0:00:35 > 0:00:40Today the Roadshow returns to Britain's second city.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43Birmingham covers an area of over 100 square miles.
0:00:43 > 0:00:48There are around a million people here and 1,300 miles of road.
0:00:48 > 0:00:51It was once known as the workshop of the world.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54To give you an idea of the way it was,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58in 1888 the Brummies manufactured 8,000 guns,
0:00:58 > 0:01:066 million coins, 20 million pens and 25,000 pairs of spectacles.
0:01:06 > 0:01:13An early city pioneer was Matthew Boulton, who inherited the family metalworking business and in 1762
0:01:13 > 0:01:18set up his "manufactory" to produce fine silverware and other products.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Boulton's home - Soho House - was a meeting place for a group of brilliant innovators -
0:01:23 > 0:01:28the leading scientists, engineers and thinkers of the time.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34The Lunar Society, whose members included potter Josiah Wedgewood and steam engineer James Watt,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39sat here every month at the time of the full moon to discuss their industrial plans and ideas.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43At the end of each session, the moon would light their way home.
0:01:43 > 0:01:49Boulton lobbied Parliament to establish an assay office in Birmingham and in 1773 he succeeded.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53The Birmingham Assay Office is now the largest in Britain,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57handling 10 million items every year.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59The pieces are sampled and analysed
0:01:59 > 0:02:02and then hallmarked according to quality.
0:02:02 > 0:02:10This swan is sterling silver. It's given five separate marks - first, the maker's mark.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Then the fineness mark...
0:02:17 > 0:02:19..the mark of the Birmingham Assay Office...
0:02:19 > 0:02:22the lion mark for sterling silver,
0:02:22 > 0:02:26and the year mark - in this case the millennium.
0:02:31 > 0:02:35Birmingham is constantly reinventing itself. In recent years,
0:02:35 > 0:02:39squares have been rejuvenated and walkways created,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42linking up with arts, sports and convention centres.
0:02:43 > 0:02:48It's a place of impressive buildings and large-scale enterprises and it's appropriate
0:02:48 > 0:02:53that today's Roadshow comes from the University of Birmingham's Great Hall,
0:02:53 > 0:03:01opened in 1909 by King Edward VII to host the functions of England's first campus university.
0:03:01 > 0:03:06When you first look at this plaque, you think it's a piece of costume jewellery
0:03:06 > 0:03:10because of its shape and style - is that something you've thought of?
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Well, I was 15 when I got it.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20It came in a rather untidy box just of bits and bobs from my auntie.
0:03:20 > 0:03:27- I just liked it, so I kept it safe and occasionally wore it. - It's good that you kept it safe.
0:03:27 > 0:03:33It does have a value and it's quite - a piece that you could date quite precisely
0:03:33 > 0:03:36because of its design and style.
0:03:36 > 0:03:43This material that looks like a cloud formation or a snail shell, which you might think is just glass,
0:03:43 > 0:03:48- is actually rock crystal. - Oh.- It's a natural crystal form.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Um, this flash of colour...
0:03:51 > 0:03:57in the centre is actually a line of fine Burmese rubies.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01And then the white stones on the borders of the rubies...
0:04:01 > 0:04:03are of course lovely diamonds,
0:04:03 > 0:04:07so you've got a complete mixture of precious stones
0:04:07 > 0:04:12in a natural-looking hard stone rock crystal border.
0:04:13 > 0:04:19Its shape is a bit peculiar because it doesn't look very much like... Would you wear it as a brooch?
0:04:19 > 0:04:22How would you wear it? And then you turn it round
0:04:22 > 0:04:28and the explanation is there because it is a lapel clip.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31You've probably seen that if you - just there,
0:04:31 > 0:04:36above that little space, there is a word - have you seen that word before?
0:04:36 > 0:04:40- I've looked at it and it says "Chaumet".- Chaumet, exactly.
0:04:40 > 0:04:48Chaumet were a firm of manufacturers making jewellery - particularly very fine pieces in the '30s -
0:04:48 > 0:04:52and they used to make jewellery that had...
0:04:52 > 0:04:54a tremendously pronounced style.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58The firm goes back way into about - ooh, 200 years old, something like that.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And they were patronised by Napoleon and they go back a long way.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06Some of their jewellery makes a great deal of money.
0:05:06 > 0:05:10Um, this clip, although it's a fairly modest piece, really -
0:05:10 > 0:05:13it's not got a big flash of diamonds, big chunky stones,
0:05:13 > 0:05:20but because of its singularity, the fact that it's signed "Chaumet - Made in France",
0:05:21 > 0:05:26and smothered all over the bottom of this are the French control marks so it's got all the right things.
0:05:26 > 0:05:32- What is the metal?- Platinum. - Platinum.- It's not white gold - it would be platinum.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35The Burmese rubies in the centre
0:05:35 > 0:05:41and the quality of the brilliants flanking the rubies themselves, do make it quite valuable.
0:05:41 > 0:05:47- So I think if it was sold in an auction we're looking at something in the realms of £2,000.- Really?
0:05:47 > 0:05:51- My father bought it before the war. - Right.
0:05:51 > 0:05:58It hung in the parlour until the Germans managed to move it off the wall in the early '40s.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01You can see there's been a little bit of damage.
0:06:01 > 0:06:07- Yes, I noticed.- And that was caused by the frame landing on the corner and the glass shattering
0:06:07 > 0:06:11- and pierced the picture.- Was the picture's title on the frame?
0:06:11 > 0:06:14- Because often it was.- Yes, it was. - What was it?
0:06:14 > 0:06:19"An Appeal To The Benevolent" or something and the artist Weeks,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23and I think it was 1854 or 1857, something like that.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Yes. Let's look at it more closely. If we look to the left of the dog,
0:06:26 > 0:06:31we can see a foot at the bottom there, and a stick and a string,
0:06:31 > 0:06:35and I suppose that represents a blind man.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39- A blind man, I presume. - Quite a clever interpretation. Yes.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43He had a very prolific output of work, William Weeks,
0:06:43 > 0:06:47and he flourished, as we say - we're not quite sure of the dates -
0:06:47 > 0:06:52roughly between 1864 and just into the early part of the 20th century.
0:06:52 > 0:06:58He exhibited numerous pictures at the Royal Academy from, I think, about 1865.
0:06:58 > 0:07:05He has, over the years, an eternal popularity because of this confrontational type of approach,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07with the dog looking at the pig.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11You had other subjects painted by him of a gaggle of geese
0:07:11 > 0:07:17stopping, say, a donkey ambling on a track. He also came up with these humorous titles -
0:07:17 > 0:07:23"You Shall Not Pass" springs to mind with the geese and the donkey, and yet the donkey was no threat.
0:07:24 > 0:07:27Wonderful picture, a lovely, lovely example.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30I would think between about £8,000 and £12,000.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34- Very nice.- And perhaps on a good day, a little bit more.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41Under a mile away from Edgbaston Cricket Ground and the home of the Warwickshire County Club,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45- it seems appropriate that we're looking at a cricket bat. - It was my father's.
0:07:45 > 0:07:52He played at Edgbaston for a number of years between 1948 and about 1958.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56- So, he was with Warwickshire?- Yes, he kept wicket for Warwickshire,
0:07:56 > 0:07:59- and occasionally for England. - Did he? Very good.
0:07:59 > 0:08:05Well, the tradition of signing cricket bats goes right back to the 19th century
0:08:05 > 0:08:10and you find cricket bats with signatures of WG Grace and all the rest of it on.
0:08:10 > 0:08:15And it's not unusual to have the touring side signing.
0:08:15 > 0:08:22What is unusual, though, is this - you've probably got all the English players here
0:08:22 > 0:08:25but actually divided up as county players.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30- Now, your father then played for Warwickshire.- Yes.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32But I don't see Warwickshire here.
0:08:32 > 0:08:39I think because it was for his benefit year. He had a number of bats signed and this is one of them
0:08:39 > 0:08:43which he gave to me to play cricket with, basically, to sand down.
0:08:43 > 0:08:49I broke a bat on a Saturday and he gave it me to play with on the Sunday but I didn't like to.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52I've kept it in the loft ever since.
0:08:52 > 0:08:57Um, it is a very nice bat, I mean the grip is just beginning
0:08:57 > 0:08:59to go slightly - that's inevitable, really.
0:08:59 > 0:09:06The bats that have the English/South African/Australian touring sides,
0:09:06 > 0:09:13in their normal form, signed on the front, they're probably worth around perhaps £400 -
0:09:13 > 0:09:16£500 if it's a good year.
0:09:16 > 0:09:22However, yours is better than that because with all these county players,
0:09:22 > 0:09:28I think that we're talking about certainly double, if not three times that.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32I would have said we're talking about between £1,000 and £1,500 in value.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35So this is something you've bought recently?
0:09:35 > 0:09:41No, I got it from my mother who died in 1994 and it was in the family for some time previous to that.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43- It's nice to inherit something.- Yes.
0:09:43 > 0:09:50It's a lovely piece of furniture. It's often called an etagere which is a sort of a two-tier table.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53But very often ebonised pieces of furniture, that are black,
0:09:53 > 0:09:58tend not to be very commercial, and this I think, though, doesn't really come into that category.
0:09:58 > 0:10:04- Right.- Firstly it's a small piece of furniture.- Uh-huh. - Er, parts of it are ebonised,
0:10:04 > 0:10:09it's been painted black, to simulate ebony. Right. And other parts are in fact ebony veneers.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11But it's really lovely quality
0:10:11 > 0:10:18- and I think the fact that it's a sort of simple classical design is greatly to its advantage.- Yes.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24It's got a drawer at the front here and you can actually see here
0:10:24 > 0:10:28where the ebonised painting has worn away and in fact you can also see
0:10:28 > 0:10:31- the fingerprints of whoever actually painted it.- Golly!
0:10:33 > 0:10:35But it's a neat small piece of furniture.
0:10:35 > 0:10:39It's in the Louis XVI French style but it's actually made in England.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- Right.- Around 1890 or thereabouts.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45I think if you were to put it up for sale - I'm sure you wouldn't -
0:10:45 > 0:10:47but if you were to put it in the market,
0:10:47 > 0:10:52- I think you'd probably get something in the region of £600 to £800.- Oh wonderful, marvellous.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56This gentleman figures here on the family tree.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00- He was born in 1828.- 1828, fine.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04And did he have any claim to fame?
0:11:04 > 0:11:09His father was John Bate Cardale, the founder of the Catholic and Apostolic Church in London.
0:11:09 > 0:11:11Well, George Richmond certainly had a claim to fame
0:11:11 > 0:11:18because by this stage - and what date is this? 1847? - he was probably
0:11:18 > 0:11:24the most famous portrait painter in Britain and hugely sought-after, for just this sort of thing,
0:11:24 > 0:11:27these strong pastel portraits.
0:11:27 > 0:11:35And you can see how in relatively few lines he's put down this strong handsome face.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38- Yes... - This paper is - was originally
0:11:38 > 0:11:43probably just an off-white, an ivory-creamy paper,
0:11:43 > 0:11:47and it has absorbed the acids from all the woodwork
0:11:47 > 0:11:55around it and has turned brown, and actually that can be reversed. I think probably in the region of...
0:11:55 > 0:12:02- £800 to £1,200, £1,500, something like that.- Yes.- But a jolly good buy for that - not that you're...
0:12:02 > 0:12:06- It's never been bought. - Never been bought. - It's not going to be sold either.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10There are two rotundas
0:12:10 > 0:12:16in Birmingham and the older and much lovelier is here, at the entrance to the Great Hall of the University
0:12:16 > 0:12:22and it has this astonishing trompe l'oeil ceiling here - absolutely magnificent.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25And on a slightly smaller scale
0:12:25 > 0:12:27we have a commemorative medal for the opening of the university
0:12:27 > 0:12:31in 1909 by King Edward VII - how did you get hold of this?
0:12:31 > 0:12:35I was given it about 35 -
0:12:35 > 0:12:42bit longer - years ago. People used to give them me because I used to collect medals, coins,
0:12:42 > 0:12:44old Victorian copper and everything.
0:12:44 > 0:12:49- That one's always fascinated me. - It's very handsome. I wonder how many were struck.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53I haven't got a clue, that's what I'd like to know.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59- What a wonderful rattle.- Yes, I think this part is a teething...
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Exactly that, yeah. These were all the rage
0:13:03 > 0:13:12for the greatest and grandest babies of the land, to be given, at birth, a silver rattle.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Um, this one with the coral teether, as you say,
0:13:17 > 0:13:19hallmarked round there...
0:13:19 > 0:13:26Good. This is very local to where we are now. It's by a firm called Willmores, made in Birmingham.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31Birmingham of course was the real centre of toy making,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35little silver buttons and all that sort of thing.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38This is 1850 or thereabouts.
0:13:38 > 0:13:47Very unusual to have this tin box which I would think is contemporary with it, also made in Birmingham.
0:13:47 > 0:13:49The bells - all contemporary,
0:13:49 > 0:13:56hung on separately with floral chasing and feather work going up there, you know.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58The little suspension ring would have been a ribbon
0:13:58 > 0:14:03to hang that - I'm sure they were more often than not, actually,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07- used for family portraits rather than...- Probably.- ..anything else.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09It's been in the family for years.
0:14:10 > 0:14:16Er, if it was an auction estimate today, we would probably be expecting...
0:14:16 > 0:14:21something in the region of £300... up to £500 as an auction estimate.
0:14:22 > 0:14:31- My guess is that actually you've not been buying ivories for very long.- No, no, I haven't, no...
0:14:31 > 0:14:35- How long? - Oh, three or four years, perhaps.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40OK. There is really a sort of warning here and that is
0:14:40 > 0:14:44that one should be very careful about buying ivory.
0:14:46 > 0:14:47Yes.
0:14:47 > 0:14:53- Um, the trouble is that it's an illegal trade now.- Yes, yes.
0:14:53 > 0:14:59And there are people still killing elephants to provide ivory for carvings.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03Unless you know what you're doing, you really shouldn't buy them.
0:15:03 > 0:15:09- No.- What you've got here are a group of modern ivory carvings.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12Although these appear to be Indian,
0:15:12 > 0:15:14they are in fact probably Chinese.
0:15:14 > 0:15:22The Chinese are carving in Canton and elsewhere, um, ivories in Japanese style,
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Indian style and Chinese style,
0:15:24 > 0:15:30- and they're being exported. This one is not actually ivory, this one is bone.- I wasn't sure.
0:15:30 > 0:15:37Yeah, this one's bone. You can see these brown lines running up here, that's where the blood vessels go
0:15:37 > 0:15:43- in bone, and you don't get that in ivory at all.- Ah, yes. - So it's a very easy way of telling.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48- Where did you buy this one? - I only bought that this week from the Birmingham antique market.
0:15:48 > 0:15:54- This week? An antique market?- Yes. - All right. What did you pay for it? - Have a guess. What do you think?
0:15:54 > 0:15:56- I don't know, maybe you paid £10 for it.- No, three
0:15:56 > 0:15:59- Three, OK, well... - I liked it, it's so intricate...
0:15:59 > 0:16:03- You think it's intricate.- But I don't know whether it is ivory.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07OK, the real clue is here. On the neck - see that line?
0:16:07 > 0:16:10- Yes.- That's a seam.- Oh yes. - It's plastic.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12Oh, plastic. Oh, never mind,
0:16:12 > 0:16:16- I haven't lost much.- It's all right for three quid.- I like it.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Um, but this is the real piece de resistance.
0:16:23 > 0:16:28- I like the markings on this, you know.- You like the carving on here.- Carving... Yes.- Of peony.
0:16:28 > 0:16:31- It isn't ivory.- It's not ivory.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34- Oh, no, I don't think so, do you? - What do you think it is then? - Some sort of bone.
0:16:34 > 0:16:39Whale bone, some - some sort of shark bone, something like that.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44- Thank goodness you're right. It is bone.- Yes.- It's not ivory.- Oh, no.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47And what we've got here are obvious joins
0:16:47 > 0:16:50where the pieces have been stuck on.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53Where did you buy this one from?
0:16:53 > 0:16:58- Birmingham market.- A Birmingham market?- Yes.- How long ago? - Er, three or four months ago.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02- Oh, right, and may I ask what you paid for it?- A hundred and fifty.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06I mean, you know, this amazes me -
0:17:06 > 0:17:09how can anybody go to this amount of work,
0:17:09 > 0:17:16- get it over to England and sell it for a hundred and fifty quid, quite extraordinary.- Yes.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21But in my opinion for a bone tusk as decorative as that for a hundred and fifty quid...
0:17:21 > 0:17:25- Why not?- I just snapped it up. Something I liked, you see.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29At the beginning of the - now the 20th century - in about 1900
0:17:29 > 0:17:35there was a new style that came out, very much inspired by France, called Art Nouveau,
0:17:35 > 0:17:40which is new art, which was very much inspired by nature, but at the same time was very much into
0:17:40 > 0:17:44sort of flowing lines. Now if you look at the pattern on this,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47you've got this sort of - I suppose it's like a flower, interlaced flower
0:17:47 > 0:17:52inlaid with enamel on the silver vase and if one rotates it carefully,
0:17:52 > 0:17:58you can see that the pattern is not repeating itself absolutely.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00It's actually climbing up the vase
0:18:00 > 0:18:06in a very sort of organic way and it's the way the design has been drawn round the vase
0:18:06 > 0:18:11that is very characteristic of Art Nouveau, as is this extraordinary sort of flared base,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15and the sort of sweeping again, sort of plant-like form.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20Now this was designed by a man called Knox,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24um, who was a metalwork designer, graphic artist,
0:18:24 > 0:18:30who came originally from the Isle of Man and his influences, as well as being natural,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32came from a sort of Celtic tradition.
0:18:32 > 0:18:38- He worked for Liberty's, now does Liberty...?- Yes.- Right.- Yes. - Now Liberty were great...
0:18:38 > 0:18:44leaders of avant-garde design in the Art Nouveau period and they commissioned designers like Knox,
0:18:44 > 0:18:49many other people - the potter Moorcroft - to make things that were
0:18:49 > 0:18:51absolutely up to the minute in style
0:18:51 > 0:18:55and if you could imagine this in a shop window in 1901,
0:18:55 > 0:19:01it couldn't have been more outrageous, modern, avant-garde. It was always wonderfully stylish,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03but absolutely super-modern taste.
0:19:03 > 0:19:09Here we have the Birmingham hallmark for 1901, we have Cymric, we have the Liberty mark.
0:19:09 > 0:19:14A lot of Liberty pieces were made by Haseler and Company who were a Birmingham silversmith,
0:19:14 > 0:19:18so it could well have been made not very far from where we are today
0:19:18 > 0:19:21but sold in London into an avant-garde market.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25- But it lives at home? - Yes, and it's cleaned regularly with loving care.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Yeah. There is some damage, as you know. It's been bashed a bit, the shape is no longer round,
0:19:29 > 0:19:32- Yes.- This is slightly erratic. That does affect it.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37If it was absolutely perfect, you'd be looking at £3,000 or £4,000.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40Gosh!
0:19:42 > 0:19:47Now, calm down a bit - because of the damage and condition, you're probably going - I think I'd say
0:19:47 > 0:19:53sort of £2,000 to £3,000 - but for insurance you could certainly say £4,000. It is a fantastic piece.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59- He's been in the family for 80 years. - As far as you know, it was sold
0:19:59 > 0:20:05- as a toy rather than as, um, a symbol to sell something. - I think so, yes.- Yes.
0:20:05 > 0:20:07I wondered whether he'd come off a display stand.
0:20:07 > 0:20:13Yes, well, I would imagine he has. Once upon a time he was made for
0:20:13 > 0:20:16a display in possibly a bookseller's,
0:20:16 > 0:20:22because when I first saw him I thought he was stone, until I picked him up and then - he's so light,
0:20:22 > 0:20:25because he's made of papier-mache which is lovely
0:20:25 > 0:20:28because he's such a character and as you know,
0:20:28 > 0:20:34Beatrix Potter couldn't get anybody to publish her first Peter Rabbit in 1901
0:20:34 > 0:20:42so she made her own edition and it wasn't until 1902 that the trade edition came out.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45This is much later.
0:20:45 > 0:20:52I would imagine that this could be just pre-war. He is absolutely original to her drawing
0:20:52 > 0:20:56and so anybody collecting anything to do with Peter Rabbit,
0:20:56 > 0:21:00and there are a lot of them around, they would pay probably around
0:21:00 > 0:21:07£200 to £300 for this, even in this condition which has obviously been played with.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12During the war my parents hired a cottage,
0:21:12 > 0:21:15to take me out of Birmingham and we lived next to an old lady
0:21:15 > 0:21:20and in about 1942 we'd got close to one another
0:21:20 > 0:21:25- and she gave me this book, which she told me was hers as a child.- Oh, lovely.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29And so - it says 1895 on the cover.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31It certainly is 1895,
0:21:31 > 0:21:36and it was published by Ernest Nister who was actually
0:21:36 > 0:21:38a German based in Nuremburg,
0:21:38 > 0:21:43but became very famous for producing pop-up books, movable books,
0:21:43 > 0:21:45books with all sorts of things - lovely things that moved.
0:21:45 > 0:21:51What I love about this is that it's a very good example of Victorian colour printing as well as being
0:21:51 > 0:21:54highly mechanical and very carefully worked out.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58It's also, to some extent, a social commentary because you've got a lovely range
0:21:58 > 0:22:00of figures along the back and you've got
0:22:00 > 0:22:04an indication of the sort of pursuits that the Victorians particularly liked.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09In this case it's in decent condition. It's not the finest, but it's good enough to be really
0:22:09 > 0:22:15sought after in the market, and I think probably in this kind of state, it would be worth perhaps
0:22:15 > 0:22:17- £300 or £400.- Really?
0:22:17 > 0:22:25To all intents and purposes, you've got a very standard captain's naval maritime telescope here.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29- Yes...- But it's distinguished by two features.
0:22:29 > 0:22:35The first is this inscription engraved...along the sighting tube.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40And the second is it's got its original box, which they've almost always lost.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44The nice thing about the box of course is it's also got the inscription repeated,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47- because it's very difficult to read on that shiny surface.- Yes.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52And it says "presented by Her Majesty's Government to Captain Henry Procter,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55"Master of the Barque 'Aunt Lizzie' of Sunderland,
0:22:55 > 0:23:02"in acknowledgement of the humanity and kindness to nine castaway islanders belonging to the island
0:23:02 > 0:23:08"of Yap, who he picked up at sea on the 29th December 1867. Troughton & Simms, London".
0:23:08 > 0:23:11- Yes.- They're a firm that started
0:23:11 > 0:23:16as Troughtons - and existed from, I think, 1826 to about the 1920s-odd.
0:23:16 > 0:23:22- A normal telescope like this, perhaps £200 - £250, because of the box, which helps.- Yes.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26But the moment you have a history like this, you can double that,
0:23:26 > 0:23:31- £500, £700.- Mm, fantastic.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35These were made by our grandfather,
0:23:35 > 0:23:43um, who at the time worked for Wilkinson Sword in London. We think they're apprentice pieces.
0:23:43 > 0:23:50To me this is really wonderful. Look at the size of this Scottish dress dirk.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54Now you've got a knife,
0:23:56 > 0:24:00a fork and the sheath.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02It's a wonderful little set.
0:24:02 > 0:24:09I mean this is - we're looking at perfection now, not any amateurish, you know, effort.
0:24:10 > 0:24:16Now this is an 1831 pattern general sword for a general officer,
0:24:16 > 0:24:20but the incredible thing here - that all the etching
0:24:20 > 0:24:25- is actually on the blade. - It's beautiful, isn't it? - It is, it's truly amazing to have
0:24:25 > 0:24:27anything that small,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32- that you could understand and read. - And that has his initials and the date.
0:24:32 > 0:24:38- I saw some initials - so they're your grandfather's initials. - Yes.- Oh, well, that's fair enough,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41isn't it? Now, this is a naval
0:24:41 > 0:24:47- officer's sword.- Ah. - In this instance we've got a post-1902 crown on it.- Ah.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50And true to the big brother of this sword,
0:24:50 > 0:24:54it has a hinge flap down here securing the sword
0:24:54 > 0:24:57into the scabbard, so we lift the flap,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01and then we can take out the sword.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05But truly amazing - just look at this!
0:25:07 > 0:25:12I would value them at - I know it sounds a lot of money -
0:25:12 > 0:25:15- I would value them at £2,000.- Oh!
0:25:17 > 0:25:23- Where has this picture been? Look at my hands!- It's been somewhere very dirty, I'm afraid - in my loft,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27- and only recently discovered. - Well, you are in a city
0:25:27 > 0:25:32that was one of the most envied cities towards the end of the 19th century,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36because the Birmingham Arts and Crafts School was the envy of the world.
0:25:36 > 0:25:44These sort of artists were not just painters and draughtsmen. They made enamel, they made stained glass,
0:25:44 > 0:25:50they made and designed jewellery, and Birmingham was the centre of these crafts.
0:25:52 > 0:25:58- For the artists, the greatest hero of Birmingham was a son of Birmingham.- Yes.- Edward Burne-Jones.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- Yes.- And when we look at these,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06we then see the link between the Burne-Jones/William Morris collaboration,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Arthur and the Kelmscott Press illustrations,
0:26:10 > 0:26:16and then you can see how these people openly dedicated themselves to Burne-Jones.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21So at the turn of the century you have Southall, in his early 30s -
0:26:21 > 0:26:24Joseph Edward Southall, that's who they're by.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27- This is his monogram here.- Yes.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29These are illustrations for the story of Bluebeard.
0:26:29 > 0:26:36- Yes.- So here we have somebody in the heart of Birmingham - which is exciting,
0:26:36 > 0:26:40because when we come to Birmingham we want the Birmingham School. Yes.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44We see the craftsmanship of these illustrations,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48we see the whole Aesthetic Movement, the way things are put together.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52So these are sort of £2,500 each - that's five.
0:26:52 > 0:26:55Overall, say £5,000 to £8,000.
0:26:58 > 0:27:04- I nearly threw it away. - And you didn't.- No. Goodness.
0:27:06 > 0:27:08These are Staffordshire figures.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12- Yes.- And they were extremely popular in the Victorian period.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17- We have two figures here which are the same.- Same figures, yes. - And helpfully,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20- they're labelled on the bottom Beaconsfield.- Yes, yes.
0:27:20 > 0:27:24Well, we probably know who it was from his little goatee beard - it's Benjamin Disraeli.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27- Yes.- He was an MP from 1837... - I see.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31And he was made Beaconsfield, Earl of Beaconsfield in 1876,
0:27:33 > 0:27:37so these figures must have been made around 1876 in Staffordshire.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41- These two figures are much less well known.- Oh.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43You've got Moody and Sankey.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Moody and Sankey were evangelists and they came over here
0:27:47 > 0:27:52three times, and the first time they came over was 1873
0:27:52 > 0:27:56and that was about when these figures were made, so they must have approached the factory,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59I think, to say, "We're coming over,
0:27:59 > 0:28:02"and would like you to make some figures of us to sell to the crowd,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05- "really get everybody going".- Yes.
0:28:05 > 0:28:10- In spite of that, they're quite rare figures.- Yes.- At auction - not an insurance value -- No.
0:28:10 > 0:28:15- but at auction they're going to fetch £2,000.- Oh!
0:28:15 > 0:28:20Of all the toys that I see, I have to admit that Noah's Arks are my favourites,
0:28:20 > 0:28:25and what we're looking at here is a particularly lovely example.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28The carcass is made of wood and then it's been
0:28:28 > 0:28:33covered with these fantastically coloured pieces of straw,
0:28:33 > 0:28:37both in long strips and then little tiny mosaics
0:28:37 > 0:28:43running round a frieze and it's in lovely condition. It doesn't look as if it's been played with much.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46So was it yours?
0:28:46 > 0:28:50I don't know much about it except that it belonged to my husband's great-great-aunt.
0:28:50 > 0:28:55A little aide-memoire to tell you which way to push the slide, thank you!
0:28:55 > 0:28:59Um, and inside, yes, well we have got lots and lots of animals,
0:28:59 > 0:29:03- so - have you counted them? - Not recently.- Oh, good.
0:29:03 > 0:29:08So this is a sort of voyage of discovery. We can actually count them all out.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12So, Roy, this represents a good day out for you, doesn't it?
0:29:12 > 0:29:17Yes. I see so many of these in the Roadshows over the last 22 years
0:29:17 > 0:29:24and I've always said that if ever we're in Birmingham and one comes in, I'd like to mention it.
0:29:24 > 0:29:30- So what have we got? - Well, we've got the very first coin struck by steam pressure.
0:29:30 > 0:29:32They were only struck in 1797.
0:29:32 > 0:29:40Watt of steam engine fame joined Boulton, and Boulton and Watt struck these tuppenny pieces.
0:29:40 > 0:29:46And also penny pieces. The tuppenny pieces weighed two ounces and of course the penny piece, one ounce.
0:29:46 > 0:29:51Having struck them, they submitted trial proofs to The Royal Mint and they gave them the licence
0:29:51 > 0:29:52to carry on to do so,
0:29:52 > 0:29:56but you can see the size - and they were very unpopular with people.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00- If you had a pound's worth, you wouldn't be able to walk.- No!
0:30:00 > 0:30:05The way that these animals were created was slightly like slicing up a piece of cake.
0:30:07 > 0:30:13There would be a block of wood, circular and the height of the animal - let's pick one at random.
0:30:13 > 0:30:21How about one of these stripy hyenas? They would then cut slices through the cake,
0:30:21 > 0:30:25smaller at the nose end, wider at the rear,
0:30:25 > 0:30:32and then very roughly carve in the details of the feet and the head and so on.
0:30:34 > 0:30:40And then they were given out to cottage workers to finish the carving
0:30:40 > 0:30:45and to cover the little animals with gesso - a kind of whiting - and then to paint the details on,
0:30:45 > 0:30:52so you can picture the scene in the southern area of Germany, in the Thuringian forests where they
0:30:52 > 0:30:54had access to all this pine.
0:30:54 > 0:31:00You would find whole communities of parents, grandparents, uncles, aunties and children,
0:31:00 > 0:31:02sitting painting
0:31:02 > 0:31:05the animals that they had round them.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07We have all the members
0:31:07 > 0:31:10of Noah's family, Noah in the red robe
0:31:10 > 0:31:13holding his staff,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17and it really was a toy that was educational
0:31:17 > 0:31:20as well as being amusing.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24It would teach you a little bit about the animals of the world.
0:31:24 > 0:31:30More particularly, this was a toy that could be played with in religious households on a Sunday,
0:31:30 > 0:31:37so it becomes part of a group of toys known as "Sunday toys", things with a religious connection.
0:31:37 > 0:31:44It dates from the early part of the 19th century, something around perhaps 1825 to 1850,
0:31:44 > 0:31:48that second quarter of the 19th century.
0:31:48 > 0:31:52The other thing that I love about this one is its size,
0:31:52 > 0:31:56because they can be anything from this size
0:31:56 > 0:32:00up to great things that you almost feel you could sail in yourself.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05This is a lovely size, very compact, and yet to fit in 89 animals.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08They're rare.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13They're rare in bad condition, so in good condition they are super-rare.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16I would have thought if we're talking about value,
0:32:16 > 0:32:23- we should certainly be talking about perhaps £2,500 to £3,500. - Really?
0:32:24 > 0:32:27What's your house like without the door?
0:32:28 > 0:32:30A little bit bare. We have a temporary panel in.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35- What do you know about it?- Well, it was actually designed and made by
0:32:35 > 0:32:41- Vincent Muschialli.- Right.- For his house that was built in 1929 - and he worked in stained glass.- Yes.
0:32:41 > 0:32:49My grandmother became his companion/ housekeeper and when they died, my aunt inherited the house and then
0:32:49 > 0:32:51in turn I inherited the house.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55I mean what this takes us into is a particular period of English domestic architectural design,
0:32:55 > 0:33:00the spread of the suburbs, along the arterial roads, all those bungalows and semis,
0:33:00 > 0:33:04all the same but all subtly different and one of the ways builders made them different
0:33:04 > 0:33:10was by the installation of stained glass panels, either in the doors or often in the primary room windows.
0:33:10 > 0:33:15You see them still there. Of course so many of these were stripped out by double glazing,
0:33:15 > 0:33:20by plastic frames, hundreds and millions of doors have been replaced, of course
0:33:20 > 0:33:26by dreadful fake Georgian replicas, so it's wonderful to see one that is actually total as it should be.
0:33:26 > 0:33:31Maritime motifs are the most popular. That's what people go for.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36You get all sorts of things but the idea of... Often it's a great galleon in full sail,
0:33:36 > 0:33:40but this is much nicer because it's almost a contemporary image.
0:33:40 > 0:33:43The number 40 is very nice. I think this is a later replacement.
0:33:43 > 0:33:48- Yes.- It probably was an iron one originally to match that, but essentially it's
0:33:48 > 0:33:53as it should be and of course it still belongs on the house - even better. Can you value a front door?
0:33:53 > 0:33:58Of course you can. Places called architectural salvage centres sell things like this all the time.
0:33:58 > 0:34:05Usually the panel is taken out, the door is scrapped and it's sold as stained glass, which is a tragedy.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09But that panel is great, in the door.
0:34:09 > 0:34:14It has to be £400 which is quite a lot of money for a front door,
0:34:14 > 0:34:17but better than any replica or reproduction,
0:34:17 > 0:34:22- so screw it back and make sure it continues to live there.- Thank you.
0:34:23 > 0:34:29- We often see Doulton plates on the Roadshow - you know, someone brings in one piece.- Yes.
0:34:29 > 0:34:34But to see a big collection is wonderful - you've got more than this, have you?
0:34:34 > 0:34:39- Oh, yes, I've got something like 105 pieces.- Really?- On the dresser.
0:34:39 > 0:34:45And these are all connected with Dickens. What started you off? What was your first piece?
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Oh, that plate there was my first piece, Tony Weller.
0:34:50 > 0:34:54- This has got the signature of Noke, Charles Noke...- Oh, yes.
0:34:54 > 0:34:59- ..the designer of all this series of Dickens subjects.- Yes.
0:34:59 > 0:35:04- And on the back of course it has the name of the subject, Tony Weller.- Yes.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07And the normal Doulton mark, and also, interestingly,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10the year of the making of the piece.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14- Yes, yes.- So that says 109 which is, um, January 1909,
0:35:14 > 0:35:22- when this series started.- Yes. - And of course it had a great boost when the Dickens centenary happened
0:35:22 > 0:35:23- a couple of years later.- Oh, yes.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26- And masses of this stuff was made. - Yes.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28And it's extremely popular.
0:35:28 > 0:35:34It's been popular right until the 1950s when they finally eliminated the Dickens scenes
0:35:34 > 0:35:37- from the thing.- Yes, yes.- But you've got some fascinating items.
0:35:37 > 0:35:40This is, I suppose, one of the most extraordinary things. This is a...
0:35:40 > 0:35:45I've never seen one of those in the catalogues or books that we've got of this.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48It's what, a sort of a cigarette holder, or match holder?
0:35:48 > 0:35:52I think you turn it up for cigarettes to go in there. You have to feed them in there.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55- Cigarettes. - You stand it up and of course
0:35:55 > 0:35:57they won't come out because they're stopped by that.
0:35:57 > 0:36:00- And you have the matches in there?- Yes, strike on...
0:36:00 > 0:36:04And then you strike them on the platform, yeah, and then put the...
0:36:04 > 0:36:08- used matches down in there.- Yes. - Absolutely fascinating. So you've got Sam Weller on one side.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10Sam Weller, yes.
0:36:10 > 0:36:16- One of the great characters. And Tony Weller.- Yes, yes.- On the other. All these things are fascinating.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20- Yes.- They're not uncommon, I mean, you know,
0:36:20 > 0:36:26we do see a lot of the Dickens characters on these pieces and at auction a plate is expected
0:36:26 > 0:36:32- to go for something like around about £25, £30 or something like that.- Yes.
0:36:32 > 0:36:37- More, of course, at an antiques fair. You'd have to pay much more for that then.- Yes.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41The unusual objects would be pushing towards £100, I suppose.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46- Yes.- And so amongst this there's a... there's a fair amount of value.
0:36:48 > 0:36:53We believe it's by a woman artist called Kate Eadie and I believe that they've got one at the V & A.
0:36:53 > 0:36:59Indeed you're right. It is certainly by Kate Eadie. She was one of the sort of
0:36:59 > 0:37:02quite prominent women in the English Arts and Crafts movement.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05She was based in Birmingham,
0:37:05 > 0:37:09and also the thing is that she was pretty versatile.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14I mean, she did jewellery, she did sgraffito work like this, illumination.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17How did you acquire it?
0:37:17 > 0:37:20Um, in 1973 I went into a junk shop
0:37:20 > 0:37:26looking for something completely different with £5 in my purse and bought this instead.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30- You bought this for a fiver? - For a fiver in a junk shop.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33Well, I'm amazed that you could have got it for that price in 1970.
0:37:33 > 0:37:41I could understand, you know, before the war or something when this was - but already people were
0:37:41 > 0:37:43beginning to be very interested in the Arts and Crafts.
0:37:43 > 0:37:48It's in such beautiful condition with this sgraffito work
0:37:48 > 0:37:52on the wooden panels and the gilding, absolutely perfect.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56Have you any idea of its present value? None at all, none at all.
0:37:56 > 0:38:02- No, well you should insure it for at least £2,000. - Oh, good heavens!- Yes.
0:38:03 > 0:38:09- A little pottery bust. I wonder who he's meant to be.- Yes. - Mm, sort of, he - he's wearing...
0:38:09 > 0:38:15I suppose that's a turban of some sort with a jewel on his head, so a Turk of some kind.
0:38:15 > 0:38:18Well, my aunt had it on her mantelpiece all her life.
0:38:18 > 0:38:24She lived in the same house from the 1920s until she died at the age of 94 about four years ago.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28- It's just been sitting on the mantelpiece and now come down to you.- That's right, yes.
0:38:28 > 0:38:34What we've got here is a piece of pottery which is clearly shown by his nose being missing.
0:38:34 > 0:38:40- I can see inside the colour of the clay and it chips very easily. - Yes.- It's a material called delft.
0:38:40 > 0:38:46To look like Chinese porcelain, they took a pottery clay and covered it with a thick white glaze,
0:38:46 > 0:38:51and it looks like a nice white china body, but it's soft, it chips easily
0:38:51 > 0:38:54and when it chips you get this coarse clay colour inside.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58And this material was developed in many different countries.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02It started perhaps in Italy, it's best known in Holland
0:39:02 > 0:39:07where the name delft applied, and you also get it made in France and in England.
0:39:07 > 0:39:12Placing where it's made is going to be a very crucial thing to this little object.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16- Yes.- We're going back to quite an early age for delft.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19Underneath the base there are some initials.
0:39:19 > 0:39:25- Normally this arrangement of initials is quite interesting - it would indicate a marriage.- Right.
0:39:25 > 0:39:32"T" and "M" would be the names of the husband and wife and "W" is most likely to be the surname.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36And often that arrangement would indicate this piece was a wedding gift of some sort.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39- Mm.- That kind of lettering on an item
0:39:39 > 0:39:44occurs on quite early delft pieces and we're looking for a date
0:39:44 > 0:39:50which I suppose the subject can suggest. Um, looking at his face there, he's wearing,
0:39:50 > 0:39:56I guess a moustache and a little goatee beard which sort of comes to mind images
0:39:56 > 0:40:00of, um, Charles I or indeed Charles II,
0:40:00 > 0:40:04and that's really the period we're looking at. This little piece here is in the 17th century,
0:40:04 > 0:40:08- goes back to the 1670s.- Gosh.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12- Anything from that age, it's quite a rare piece.- Yes.- Indeed.
0:40:12 > 0:40:18- Even though it's so battered? - Well, that's - I like to see battering on these.- Oh, right.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21- That's telling more that it's got some age.- Right. - If delft has got no chips at all,
0:40:21 > 0:40:24then it's normally modern. It's a very rare survivor.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27I've never seen one like it. I've never seen this model.
0:40:27 > 0:40:30- I'm sure it's totally unrecorded. - Gosh.
0:40:30 > 0:40:35And because they just simply - very few were made and they got broken.
0:40:35 > 0:40:41You get figures made in France and Holland and in England - the most exciting ones to us
0:40:41 > 0:40:47if they're British. The colours are the simple colours of delft ware.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51The orange and yellow are sort of - rather badly fired yellow.
0:40:51 > 0:40:56It was very hard to get really bright colours on these - they occur on a few known pieces,
0:40:56 > 0:41:03particularly some cordial cups which were made for the coronation of Charles II in 1660 and they have
0:41:03 > 0:41:05this combination of colours exactly,
0:41:05 > 0:41:10so lots of things are telling me this is London of 1660.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15The search continues all the time to discover what was made in London and what was made on the Continent.
0:41:15 > 0:41:20- Right.- But the difference is very important in terms of the price.
0:41:20 > 0:41:26- Right.- Because although Dutch and Continental figures are rare in delft at this period -
0:41:26 > 0:41:33- and they're quite expensive - the price of English ones go through the roof.- Oh, really?
0:41:33 > 0:41:39- So preparing you on that line, um - what were you thinking it might be worth?- I'd no idea at all.
0:41:39 > 0:41:44Holding it here, it's speaking to me in an English accent. I want it to be English.
0:41:44 > 0:41:50One has to be cautious and say we've got to check it out, we've got to ge some other opinions after today,
0:41:50 > 0:41:55- to perhaps just see if other examples are known - any other way to be sure.- Right.
0:41:55 > 0:42:00But English delft figures start at a substantial amounts of money. They don't exist.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04Examples have fetched, um, tens of thousands of pounds,
0:42:04 > 0:42:08- even over £100,000.- Really?- So we're talking about a lot of money.
0:42:08 > 0:42:16- Gosh.- So, I mean cautiously one is thinking £50,000.- Really? Ooh.
0:42:16 > 0:42:25- And it could... As I say, some have made over £100,000.- Oh, dear. - For pieces of such importance.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28Right, well, it isn't insured, I don't think.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34- It needs to be insured and looked after.- Yes.- It needs to be researched. It's a major discovery.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39- Really? Gosh.- It's so exciting. I'm shaking holding it here, but I'll put it down carefully.
0:42:39 > 0:42:45- Gosh.- Because it is a wonderful thing, wonderful condition. What a piece!
0:42:47 > 0:42:53How much would you or I have paid for that battered little piece of pottery? Extraordinary.
0:42:53 > 0:42:58It has to be said that this fine hall has provided the perfect atmosphere for a day of discovery.
0:42:58 > 0:43:04So thank you to everyone in the Great Hall of Birmingham University, and until next week, goodbye.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29Subtitles by Veronica Wells