have these in polite society at all.
0:25:21 > 0:25:23They're spill vases.
0:25:23 > 0:25:27They probably stood on a mantelpiece in a brothel,
0:25:27 > 0:25:32surrounded by all the whores in their wonderful dishabille, you know, undress.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36The gentleman could light his cigar from the spill vase.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39They're great fun. Where did you get them from?
0:25:39 > 0:25:44At an antique fair ten years ago, but they couldn't tell me about them.
0:25:44 > 0:25:50- How much did you pay for them? - I think it was about £70 the pair. - I think £70 was a good buy.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55They're such a wacky pair of figures that somebody with a sense of humour
0:25:55 > 0:25:59- would pay £300 to £400 for them. - Gosh!- You did very well.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04The thing I like best, and this is local to Wisbech, and I've never seen it before,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08is you've come so well prepared with your own chain.
0:26:09 > 0:26:14And this is real local interest, isn't it? It does worry me.
0:26:14 > 0:26:18- Do the inhabitants of Wisbech need instructions on everything?- Yes.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Because it says "pull"...
0:26:23 > 0:26:25As distinct from "push"!
0:26:27 > 0:26:31- We were out shopping one day in Stamford...- Yeah.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34We went into this antique shop
0:26:34 > 0:26:39- and that was when we bought it. - And how long ago was that?
0:26:39 > 0:26:42At the very beginning of the war.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44You've obviously got a good eye.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49- Although fairly conventional in its form, it's got some very unusual features.- Yes.
0:26:49 > 0:26:53The most striking thing about it is the veneers.
0:26:53 > 0:26:58- Looking at the veneers...- Yes.- ..the panels on the doors and the drawer,
0:26:58 > 0:27:02- it's a wonderful figured mahogany, known as a blister figure.- Yes.
0:27:02 > 0:27:06It looks a bit like crocodile skin. It's quite an unusual figure.
0:27:06 > 0:27:12- Down here... we've got a row of drawers and the same the other side.- Yes.
0:27:12 > 0:27:16Super condition there and super colour.
0:27:16 > 0:27:22And then...above, we've got this marvellous secretaire drawer.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26If we just open that up, it's a super interior -
0:27:26 > 0:27:29quite plain, but very nicely fitted.
0:27:29 > 0:27:33- Again, we've this lovely blistered veneer on the drawers.- Yes.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38The drawers themselves are nicely made, mahogany linings throughout,
0:27:38 > 0:27:40super quality, really.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45It's late Georgian or perhaps very early Victorian, perhaps about 1820, 1830.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49- Yes.- And if we can just close this up again...
0:27:52 > 0:27:55..this style of panelling, particularly these handles,
0:27:55 > 0:27:59- are absolutely characteristic Regency.- Are they?
0:27:59 > 0:28:04I think if I were to see this, er... in a good quality antique shop,
0:28:04 > 0:28:09I would be expecting to pay about £8,500, something like that.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Well, my grandfather moved to the area from London, about 1920,
0:28:13 > 0:28:18so that's when they would have come from London to Wisbech.
0:28:18 > 0:28:24From the way they're inscribed on the slips around them, they're by Alfred Augustus Glendenning.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29What's nice is that Glendenning is a quintessentially British painter.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33He does the English landscape very well in the Constable tradition.
0:28:33 > 0:28:39He's always conscious of the weather and cloud formations, and his detail is very tight.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43He has a very good understanding of light on the landscape.
0:28:43 > 0:28:49By playing with effects of light from the foreground through the middle to the background
0:28:49 > 0:28:55and the blue hills in the far distance, he gets a good sense of perspective.
0:28:55 > 0:28:59You get a feel of the sweep of the landscape and the scale of it.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02Everything seems to sit in exactly the right place.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06He's very accomplished, especially at this later stage of his career.
0:29:06 > 0:29:12- Have you had these pictures valued? - My grandmother had them valued about 1978.
0:29:12 > 0:29:18- At the time they said they were worth more together, valued together. - That's true.
0:29:18 > 0:29:22- The value was greater with them together.- They're a very nice pair.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26- It was £1,000 for both of them. - £1,000? Right.
0:29:26 > 0:29:32Well, things have changed, and these pictures now I think are worth
0:29:32 > 0:29:36- between £15,000 and £20,000. - Are they really?- Yes.- Right.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41Michael, may I introduce you to Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton?
0:29:41 > 0:29:43And here is a picture by EM Ward,
0:29:43 > 0:29:49painted in 1854, which reflects him in his smoking jacket,
0:29:49 > 0:29:55- and that lovely bright tablecloth, I am assured, is this one.- Charming.
0:29:55 > 0:29:59This tempestuous marriage - did they never get together again?
0:29:59 > 0:30:03Oh, there were notorious reconciliations.
0:30:03 > 0:30:10The first was in 1833. They decided to spend the winter abroad, but Bulwer Lytton, being the man he was,
0:30:10 > 0:30:15decided to take his mistress along, and her husband,
0:30:15 > 0:30:22and poor old Rosina - when they got to Italy - consoled herself in the arms of a Neopolitan prince.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27- Didn't Edward find out?- He found out about it all right, and he beat her,
0:30:27 > 0:30:32and insisted they go back to England immediately. On another occasion,
0:30:32 > 0:30:39he actually tried to stab her with a carving knife and then he bit her cheek and so they separated,
0:30:39 > 0:30:43and the final time that we know about
0:30:43 > 0:30:50is when she invited him for a reconciliation dinner and he sent a note saying that he couldn't come,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54because he was ill, and so what does a dutiful wife do?
0:30:54 > 0:31:01She goes up to his apartment at The Albany in Piccadilly, and finds him dallying with a scantily clad whore.
0:31:01 > 0:31:07It's the most extraordinary thing. At this point, they get their deed of separation.
0:31:07 > 0:31:11But did she write about him?
0:31:11 > 0:31:15She'd been tormenting him for years. Every time he put out a novel,
0:31:15 > 0:31:23she put out another one lampooning HIS novel. Her novels are much rarer than Edward Bulwer Lytton's novels.
0:31:23 > 0:31:30She was a proto-feminist, of course, you could say, and any of her books today would certainly be worth
0:31:30 > 0:31:34- more than his. - What did all this do to his career?
0:31:34 > 0:31:41Sex, power and politics all went together quite well and it did him no harm at all.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45He actually became Secretary of State for the Colonies.
0:31:45 > 0:31:50He appeared on the hustings in Hertford. Rosina was in Taunton,
0:31:50 > 0:31:55and she came up and gave notice that she was going to speak as well,
0:31:55 > 0:31:59and she starts off the speech - with loads of people there -
0:31:59 > 0:32:04"Men of Herts, if you have hearts of men, listen to me."
0:32:04 > 0:32:11She then lists all his wrongs and all the nasty things he's done to her - the incident with the knife,
0:32:11 > 0:32:17and all that, and she ends up, "Why is this man head of the Colonies,
0:32:17 > 0:32:23- "when he should have been in the Colonies as a transportee?" - Which drove him insane.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26It drove him insane with madness
0:32:26 > 0:32:32and here - this is his own account, in his own hand, of her and this particular meeting.
0:32:32 > 0:32:39"In the middle of a rabble before the hustings, an elderly woman..." - they were the same age -
0:32:39 > 0:32:45"in a white dress, with a parasol, her face daubed with a coarse paint,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48"her eyebrows strongly blackened,
0:32:48 > 0:32:54"gesticulating and gibbering - and that woman was my wife and the mother of my son,
0:32:54 > 0:32:59"who was ready to disappear into the earth with shame."
0:32:59 > 0:33:01So what did he actually do next?
0:33:01 > 0:33:07He tried to have her committed and he sent a doctor down to Taunton,
0:33:07 > 0:33:11and HE said he'd never met a saner woman.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14But Bulwer Lytton did get her.
0:33:14 > 0:33:21- He hired two other doctors who had her put away in an asylum.- But surely he didn't get away with that?
0:33:21 > 0:33:27The Somerset County Gazette spread the story across their pages,
0:33:27 > 0:33:32and of course the London newspapers decided it was open game season,
0:33:32 > 0:33:37and shot him from all sides. Queen Victoria was dragged into this
0:33:37 > 0:33:42and she decided to intervene through Lord Derby, her Prime Minister,
0:33:42 > 0:33:46and after 28 days Rosina was released.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53What a delightful pair of pictures.
0:33:53 > 0:33:57- Like well-behaved children, you can take them anywhere.- Yes.
0:33:57 > 0:34:04What I particularly like about them, they're by quite an interesting artist called William Lee Hankey,
0:34:04 > 0:34:08who...studied in Chester,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11was born in 1869 and died in 1952.
0:34:11 > 0:34:16He's seen the world, Lee Hankey - he's been to France and Holland -
0:34:16 > 0:34:20- and there's a melting pot of influences here.- Yes.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24I love the sort of Impressionist style of them.
0:34:24 > 0:34:29- Have you had them for ages?- They were given to my mother early '20s...
0:34:29 > 0:34:34- No, late '20s, probably early '30s. - Right.- So I've grown up with them.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38- They're scenes in Brittany, aren't they?- I think so.
0:34:38 > 0:34:43And one of them has been dedicated here to...Miss Fanny Newman?
0:34:43 > 0:34:48- They were given to my mother by a gentleman called Alfred Newman.- Ah.
0:34:48 > 0:34:53- I wouldn't think that they're worth an awful lot.- Well, I think they are,
0:34:53 > 0:34:57because they're just what people like to see.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01- English Impressionism, that's what they are.- Yes.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05- I'd say they are worth, each, £2,000 to £3,000.- Oh.
0:35:05 > 0:35:09For many, the house is the memory of coming to Knebworth,
0:35:09 > 0:35:14but for me the memory is the first concert that I came to here in 1974.
0:35:14 > 0:35:19This was the very first one with the Allman Brothers, Van Morrison,
0:35:19 > 0:35:23the Doobie Brothers, in 1974, and we had about 70,000.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27- The next year you had Pink Floyd, I think.- It was my favourite concert,
0:35:27 > 0:35:32because the Dark Side Of The Moon is my all-time favourite rock record.
0:35:32 > 0:35:39- I remember they had a huge moon... - They had a big crane with a wire across the audience,
0:35:39 > 0:35:44it came on in the second half just as it was getting dark,
0:35:44 > 0:35:51and suddenly this rocket spewing sparks went across into the stage, whoomph, and the fireworks went up,
0:35:51 > 0:35:54the whole crowd leapt to their feet
0:35:54 > 0:35:59- and the roar - it was a tremendously dramatic moment.- It was memorable.
0:35:59 > 0:36:04And then we've been through this... In 1991 was the big charity event.
0:36:04 > 0:36:11Everybody you've ever heard of played there - Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, Elton John.
0:36:11 > 0:36:19It was just amazing - that was 120,000. And then the most recent one was the Oasis concert in 1996.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22- Will you do this again?- We hope so.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27We need Britain to produce bands that like playing to 125,000 people.
0:36:27 > 0:36:31I probably turned up looking like you do today.
0:36:31 > 0:36:38I put the gear on specially for the programme. My Wrangler jeans are genuine antiques now!
0:36:38 > 0:36:40Fantastic. Fab! Groovy, perhaps!
0:36:40 > 0:36:44It came to me through an aunt of mine,
0:36:44 > 0:36:49who was brought up by a maiden aunt of HERS,
0:36:49 > 0:36:54who died in 1947, and this was one of the last family treasures she had.
0:36:54 > 0:37:01It was written about in this book, which is a collection of short stories by C Henry Warren,
0:37:01 > 0:37:07who was a friend of the aunt who had brought them all up and whose last treasure that was.
0:37:07 > 0:37:15- He wrote two stories - one about the musical box and another about her ferocious cat called Romulus.- I see.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20Well, what we can say for certain is that this is a Swiss gold snuff box,
0:37:20 > 0:37:27and it has a musical mechanism within and it's obviously deeply recessed in the base here,
0:37:27 > 0:37:30to accommodate a spindle with pins.
0:37:30 > 0:37:36I'm confident it plays a beautiful tune - here's the winding aperture,
0:37:36 > 0:37:41- and you probably have the key.- Yes. - Look after it, they always get lost.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46It's a very distinguished example, made in about 1820.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51It's part of the charm to take what were called toys in those days -
0:37:51 > 0:37:56they are toys to amuse adults - to take a valuable object out
0:37:56 > 0:38:00and to have the added pleasure of music.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Would it ever be used as a snuff box?
0:38:02 > 0:38:06I think probably a table snuff box, just about,
0:38:06 > 0:38:11but its first function is to amaze us. Have you considered its value?
0:38:11 > 0:38:16It was valued about five years ago when I first got it - about £1,800,
0:38:16 > 0:38:20- I think, was the valuation then. - Quite conservative.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23- Really?- Yeah, very collectable, very sought-after.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28It's a very quietly distinguished one,
0:38:28 > 0:38:35but nonetheless I think a very valuable one - probably £7,500, possibly even £10,000 with luck.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40- Ah.- Ah. Time to play the music, do you think?- Er, yes, please.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45- Soothe our nerves. - TUNE PLAYS
0:38:45 > 0:38:52About seven years ago, I went to an antiques fair with the intention of purchasing a grandfather clock,
0:38:52 > 0:38:56and...I didn't purchase such a clock,
0:38:56 > 0:39:01- I bought this instead. - Well...I think it's gorgeous,
0:39:01 > 0:39:06and I have to say that this sort of table clock is very special.
0:39:06 > 0:39:08I won't say that it's unique,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11but it is a very unusual piece,
0:39:11 > 0:39:16and the majority of people watching will never have seen another one.
0:39:16 > 0:39:20We have the bowl which is made of pewter,
0:39:20 > 0:39:24and then it is engraved and these numerals are filled with black wax.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28In the middle is a very nice engraved sun,
0:39:28 > 0:39:34and there's... Earlier we put water in it and there's a little turtle.
0:39:34 > 0:39:38Now, inside this hexagonal base
0:39:38 > 0:39:45there is a movement, and a large magnet at the top basically pulls the turtle round.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48It's a lovely way to show the time.
0:39:48 > 0:39:53He's moving around because we're outdoors and it's windy,
0:39:53 > 0:39:56- but indoors he remains stable.- Yes.
0:39:56 > 0:40:02- His head is big but you could still tell the time accurately. - Yes, you can.- Let's take that off...
0:40:04 > 0:40:07..pop it over there.
0:40:07 > 0:40:13And as I mentioned, the hexagonal gilt brass case
0:40:13 > 0:40:17and at each...corner here,
0:40:17 > 0:40:20a rather nice cast lion,
0:40:20 > 0:40:25very much in an earlier style. What sort of date did you think this was?
0:40:25 > 0:40:31Approximately... 100 to 150 years old.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36- So the chap who sold it to you said it was about the 1860s?- Exactly.
0:40:36 > 0:40:40OK, we'll open this pretty little door here...
0:40:40 > 0:40:46and revealed under there is a small drum movement
0:40:46 > 0:40:49with a lever escapement
0:40:49 > 0:40:51signed by Planchon of Paris.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56Then over there, the slight giveaway is the stamp - made in France -
0:40:56 > 0:41:00which indicates to me that it's after about 1905.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03By 1906 the country of origin had to be declared.
0:41:03 > 0:41:09We've got these lovely butterfly nuts that are all spring-loaded...
0:41:10 > 0:41:15..and I will withdraw the clock movement out of the case.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23And there we go.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28The lever platform is there and is obviously wound through the base,
0:41:28 > 0:41:33and on the top we have a silver chapter ring and the magnet,
0:41:33 > 0:41:37which is circular except for a small notch there.
0:41:37 > 0:41:41And it is that bit that attracts the turtle.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45It is a lovely, very unusual thing.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50Can I ask you what you paid for it?
0:41:50 > 0:41:53It was approximately £1,700,
0:41:53 > 0:42:01- which was a lot of money.- Yes, but you'll be delighted to hear that it's gone up significantly.
0:42:01 > 0:42:08- The longcase clock you wanted to buy would have gone up as well, because clocks are strong just now.- Yes.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11If I was retailing this today -
0:42:11 > 0:42:17it is a very unusual object and only the second good quality one I've seen in ten years -
0:42:17 > 0:42:19this one would retail
0:42:19 > 0:42:25- for at least £4,500, if not £5,000. - Terrific.- You won't see another.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28You really won't.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34I've been at fairs and working in the auction room for years and to find this - very scarce.
0:42:34 > 0:42:41There is another literary connection with Knebworth and another more gentle love story.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46Winston Churchill met Pamela Plowden in India, where she was brought up,
0:42:46 > 0:42:48and she became his first great love.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53They remained friends and when she married Victor, 2nd Earl of Lytton,
0:42:53 > 0:42:58Winston became a regular visitor. Pamela had known Winston so long
0:42:58 > 0:43:05she could be honest. In 1901, she wrote to a friend, "Dearest Connie, he is not famous to me.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08"I have known him so long,
0:43:08 > 0:43:16"and the parts I am fond of are those he least cultivates for the success of the life he prefers."
0:43:16 > 0:43:19And that's it. Until next week, goodbye.
0:43:33 > 0:43:39Subtitles by BBC