Salford Antiques Roadshow


Salford

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This week we're in Salford, a busy city alongside Manchester, but with a character and history of its own,

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and evidence of a great pioneering spirit.

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Here at Worsley, the Duke of Bridgewater established the world's first canal independent of a river.

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It carried coal to workplaces five miles to the south-east. The cost - four pence a hundredweight.

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An ambitious enterprise, it reduced the price of coal

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and helped industry flourish in the north-west of England.

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More than a century later came another audacious scheme - the Manchester Ship Canal -

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one of the Victorians' greatest engineering projects.

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It meant that ocean-going vessels could travel 35 miles inland from Merseyside.

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From their opening in 1894, Salford docks were amongst the busiest in Britain.

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But in the 1970s, the patterns of commerce changed,

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containers took over, the docks declined.

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And so the city of Salford turned its face to the future.

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They'd already been the first municipal authority to have a museum and a library, 150 years ago,

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and now they've built the massive and stylish Lowry Arts Centre

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on the apex of one of the old wharves.

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Inside, with its array of theatres and galleries,

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the jewel in the crown - the works of Salford's most famous citizen.

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Lawrence Stephen Lowry was born in 1887.

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He began developing his evocative but controversial style between the two world wars.

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The art establishment was slow to appreciate him.

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Lowry worked as a rent collector and in his spare time created images of an urban life

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that has now disappeared. The public grew to love his unmistakable pictures.

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His matchstick people even inspired a pop song.

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# Now he takes his brush and he waits

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# Outside them factory gates

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# To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs... #

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These exhibits reaffirm Lowry as one of the most distinctive artists Britain has ever produced.

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You may recall that this example came to light when the Antiques Roadshow visited Oldham a year ago.

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He'd given it to his driver.

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Lowry used Peel Park as a setting for many of his pictures.

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Today, a new generation of the people of Salford are heading to the university

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which is hosting this week's Roadshow.

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These are fun things. They are candle extinguishers,

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for putting out a candle. Made by Royal Worcester round about 1950, 1952,

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-just post Second World War.

-Yes.

-Yes, have you had them a long time?

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-About 25 years.

-Mmm, and what did you pay for them?

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-There was a little black boy as well.

-Mmm.

-I gave £7.50 for the three.

-For the three things?

-Mmm.

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-So less than £7.50 for these two?

-Yes.

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They're jolly nice. This is a monk.

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He's wearing his brown habit, and he's reading his book. He's great.

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-And the mandarin from China...

-Yes.

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He's a wonderful yellow and orange with a black hat.

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-I think he's tremendous. They're very collectable now.

-Yes.

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Your £7.50 has gone up a bit.

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I suppose the monk's going to be £150 or £200

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-and the mandarin's going to be around about £250.

-Oh...

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-So you've got two jolly nice things there.

-Lovely.

-Happy about that?

-Yes.

-Well happy.

-A lot more.

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But this is terribly interesting. This is Minton,

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and absolutely marvellous, How did you come by this?

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-My father bought it for my mother 66 years ago.

-Yes.

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-And he gave two pound ten shillings out of a second-hand shop.

-Two pounds ten shillings?

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-That, back then, was quite a lot of money.

-Yes.

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My mother wouldn't buy it because it was too dear,

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and my dad went back and bought it.

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I think it's great. They're Chinese, I suppose,

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-in a kind of a boat.

-Yes.

-It's almost like a European gondola

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because it's made in England.

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And it is quite an extraordinary little piece.

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The whole structure of it is tremendous fun,

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you know, these little chaps rowing their boat along

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and he's got a fan just like this mandarin.

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Incredible how similar these are, yet this is almost 100 years earlier

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-than these extinguishers. Somewhere about the 1870s - 1875, say.

-Yeah.

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I think it's quite extraordinary.

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-Modelled by a man called Henk and they're fairly rare.

-Oh.

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-Have you had them insured or valued?

-I had it valued,

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er...and he told me £400.

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-£400.

-Mmm, about six months ago.

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I think that's probably a little low.

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Because of its rarity, I think you're probably looking at £1,000

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-or £1,200.

-Oh, a lot more than I thought.

-So that's...

-A lot more, yes.

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-From two pounds ten shillings...

-Ten shillings.

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-That's a decent price.

-A good buy.

-Yes.

-But more important than that, you like it?

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-Yes.

-It's a wonderful model.

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Tremendous.

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Is there Russian blood in the family?

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No, not at all. My grandfather worked in Russia at the turn of the century.

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I think he spent about 4 or 5 years there, he was a mining engineer.

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-And he was an Englishman?

-Yes.

-And were they GIVEN to him originally?

-No, I know that he bought this box,

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which I assume is a cigarette box.

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Yes. When did he leave Russia?

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It will have been at least 90, 92, 93 years ago.

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Yes, I see. That's interesting. And this one is interesting, too.

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It's a vesta case. Before the advent of the lighter,

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everybody had to carry matches. They were called "vestas".

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They were impregnated with wax, and smoking, everybody did.

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This technique is called niello. A black sulphurous alloy

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is laid into the surface of the silver, filling the engraving,

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and then it's polished down to be brought flush with the surface.

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It's a very Russian technique. Lovely family history for you,

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-and £200 to £300 today.

-Really?

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These cigarette cases are of a recognised type. It's not complete.

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There's a mysterious sort of hole.

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I wondered what it was. Do tell me.

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It used to contain a tinder which you could light from the matchbox.

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-You could take your matches out of here...

-Yes.

-..strike them on there,

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pull up the tinder with a silver pull here, light it,

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and then when the wind from Siberia was blowing hard,

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you'd pass it to your friends who'd light their cigarettes.

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-I see, really?

-There was also a fashion

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for covering cigarette boxes with these ciphers.

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They're souvenirs of the original owner.

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He was probably in connection with the imperial family on some level.

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We can tell that from these Romanov eagles that appear twice.

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I believe they're the tops of stick pins

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that have been mounted onto this cigarette case.

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-Really?

-And they meant a lot to him.

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-It dates from 1899 to 1908.

-Really?

-It's a rather good span.

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It would be important to the new Russian collectors.

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-Really?

-So it's gone up...

-Really?

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-I was afraid it had gone down with the market opening.

-No, on the contrary.

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The Russians love to bid

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at auction for their heritage,

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which they scorned at the time.

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I think probably if it turned up somewhere in a European sale

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at which they were in attendance,

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-£800, maybe £1,200, wouldn't be too much.

-Really? Good heavens.

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Ralph Herbert Lord was a well-known Victorian photographer.

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-Yes, he was my great-grandfather.

-Fascinating. With his wife there?

-Yes, in Southport.

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Here we have an album of his photographs.

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Yes, just the ones that he used to submit

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-to exhibitions.

-Right, OK, let's have a look at them.

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"An Idle Moment". What a wonderful evocation of late Victorian England.

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-It is, yes. He lived in Cambridge when he was doing photography.

-Right.

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-And of course a lot of the scenes are from Cambridge.

-Of the fens, yes.

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Here, the farmer is having a brief respite from his ploughing

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and talking to his wife.

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Now... Oh, this is a famous photograph.

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Yes, that's one of the ones

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-that won a gold medal at the Royal Photographic Society.

-It's Neddy...

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-"Neddy's New Shoes".

-A terrific photograph.

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He was a wonderful artist.

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-Yes, yes.

-Yeah. Here we've got one entitled "You Stupid Boy",

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obviously a posed photograph.

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The master is about to clip the boy round the ear

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for not getting his sums correct.

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These are platino-type photographs of large size,

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so he'd have needed to carry a lot of equipment.

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Yes, that is the size of the plate,

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and he had a camera on the back of a cart. He had a horse and cart.

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Oh, another well-known photograph.

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"How's That?". Marvellous condition.

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-You can see the old boy taking snuff.

-That's right.

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And the other gentleman with the snuff box in his hand.

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And another one here - "Try Again".

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-Are these superimposed?

-They are, yes, and he put a pile of bricks here

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-to make this shadow from the gentleman's leg.

-Wonderful.

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His photographs appear at auction from time to time, and he is recognised as a very gifted artist.

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-Nice to know.

-Mmm, and I would think

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that the value of this at auction probably lies

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-in the region of £6,000 to £8,000.

-Gosh! That's a total surprise.

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Just down the hall, the porcelain queue is over there and jewellery's just behind you.

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-How many tickets do you reckon you have?

-About 1,500.

-1,500?!

-Yes.

-That's an astonishing collection.

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-Yes.

-Did it take long to collect?

-About 20 years.

-Amazing.

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-And when did you start collecting?

-1959, when I started train spotting.

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And where have they all come from?

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Acquaintances swapping railwayana and various items of railway memorabilia.

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-You're fond of railways, obviously.

-Yeah.

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Some of them are rather fascinating.

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-"One Dog", for example.

-Yes.

-Which is your favourite?

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-That one. 19...

-That was YOUR ticket?

-Yes. That station is closed now.

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-It's Manchester Central which is now the G-Mex Centre.

-Really?

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It's a tremendous collection.

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How much have you paid for these tickets?

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Nothing. It's just things I've exchanged.

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-What do you reckon it's all worth?

-I haven't a clue.

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There are a huge number of people

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collecting railwayana these days, particularly tickets. There's a huge market.

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I see the prices that they fetch. You'd be astounded by the prices...

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-Really?

-..that some tickets actually fetch. I would think that, um...

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if you bought these through postal auctions today,

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-you'd have to pay around £2,000 to £3,000 for the collection.

-Really?

-Oh, yes.

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-Well, you've got 1,500 tickets!

-Yes.

-It's a tremendous collection. I wish it were mine.

-I'm gobsmacked.

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-Thanks very much.

-SMASH!

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-What happened?

-It's just...fell out of my hand.

-"Fell out of my hand".

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I have to tell you that, on every Roadshow, there is a crash and a client has dropped something.

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The best packing material, if you can't get that plastic bubble stuff,

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is newspaper. Well...you haven't ruined anything of any great merit.

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This was made in the 1950s

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and it was worth, before you put paid to it,

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-about £10 or £15.

-Oh.

-So, not quite the disaster it might have been,

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but sorry it happened.

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Well, it used to hang in my father-in-law's office

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and then my husband brought it home some years ago

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and that's all I know about it. I don't know where it came from.

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It's an enjoyable picture, isn't it? It actually breathes quality

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and enthusiasm.

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He's an artist who was born in 1816,

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as it says on the mount, and died in 1869.

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He lived a fascinating life.

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He studied at the age of 23 under the East Anglian artist, James Stark,

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but the quality in depth

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is amazing.

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-So many artists put everything in the front.

-Right, yes.

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But this artist put things in depth

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and his sense of depth is absolutely amazing.

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-And the colours are very good.

-Indeed.

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It's slightly faded, very slightly,

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-but it hasn't been in direct sunlight, clearly.

-It's been moved

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-from the hall to another wall.

-Yes.

-Away from the sun.

-I'm glad to hear that.

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-There is a little bit of staining here...

-Yes.

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And also on the other side, and there is slight damage.

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-I noticed that when I was wrapping it up.

-Those things

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can be so easily repaired.

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Erm...

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It's truly a tremendous example of a river landscape

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by one of our very best 19th-century watercolourists.

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-Now, value - have you ever had it valued?

-No.

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-What would you think it's worth?

-I think about £5,000.

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-Oh, no, no.

-What would YOU think?

-The thousand mark...

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-I don't know.

-Well, you're nearer it.

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-It is certainly about £5,000...

-Yes.

-..to about £7,000.

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-On a good day, maybe up to ten.

-Gosh.

-And going up all the time.

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-Yes, as long as you keep it out of the sun and look after it.

-Mmm.

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My grandfather was a soldier in the Boer War

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and when he came home in 1902 he brought this collection home,

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and I understand that it was a Zulu wedding dress.

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-Whether it was or not, I don't know.

-That is fascinating, but what about the photographs?

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The photographs were never seen by the children or the grandchildren.

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They were kept in a brown envelope.

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It was only these last few years that they came to light.

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-Really? Only just...

-Six years ago.

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-And do you think your grandfather took the photographs?

-I doubt it.

-I doubt it.

-No.

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This is absolutely fascinating for me,

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to see... this is how they wore their beads.

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We see beads on the Roadshow,

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but we don't know where they were meant to be put,

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so this is a wonderful record of a Zulu wedding outfit, if you like.

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Now, we've got three of these.

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That's probably the best one. They are fading a little bit.

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They have got a little bit of discolouration.

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But the fact that we've got three here, different girls...

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This one's a bit more faded.

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All wearing this particular wedding dress which they've made themselves

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out of the beads that they would have.

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This one's again a bit faded, got a back view here - bare bottoms.

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This is one of the little fringes

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that was worn by these girls, in the front,

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It goes round the waist

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and hangs in front, very delicately

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and charmingly. It's in fantastic condition.

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-It is absolutely mint...

-Yes.

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It might have been worn once and that's it.

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And then you've got what they wore round their necks.

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Again, you'd wear it how she was doing it,

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round there, a lot of work in that to make it round.

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If you've ever done bead-work, it's a labour of love.

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And this one, a bit longer, also to go round the neck,

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and this here, which goes round quite a small waist.

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So although that lovely lady looks buxom, she had a small waist.

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Here we have what the men would have worn.

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-Ah, right.

-It's a pity we don't have the men in the photographs.

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What I love about them is...

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they're the same colouring on the one side,

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and on the other side...

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it's completely different.

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So it's double. They could wear them back to front and inside out.

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And superb condition.

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If only we could see the couple wearing these,

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it would be wonderful, wouldn't it?

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Now Zulu bead-work

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from that time, from the 1900s,

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is now very popular.

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It's become a popular collecting field in this country.

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-Have you ever had it valued?

-No.

-No, it's the first time

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it's been taken out of the cabinet to our knowledge.

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It's difficult to put a price on it,

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but the photographs themselves have a value in their own right.

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Those, I would say, could be worth

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-as much as £80 to £100 each.

-The photographs?

-They are very special.

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The beads, altogether, I suppose we could be talking about £500.

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-I'm amazed!

-It's amazing!

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I thought my uncle brought it back from WWII when he was in Thailand,

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but only recently did I find out from my auntie

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-that it came from Farnworth Co-operative Society.

-In England?!

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-He's an ENGLISH dragon.

-Yes.

-He looks madly Oriental.

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The mark on the back is Charlotte Rhead,

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the great potter in Stoke-on-Trent,

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who developed an incredible system of what's called tube lining.

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That is, out of a tube, you squeeze clay

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to make a pattern, of the dragon and all these decorations here,

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and then the girls in the factory

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would fill it up very carefully.

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So you've got a raised pattern filled up with this...

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He's English, but I can understand somebody thinking he was Chinese!

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But this is purely English style,

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all this decoration. I suppose in date,

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1930 would be a good date for that.

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A fine tube-lined Charlotte Rhead dish like this

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is more than something from the Far East at that time.

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-We must be looking at £300 or £400.

-Oh, right.

-It's a jolly nice piece.

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-Yes.

-So enjoy it as an ENGLISH dragon.

-Yes, we will.

-Thank you.

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-I bought this brooch at an auction room in Melbourne.

-In Australia?

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Yes, I think about two years ago.

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How do you come to bring it to us, then, here?

0:20:560:21:00

I'm going to a wedding in Ireland of the son of an Australian friend.

0:21:000:21:05

Alison, my friend, had said she might be coming to the Antiques Roadshow

0:21:050:21:10

in the few days I was spending with her in Manchester.

0:21:100:21:15

Then a friend jokingly said, "Sue, if you get on the Antiques Roadshow while you're in England,

0:21:150:21:21

-"we can watch you on TV in Australia."

-And they can.

-They can indeed.

-What a happy ending,

0:21:210:21:28

except that it has to be looked at by an expert. Geoffrey Munn is the man.

0:21:280:21:34

"Best of luck to you in the future, sincerely...

0:21:340:21:37

-"Elvis Presley".

-Yes.

-How did you come by this?

0:21:370:21:41

-Back in 1959 when I was young...

-Yes.

-..um, I wrote to him.

-Yeah.

0:21:410:21:46

When he was in the army in Germany, like you do when you're young...

0:21:460:21:51

-Were you a great fan?

-Oh, yeah, loved him,

0:21:510:21:55

and I just pleaded with him for a reply.

0:21:550:21:58

Well, it's dated 1959, so...

0:21:580:22:01

-he would have been about 25, and doing his National Service.

-Yes.

0:22:010:22:06

-I was over the moon.

-I bet.

-That's why it's tatty.

-Is this a teardrop?

0:22:060:22:11

Were you so excited that you started crying?

0:22:110:22:15

-No, it was in my drawer for years and perfume spilt on it.

-Oh, is it?

-Yes.

0:22:150:22:20

But this, it came apart

0:22:200:22:23

from opening it to show people.

0:22:230:22:25

There's a good market in rock'n'roll memorabilia and, after the Beatles,

0:22:250:22:31

Elvis is the most collected. This has a wonderful history,

0:22:310:22:36

and I don't suppose you'd sell it.

0:22:360:22:38

-No.

-No, absolutely, hang on to it.

0:22:380:22:41

But, despite its condition, if this came up at auction,

0:22:410:22:45

-it would probably fetch, I suspect, £500 or £600.

-Yes.

0:22:450:22:49

-Thank you, and long live the King.

-Yes.

0:22:490:22:52

These intrigue me.

0:22:520:22:55

I can't say I've come across any by this particular maker before.

0:22:550:23:00

-Patrick Leonard. As far as I know, he's the only chap who ever worked in Salford in silver.

-Yes.

0:23:000:23:06

You're looking at £100 plus, and similar with the dessertspoon.

0:23:060:23:11

I've never come across his work before,

0:23:110:23:15

so I think you've cornered the market in Patrick Leonard.

0:23:150:23:19

-They've been in our family since 1916, so my mother says.

-Right.

0:23:190:23:24

And they were bought at Kenwood in Manchester for five guineas,

0:23:240:23:29

and that's as far as I know and what my mother tells me.

0:23:290:23:34

-OK, I know we're talking local.

-Yes.

-We're talking Lancastrian pottery,

0:23:340:23:39

Pilkingtons Royal Lancastrian pottery. Place of manufacture is...

0:23:390:23:44

-How many miles are we from Swinton?

-About four miles.

0:23:440:23:49

-We live about ten minutes' walk away from where these vases were made.

-OK.

0:23:490:23:54

Now, I've seen a mark there that's slightly different.

0:23:540:23:58

I know that this mark was brought in about 1914.

0:23:580:24:03

The early mark is a large P

0:24:030:24:05

with two bees climbing around it,

0:24:050:24:08

but the mark that we've got here is the Lancastrian rose.

0:24:080:24:13

What makes it interesting is that it's got the date.

0:24:130:24:17

In this case, I'm reading on this one either 1916 or 1918,

0:24:170:24:22

and you know, I've got to say,

0:24:220:24:25

I've not seen a piece dated like this before.

0:24:250:24:29

-We think it's '16.

-1916? That would make sense.

-Yes, yes.

0:24:290:24:33

-Let's face it, five guineas EACH - that's a tidy sum.

-Yes, it was.

0:24:330:24:38

Anyway, let's look at the pots.

0:24:380:24:41

Firstly, a nice shape, nice Chinese shape,

0:24:410:24:44

often referred to as a Meiping shape,

0:24:440:24:48

this lovely elegant shoulder form.

0:24:480:24:50

One thing that Pilkingtons really did master was lustre decoration.

0:24:500:24:55

The lustre is...

0:24:550:24:58

is nicely done, but I've got to say that it hasn't fired 100% perfect,

0:24:580:25:03

but the fish - they're quite magic. There's a sense of movement there.

0:25:030:25:08

-Yes.

-But again, the lustre...

0:25:080:25:11

-I don't think it's taken 100%.

-Oh, right.

0:25:110:25:14

And this is what collectors are looking for.

0:25:140:25:17

I'm happy to say that, from a collectability point of view,

0:25:170:25:22

-they are desirable.

-Desirable.

0:25:220:25:25

This fellow, I would suspect, is probably around about £400,

0:25:250:25:31

-whereas the fish, a little bit more desirable.

-Yes.

0:25:310:25:35

I think you're looking in the region of about £600,

0:25:350:25:39

but I would stress

0:25:390:25:42

-that had the actual lustre decoration been stronger...

-Right.

0:25:420:25:46

-..you could probably add at least 50% onto those figures.

-Oh, right.

0:25:460:25:51

This is a platinum-mounted, Ceylon-sapphire and diamond brooch.

0:25:510:25:56

It's not so much the quality of the stones that's of interest here.

0:25:560:26:01

It's the expression of the Art Deco style.

0:26:010:26:05

There's a whiff of Japanese ornament in here, perhaps Chinese ornament,

0:26:050:26:10

which the Art Deco jewellers took on board,

0:26:100:26:13

-so one's jolly pleased to see it. Do you know Selfridges?

-Yes.

0:26:130:26:18

There used to be an Art Deco lift in Selfridges

0:26:180:26:22

and, in a way, the same decorative sources have been used

0:26:220:26:26

in this piece of jewellery.

0:26:260:26:29

They are Ceylon sapphires.

0:26:290:26:31

They're paler than perhaps one might have wanted.

0:26:310:26:35

The pure cornflower blue is the colour that one looks for.

0:26:350:26:39

This is not of the intensity

0:26:390:26:42

to send the value through the roof, but a very beautiful object nonetheless.

0:26:420:26:47

These stones have probably been CUT in Ceylon because, at the back here,

0:26:470:26:52

-there's a sort of asymmetrical point.

-Yes.

0:26:520:26:56

It veers to the right in the centre stone

0:26:560:26:59

which is a clue that these stones were cut in the Orient,

0:26:590:27:04

and by a less sophisticated lapidary than one might have found in Europe.

0:27:040:27:09

So, you're at the auction, your heart pounding.

0:27:090:27:13

-So, how far did you go?

-3,800 or 4,000 Australian dollars.

0:27:130:27:18

-So...£1,250?

-Something like that, I think, yes.

0:27:180:27:23

Well, I think that was a very good move.

0:27:230:27:26

I think it would be jolly difficult to find this brooch for £1,250.

0:27:260:27:31

I think double that, so very clever to have chosen it

0:27:310:27:35

-and jolly nice of you to bring it over.

-Thank you.

0:27:350:27:39

I bought it at an auction three years ago with a small legacy from my aunt

0:27:390:27:44

-and it reminded me of my little boy's face.

-How nice.

0:27:440:27:49

Did you, when you got your legacy, think, "I must buy a painting of a mother and child..."?

0:27:490:27:56

Yes, and my aunt was very fond of children and couldn't have any of her own,

0:27:560:28:02

so it seemed very appropriate to remember her by

0:28:020:28:06

-as well as being pertinent to my situation.

-Yes. How very nice.

0:28:060:28:11

I think it's a charming painting and it's interesting... It's painted by this artist,

0:28:110:28:18

Eugene Le Roux, in the 19th century.

0:28:180:28:21

But it reminds me of an earlier French artist, Chardin

0:28:210:28:25

and there was an exhibition recently of his work,

0:28:250:28:29

even figures wearing rather similar caps, and these famous still lifes.

0:28:290:28:34

We have a beautiful still life in the background. He's been clever

0:28:340:28:39

in the way that it's beautifully painted

0:28:390:28:43

and exists on its own but doesn't detract from the main figures.

0:28:430:28:49

Returning to the signature, it's interesting because just below it,

0:28:490:28:54

beneath a layer of paint, is his signature again and a date, 1869.

0:28:540:28:59

I think that's probably drawn in with black chalk or a pencil.

0:28:590:29:05

That's a kind of interesting bit of detail,

0:29:050:29:08

and why that happened, I don't really know.

0:29:080:29:12

-Can I ask how much you paid?

-I paid £2,000.

-That doesn't seem a great price for such a beautiful picture.

0:29:120:29:19

I don't think it's an extraordinary value

0:29:190:29:22

but I think this painting is probably worth £3,000, £4,000.

0:29:220:29:27

I think to be able to get a painting of this quality

0:29:270:29:32

-for that kind of figure is extremely good value.

-Terrific, yes.

-Thank you for bringing it in.

-Thanks.

0:29:320:29:40

They came from my mother's house and my mother died recently

0:29:400:29:45

and we had to dispose of the contents of the house.

0:29:450:29:50

At the last week that we were finishing the removal,

0:29:500:29:54

we had the hospice van come to take the remaining goods away and my friend, Yvonne, said,

0:29:540:30:01

-"How much do you think they're worth? I think you're going to be surprised".

-Well done, Yvonne.

0:30:010:30:08

-Do you know what they are at all?

-Well...

-Did you look?

-Yvonne turned them over

0:30:080:30:14

-and said, "There is a signature on the bottom."

-OK.

0:30:140:30:19

-Hannah Barlow.

-Hannah Barlow.

-Hannah B Barlow,

0:30:190:30:23

one of the two Barlow sisters. She had a sister Florence,

0:30:230:30:28

and they worked at the Doulton factory in Lambeth.

0:30:280:30:32

They went to Lambeth Art School and both did this style of decoration,

0:30:320:30:37

that is scraffito, scratching into the glaze

0:30:370:30:41

to produce the design. Eventually they came to an arrangement

0:30:410:30:46

that Florence would do the birds and Hannah would do the animals.

0:30:460:30:51

These are relatively early.

0:30:510:30:54

We've got her monogram here.

0:30:550:30:57

We've got ES. That stands for Eliza Simmons,

0:30:570:31:01

and she was responsible

0:31:010:31:04

for all the rest of the decoration. Then we've got the Doulton rosette mark,

0:31:040:31:10

and the word "England",

0:31:100:31:12

but it doesn't say "Royal Doulton", it says "Doulton",

0:31:120:31:16

so it's before 1901

0:31:160:31:19

and after 1891,

0:31:190:31:21

so we can date it pretty precisely, 1895 there and abouts.

0:31:210:31:26

Cows, she did quite a lot. We see a lot of them,

0:31:260:31:30

but this size of vase is actually quite uncommon.

0:31:300:31:34

They're a splendid pair in really remarkable condition.

0:31:340:31:39

We've just got one small chip there.

0:31:390:31:41

It's made a difference to the price but not an awful lot.

0:31:410:31:46

Yvonne has done you a favour because they're now worth close on £2,000.

0:31:460:31:51

-Oh... Thank you very much. Goodness!

-Happy?

-Very. Excellent.

-Good. Thank you very much.

0:31:510:31:58

-The Rembrandt Hotel?

-Yeah, Tony Warren and a lot of these people

0:31:590:32:05

have been drinking in there. This ended up in the cellar and I found it behind rubbish.

0:32:050:32:12

-So you saved it?

-Yeah. The bloke who owns it, Peter, wanted to throw it out

0:32:120:32:17

so I said I'd bring it along today.

0:32:170:32:20

Each photo is personally signed, and Elizabeth Dawn

0:32:200:32:24

has signed "The Rembrandt Hotel" so it's a unique set of signatures.

0:32:240:32:30

-I'd have thought to a true fan, it'd be worth £300-£400.

-Quite good.

0:32:300:32:35

They might take more care of it and not throw it in the cellar.

0:32:350:32:40

This is a remarkable piece of work -

0:32:400:32:41

an early draft manuscript of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History Of Time.

0:32:410:32:45

Now, how did you get this?

0:32:450:32:47

I got it thanks to a geography teacher from school.

0:32:470:32:52

I had a bad accident whilst I was doing my A levels at school.

0:32:520:32:57

It turned out my geography teacher had gone to school with Prof Hawking

0:32:570:33:02

and so I wrote to him to ask Prof Hawking to write to me...

0:33:020:33:07

to encourage me to perhaps carry on and go to university and things

0:33:070:33:12

and this is what I received back -

0:33:120:33:15

his original sort of script for his famous book, the best bit being that he hadn't quite finished it

0:33:150:33:23

and he wrote his last page...

0:33:230:33:25

handwritten at the end.

0:33:250:33:28

He's saying at the end that he hopes...

0:33:280:33:32

He'd be disappointed if there wasn't an ultimate theory

0:33:320:33:36

to the end of the universe,

0:33:360:33:38

unified theory. He thinks somebody will get there in the end.

0:33:380:33:43

Did you go on and get your degree?

0:33:430:33:45

I did, but not from Cambridge, not quite as smart as him. I got my physics degree at York.

0:33:450:33:52

-Fair enough. This is a treasure.

-For a physicist, it's great, yes.

0:33:520:33:56

You've got beautiful illumination here,

0:33:560:34:00

-done, I'd say, turn of the century by Alan Tabor.

-That's right.

0:34:000:34:05

-My father-in-law.

-Not a name I know and yet this is...

0:34:050:34:09

No, he was fairly local in Manchester and Salford mostly.

0:34:090:34:14

He worked for Manchester Corporation and Salford. He started as a tailor,

0:34:140:34:20

-I believe.

-Did he?

-Cross-legged, sewing, and didn't like it very much,

0:34:200:34:25

and he'd go to the British Museum and copy the manuscripts.

0:34:250:34:30

-These were done at the practice.

-Really?

0:34:300:34:33

Then he set up in business and did scrolls and things

0:34:330:34:37

-for presentations to famous people.

-Excellent quality.

0:34:370:34:41

-I'm amazed that this is amateur work.

-Yes, he was amazing.

0:34:410:34:46

We have here a Longfellow - The Bridge - in lovely red morocco,

0:34:460:34:51

and Gray's Elegy, done in 1914. How old would he have been then?

0:34:510:34:56

He married in 1912 when he was about 23.

0:34:580:35:02

It's beautiful work, I must say, and executed in vellum

0:35:020:35:08

-with marvellous historiations of birds and roses.

-That's right.

0:35:080:35:13

-Absolutely sensational.

-Yeah, and the gold leaf too which has lasted.

0:35:130:35:18

Well, I must say I'm most impressed.

0:35:180:35:21

-They are really top-quality objects.

-They're beautiful, aren't they?

0:35:210:35:26

They're beautifully bound, especially this Gray's Elegy

0:35:260:35:30

-which is a lovely job. Have you had them valued?

-No. I've often wondered

0:35:300:35:36

about the value, not that they'd be sold.

0:35:360:35:40

-They're family heirlooms.

-Yes, quite.

0:35:400:35:42

I think at auction today you would have to expect this group

0:35:420:35:48

to command a figure something in the region of £5,000 to £6,000

0:35:480:35:53

-for the four.

-For four? The three...

-Yes.

-Wow. Gosh.

0:35:530:35:57

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

0:35:570:36:00

My husband bought them. He had a good eye for antiques.

0:36:000:36:06

Yes. They are a cross between...

0:36:060:36:08

-They're wonderfully grotesque shapes here - the head.

-Yes, yes.

0:36:080:36:13

It's a cross between a dragon and a fish. They're dragon fish.

0:36:130:36:18

They're leaping from these wonderful frothing waves.

0:36:180:36:22

You get this idea of carp

0:36:230:36:25

jumping up the rapids to get to the other side,

0:36:250:36:29

then they are transformed into a dragon.

0:36:290:36:33

But I think it was in some way linked with passing exams -

0:36:330:36:37

you know, great heroic efforts and succeeding -

0:36:370:36:41

when the Chinese passed their exams in the civil service.

0:36:410:36:46

-These actually are Japanese because the Japanese also made these...

-Yes.

0:36:460:36:51

So these are Japanese ivories

0:36:510:36:54

but very much influenced by a Chinese idea.

0:36:540:36:58

I think the eyes... Aren't they fabulous?

0:36:580:37:01

-They are beautiful.

-They're made of mother-of-pearl.

-Are they really?

0:37:010:37:06

As with all Japanese ivories of that period - the end of the last century -

0:37:060:37:12

the quality of carving is superb.

0:37:120:37:15

If you look at details - the scales, around the mouth here,

0:37:150:37:20

and what I referred to earlier,

0:37:200:37:22

-these wonderful frothing waves.

-Yes.

0:37:220:37:25

Typical Japanese work, craftsmanship at its best.

0:37:250:37:30

-You paid £20 for them?

-Yes, roughly.

-That was about 30 or 40...

-35 years,

0:37:300:37:35

-40 years ago, yes.

-Not so long ago. This was a fantastic find THEN.

0:37:350:37:40

-It's not as though they were bought 100 years ago.

-No.

-They're now worth

0:37:400:37:45

-£1,000 to £1,500 I should think.

-Very nice.

-Isn't it?

-Yes, very nice surprise.

0:37:450:37:51

I was bequeathed it by a maiden aunt of mine about three years ago

0:37:520:37:57

and she said, "I'm going to leave you this picture."

0:37:570:38:02

She had been left it by her boss in the civil service,

0:38:020:38:06

-and she passed it on to me.

-How nice.

0:38:060:38:08

It's The Rebuilding Of Rylands. Tell me about Rylands.

0:38:080:38:13

-Rylands is where Debenhams is now in Piccadilly, Manchester.

-Yes.

0:38:130:38:18

-The old building was knocked down and rebuilt. I presume it was about 1929.

-Yes, the signature is here

0:38:180:38:25

-and the date - 1929.

-And I think that's the work in progress.

0:38:250:38:30

He has done other pictures, which we saw at the Lowry Gallery,

0:38:300:38:35

showing the finished building.

0:38:350:38:37

Talking about the subject of the picture, I think it is a very interesting composition

0:38:370:38:44

with all these girders, this building, the figures,

0:38:440:38:48

and then almost a cliff face here with a train.

0:38:480:38:52

It has lots of detail and activity,

0:38:520:38:54

-and I like the way the whole sheet is full of information.

-It is, yes.

0:38:540:38:59

But of course, with many artists,

0:38:590:39:02

-but particularly with Lowry, there are a lot of fakes.

-Yes.

0:39:020:39:07

We must be careful, but I would recommend to you that you check with the Lowry Centre

0:39:070:39:13

-to get their final opinion, but I think it's absolutely right.

-Yes.

-And there are other things,

0:39:130:39:21

supplementary details or bits of evidence which one must consider.

0:39:210:39:26

The nice ordinary oak moulding...

0:39:260:39:29

-That was the original frame.

-Yes. And the mount here.

0:39:290:39:33

-It's discoloured by light, all the impurities going into the drawing.

-Yes.

0:39:330:39:39

I suppose in a way...it looks right, but it SMELLS right also.

0:39:390:39:44

Now, I don't know if you've had it insured or...

0:39:440:39:48

No, we just have it on the ordinary household insurance.

0:39:480:39:52

You'll have to change your thinking completely.

0:39:520:39:56

It's difficult in a rising market, and still rising,

0:39:560:40:00

but what about £30,000?

0:40:000:40:02

-That's a bit more than we thought.

-Thought it was worth £1,500 or something like that.

0:40:020:40:09

Well, earlier in my life, I was connected with the whaling industry.

0:40:090:40:15

I came across it in the early 1960s.

0:40:150:40:18

I acquired it from an old merchant marine sailor.

0:40:180:40:22

He told me that he'd got it from someone many years previously.

0:40:240:40:29

I really can't tell you much more.

0:40:290:40:31

It could have gone from one whaler

0:40:310:40:34

to another sailor and finally to you.

0:40:340:40:37

These engraved whales' teeth are called scrimshaw

0:40:370:40:41

and they were done in the 19th century by whalers,

0:40:410:40:45

probably on days when there were no whales to catch.

0:40:450:40:49

We see many many replicas and reproductions,

0:40:490:40:53

made from a plastic resin. One way to tell a replica from a real one

0:40:530:40:58

is that you can see right up inside the root of the tooth here,

0:40:580:41:03

so this is absolutely genuine.

0:41:030:41:05

What I like is that it's crudely decorated.

0:41:050:41:08

Sometimes they're very detailed.

0:41:080:41:11

This one is very crude and you can see some alterations.

0:41:110:41:16

He must have had something in his hand, this chap,

0:41:160:41:20

whose name is Jim Crow, and somebody's altered it slightly.

0:41:200:41:24

And it's a great colour. The reproductions are very grey.

0:41:240:41:29

This one's orange and yellow

0:41:290:41:31

all the way down to this tobacco colour at the bottom.

0:41:310:41:35

It's a portrait of Jim Crow,

0:41:350:41:38

and if you just turn it around, along here it says "Anne H Dean"

0:41:380:41:43

and the date, 1854.

0:41:430:41:45

-Right.

-And on the other side,

0:41:450:41:48

there's this portrait of a merchantman or a man-of-war,

0:41:480:41:53

but what's interesting is it's got the American flag.

0:41:530:41:58

So maybe an American scrimshander did this.

0:41:580:42:01

If it is, it's very desirable.

0:42:010:42:04

Round here, it says, "Jim Crow for New York".

0:42:040:42:08

It could've been about his travels, maybe this was his girlfriend...

0:42:080:42:13

But it's an absolutely genuine, honest scrimshaw.

0:42:130:42:17

-Have you had it valued before?

-No, I haven't, actually.

0:42:170:42:22

I did BUY it.

0:42:220:42:24

It was something like £5, I think.

0:42:240:42:27

-Quite honestly, it was...

-£5, but a long time ago.

-Yes, yes.

0:42:270:42:32

A few years ago, this might've been worth £2,000-£3,000.

0:42:320:42:36

There is a resurgence of interest in English and American folk art

0:42:360:42:41

-and today we'd expect it to fetch £6,000-£8,000.

-Good gracious!

0:42:410:42:46

-Not a bad buy for £5.

-Wow, that's...

0:42:460:42:49

-You've really astounded me there!

-I love it. Thank you for bringing it in.

0:42:490:42:55

Wow.

0:42:550:42:57

Thanks to the University of Salford for opening their doors to us today.

0:42:580:43:03

I spoke to a man earlier who now owns the house where LS Lowry lived with his mother

0:43:030:43:09

and turned out his finest work.

0:43:090:43:12

Sadly, his mother never enjoyed a single thing he ever painted.

0:43:120:43:17

Until next week, from Salford, goodbye.

0:43:170:43:20

Subtitles by Judith Simpson BBC Scotland 2001

0:43:380:43:43

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