0:00:33 > 0:00:39We've come back to Eastnor Castle, near Ledbury in Herefordshire.
0:00:39 > 0:00:42With its massive walls and picturesque turrets,
0:00:42 > 0:00:46Eastnor is a perfect example of a medieval castle, except, of course,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50that it isn't - it was built in the early part of the 19th century.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53It's equally dramatic inside,
0:00:53 > 0:00:59with some authentically huge pieces of furniture, a comprehensive array of armour
0:00:59 > 0:01:02and a very fine collection of Italian artefacts.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05We'll pick our way through these with Paul Atterbury.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10Also, some choice moments from the Roadshow that you won't have seen.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15When I was a child,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19I was fascinated by ships in bottles. How did they get them in?
0:01:19 > 0:01:23How do they get the masts up? But this is a much nicer one.
0:01:23 > 0:01:28Much more complicated than one usually sees, because not only have we got the ship,
0:01:28 > 0:01:31but also a row of cottages
0:01:31 > 0:01:36and obelisks and a mast and sort of rather lush greenery.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39It's super. Where did the bottle come from?
0:01:39 > 0:01:44Er...my grandfather was a collector of antiques.
0:01:44 > 0:01:50He went round different places to collect things, just that took his fancy.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53- And these were from the same family source?- Yes.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58- So it wasn't that he was connected with the sea?- No. - He just took a shine to it.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03- Yeah.- I mean what is lovely about this, is not just the bottle, which is great,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07but this incredible shaped stand that it's in.
0:02:07 > 0:02:15- Yes.- I have to say I've never seen a stand like that. No, it's very handsome.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20One day, perhaps somebody will tell me how they get the masts up.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26Now, let's move on to these, because these are...they, to me,
0:02:26 > 0:02:31- have the same sort of naive folksy quality that the ship in the bottle does.- Yes.
0:02:31 > 0:02:38- But in this larger scale. We've got two different types here. Have you got any more?- There's another one.
0:02:38 > 0:02:41- One other...what...similar? - Similar to that one, yes.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Right. Here we've got the, the...
0:02:44 > 0:02:49ship against a rather nice painted background of mountains and scenery
0:02:49 > 0:02:55- which I guess could be the coast of Scotland up here.- Yes.- Um, and...
0:02:55 > 0:03:00above, it's against a plain painted background, but to me this is actually
0:03:00 > 0:03:04the more interesting one, because there's so much more going on.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09It's been rough-hewn by somebody who had a good feel for the sea,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12but wasn't a trained craftsman, perhaps,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15and the same relates to this.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19The sails themselves are made out of carved wood
0:03:19 > 0:03:21and then painted, but it does give
0:03:21 > 0:03:23this wonderful feeling of movement
0:03:23 > 0:03:27and the whole thing of life at sea,
0:03:27 > 0:03:31and these lovely dimpled, dappled waves.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36All these things are bound by what I've loosely called "folk art"
0:03:36 > 0:03:40or "naive art" and that's a very powerful market force at the moment.
0:03:40 > 0:03:42The little ship in the bottle...
0:03:42 > 0:03:48we'd probably be talking about £200 or £300 because it's got a nice decorative background.
0:03:48 > 0:03:54But it's really these that are the more interesting, and I would have thought
0:03:54 > 0:03:58that we should certainly be talking about between £600 and £800 each.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04My grandmother and my two great-aunts were all suffragettes.
0:04:04 > 0:04:09My grandmother was married and not militant and the other two remained spinsters and were quite militant.
0:04:09 > 0:04:15- They were really active?- Yes. - They were from around here?- From Glasgow.- This looks as if...
0:04:15 > 0:04:18it's written in a very hasty hand.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23- Is this because she was in prison or...?- Yes. They went down to London
0:04:23 > 0:04:30and threw bricks through... I think it was a lawyer's window, a sort of Chief Justice of the Peace,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34in order to get arrested and they did and went to Holloway Prison.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38They got two months' hard labour and they smuggled these letters out
0:04:38 > 0:04:43describing the, um...treatment in prison and the forced feeding
0:04:43 > 0:04:46that...they had to endure in prison.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50"The hunger strike is a splendid weapon.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55- "You have no idea how confused the governors, matrons and doctors were."- Yes.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59- It was finally beginning to have effect.- Yes.
0:04:59 > 0:05:05- We've got two medals that... - They were given to my great-aunts from the WSPU in recognition
0:05:05 > 0:05:11- of the forced feeding in Holloway Prison.- And these of course are the suffragette colours, the green
0:05:11 > 0:05:14and the mauve and white together,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18that they would have worn on their sashes. And this?
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Yes, this is my grandmother on horseback and her WSPU...
0:05:21 > 0:05:25suffragette parade in Edinburgh.
0:05:25 > 0:05:28- That's a lovely reminder of what they looked like.- Yes.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31- You can see their sashes in the photograph.- Yes.
0:05:31 > 0:05:38The collection is wonderful - something that people who are doing research into women's studies
0:05:38 > 0:05:42- would be fascinated to see. - Yes. Oh, I treasure them.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Yes, I'm sure you do. I think, probably,
0:05:45 > 0:05:50they'd be worth at least £500 and could well fetch more to an interested collector.
0:05:50 > 0:05:56A Victorian paintbox and it looks in remarkably good condition - have you had it a long time?
0:05:56 > 0:05:59Well, it belonged to my mother, and I think...
0:05:59 > 0:06:04- it belonged to her father before that.- OK.
0:06:04 > 0:06:10If we look from the back first, we have a wonderful morocco leather backing
0:06:10 > 0:06:14with gilt cartouche and the inscription "Winsor and Newton"
0:06:14 > 0:06:17who were, as you probably know, a very well-known firm who made
0:06:17 > 0:06:22artists' paints and the like, and produced a lot of boxes like this in the second half of the 19th century
0:06:22 > 0:06:26and early 20th century.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30It says underneath "manufacturers to Queen Victoria"
0:06:30 > 0:06:33so we know it dates from before she died in 1901.
0:06:33 > 0:06:36It's probably about 1870-1880 in date,
0:06:36 > 0:06:41- and it looks like it's never been used.- No, I don't think so at all.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45- It's rare to find one in such good condition as this.- Yes.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49If we look inside, we can see all the various different paints.
0:06:49 > 0:06:53Picking out a few here, you've got brown-pink, you've got
0:06:53 > 0:06:55emerald green, indigo,
0:06:55 > 0:07:00Prussian blue, which these days is an illegal paint because of the acid
0:07:00 > 0:07:03contained in it, so you wouldn't be allowed to have that today.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Just lift it out.
0:07:07 > 0:07:13Oh yes, there we have various brushes and the...
0:07:13 > 0:07:16brush stand and these for doing...
0:07:16 > 0:07:19- Gold and silver leaf, I think. - That's right.
0:07:19 > 0:07:24Little shells there. This would be the one for the silver and you've got one for the gold.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28Again, you see, original wrapping paper. Quite astonishing.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32Oh, you've got the charcoals here, if you wanted to draw in charcoal.
0:07:32 > 0:07:34Wonderful. Let's have a look inside.
0:07:34 > 0:07:38Inevitably, the wrapping paper again.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41Have any of your family been artists or not?
0:07:41 > 0:07:45Yes, well, my mother's father was an architect.
0:07:45 > 0:07:52- Yes.- And if it was older than that, her grandfather on her mother's side was a painter as well.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55- Oh, right. - I've never dared use it.- No.
0:07:55 > 0:08:01- That's probably wise, actually. - I think so, yes.- Because the glory of this is its condition,
0:08:01 > 0:08:03which is truly outstanding.
0:08:03 > 0:08:08Normally when paintboxes by Winsor and Newton come up on the market, which is fairly often,
0:08:08 > 0:08:13ones in average condition perhaps fetch £300, £400, £500,
0:08:13 > 0:08:20but because this is in such wonderful condition, I would think its value must be nearer £1,000.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25Meanwhile, back at Eastnor Castle, we're in the long library. Very atmospheric it is, too.
0:08:25 > 0:08:31We've established that the house itself isn't classically old, but lots of the contents are valuable.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35Yes, exactly. If you build yourself a medieval 19th-century castle,
0:08:35 > 0:08:41you've got to fill it with old things to give it authenticity, give it style and class, if you like.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46You have to collect those together from sales, from local families, from the Grand Tour, what have you.
0:08:46 > 0:08:51In this room, which is a fabulous sort of statement about 19th-century Italian taste,
0:08:51 > 0:08:55we've got these tapestries - actually Flemish, but bought in Italy -
0:08:55 > 0:08:58the fireplaces, which were carved by Italian craftsmen,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02from Italian marble for this room in the 1860s, and this great collection
0:09:02 > 0:09:06of pieces brought together to give the atmosphere of Victorian Italy.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10Here's the archetypal Italian piece - Romulus and Remus.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16Yes, absolutely, a 17th-century casket. Here we are at the very foundation of Rome.
0:09:16 > 0:09:23Another wonderful piece is this cassapanca which is a large bench, as you can see. Medici coat-of-arms.
0:09:23 > 0:09:30We're in the 16th century, a typical piece assembled in the 19th century to give this atmosphere of the past.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32You had to feel everything had always been here.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37But of course a room like this, this great library, designed in 1860
0:09:37 > 0:09:40by George Fox, was also modern Italian work.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45All the library shelves were designed by Italian craftsmen
0:09:45 > 0:09:50and they bring together past and present in the way that was so common in the 19th century.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55We've plucked one book from the thousands here, about a collection - a collection of armour this time.
0:09:55 > 0:10:00- It's a sort of catalogue. - The catalogues are very important.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02This gave things authenticity, documentation.
0:10:02 > 0:10:09Every family had its tame scholars, if you like, and they were great amateur antiquarians.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15This catalogue is of the armour at Goodrich Court, a famous collection dispersed in the early 19th century.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17That's how these collections were formed.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22The catalogues tell you how things worked and how it all fits together.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26Wonderful collections of armour here. These sort of pieces tell us so much
0:10:26 > 0:10:31about the history of taste. Everybody wanted the sense of the Middle Ages.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36I don't know if they actually walked round clanking in the armour but they certainly had it on display.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41This very piece here is in the entrance to Eastnor Castle today.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45You know, when I looked at...
0:10:45 > 0:10:52this handle - or these two handles - these pieces had me completely fooled.
0:10:52 > 0:10:59I thought they were Japanese and made in about 1920 and it just shows how wrong one can be.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04I thought they were Japanese and made in the 1920s because of this colour which exists often in 1920.
0:11:04 > 0:11:09- Yes.- And this sort of rather spongy gilding.- Yes.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13Also, inside here...
0:11:13 > 0:11:15you've got a rather Japanese design.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18And this bowl, when you turn it up -
0:11:18 > 0:11:21- it could almost be a hat - you see it's like that.- Viking's hat.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26Anyway, if you look at it on this lovely crab shape,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29you've got the immortal word "Wedgwood".
0:11:29 > 0:11:35- Yes, it's Wedgwood.- It's Wedgwood and it has a date mark for 1886.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41Here is Wedgwood making an entirely sort of Japanese design piece
0:11:41 > 0:11:48in the 1880s. It's a salad bowl, not a hat, but... and you've got your crab there,
0:11:48 > 0:11:53so presumably you're going to have a crab salad and you've got hermit crabs
0:11:53 > 0:11:56inside these shells in the handles of the design.
0:11:56 > 0:12:00It's very, very elaborate and well thought out.
0:12:00 > 0:12:05And, of course, it's survived with its original plated mounts
0:12:05 > 0:12:09and it is in lovely condition.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11I've never seen one before.
0:12:11 > 0:12:18Er...salad bowls and servers don't often fetch a lot of money, but this is such a good one,
0:12:18 > 0:12:23such a marvellous instance of good design, I think,
0:12:23 > 0:12:31- that I think it's probably worth between £800 and £1,000.- I'm absolutely amazed. That's wonderful.
0:12:31 > 0:12:37- Well, it's one of a pair. I've always understood it to be teak. Is that, is that, um, so?- Yes.
0:12:37 > 0:12:45- This is typical of teak. It's a wonderful colour. Rich in the daylight.- Yes.- Lovely rich colour.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49Where has it come from? It's got a lot of different influences.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53- You've got a generally French shape, this semi-circle with this serpentine top rail.- Mmm.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56An elaborate type of cabriole leg...
0:12:56 > 0:13:00- with this extraordinary lion with his tongue hanging out. - Lovely, isn't it?
0:13:00 > 0:13:05- Very naively carved.- Yes.- But a very soft French feeling about it.
0:13:05 > 0:13:08- Right.- But it's of course made in the Far East.
0:13:08 > 0:13:14- Is it?- It's got a mixture of Chinese and Indian influence. - Yes.- It's actually from Burma.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18- Oh.- And it's typical of the sort of furniture made in the last century -
0:13:18 > 0:13:22- sorry, the century before last now - the 19th century.- Yes.- Where...
0:13:22 > 0:13:28colonial houses, plantation owners, would have suites of furniture made for the dining room,
0:13:28 > 0:13:32- drawing room, bedroom even.- Yes. - With various types of furniture,
0:13:32 > 0:13:37following the European models, and this vaguely follows a European sideboard.
0:13:37 > 0:13:42The French influence again - underneath, you've got this very complicated stretcher.
0:13:42 > 0:13:47- Yes.- It's not necessary for the construction but gives it a French Louis XV feel.- Yes.
0:13:47 > 0:13:55- But of course 100 years later. I would date this to around - it's quite difficult - 1860 to 1900.- Mmm.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59- So it's about 100...100 to 150 years old.- Mmm.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04There's very little written about this sort of thing, so we can't be accurate about the dates.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08It was very much native craftsmanship, and when you look at the detail...
0:14:08 > 0:14:12I think it's probably, it's from a Chinese fox and vine motif
0:14:12 > 0:14:16which you see on export porcelain, but it's...
0:14:16 > 0:14:23a native craftsman, probably illiterate craftsman, working in a local small village.
0:14:23 > 0:14:29Maybe he made this piece, another person made another piece and it was assembled in Rangoon or wherever.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33- So they wouldn't have been made in bulk?- Difficult to answer that one.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37- One man probably spent his life making certain parts.- Right, right.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41But the parts would probably fit into a little davenport,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44lady's desk or something, or other pieces of furniture.
0:14:44 > 0:14:50The most common furniture is seat furniture of this type, with these elaborate but curved backs.
0:14:50 > 0:14:52Another feature is this - it's charming.
0:14:52 > 0:14:55I wondered if there was a story behind that.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59But if you look at it, I can't think immediately of a reference.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03My first reaction was Chinese willow pattern, Chinese influence.
0:15:03 > 0:15:08- But no, it's not that little bridge on the willow pattern base. - No.- This is very Indian.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12This capital here is typical of sort of Mogul, Indian decoration, and again here,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16you've got this sort of arch, almost like a prayer mat in a way, almost a Persian influence,
0:15:16 > 0:15:19- Islamic influence coming in here. - Mmm, yes.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22I think it's a Burmese equivalent of an Indian temple,
0:15:22 > 0:15:26- so it's meeting two cultures.- Yes. - Well, three cultures.- Yes.- Chinese.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31- Mmm.- Er...Indian and European culture.- That's amazing.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35Made in solid hardwood, and that's so nice - it's almost indestructible.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Woodworm is not going to enjoy it.
0:15:38 > 0:15:43It's really nice to to see this on Antiques Roadshow, but a pair is extraordinary.
0:15:43 > 0:15:48- The market for this type of furniture hasn't performed very well in the last 20 years.- No.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50I remember thinking 20 years ago that they must be a good buy
0:15:50 > 0:15:53because it was such a lot of furniture for your money.
0:15:53 > 0:15:57It hasn't gone up a lot, but I suspect in India and the Chinese...
0:15:57 > 0:16:01as these countries develop and become more and more Westernised and looking towards the West,
0:16:01 > 0:16:08- and people have money to spend, they'll buy this type of furniture back, so its day will come.- Yes.
0:16:08 > 0:16:14- But even so, you've got to insure them for a very minimum - very rare to have a pair - £5,000.- Mm-hm.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22Well, from Eastnor to France, to this extraordinary monastery courtyard interior.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28- Yes.- It's a wonderfully mad picture, this, isn't it?- Well,
0:16:28 > 0:16:31- it's very, very unusual, isn't it? Yes.- Well...
0:16:31 > 0:16:34we've got these monks lining up,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37holding guns, doing a bit of arms drill.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41- Yes.- And we've got this very splendid upstanding French general.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44- Yes.- Sort of putting them through their paces,
0:16:44 > 0:16:49practically, isn't he? But what's going on here, do you think?
0:16:49 > 0:16:53Well, it apparently was an incident from the Franco-Prussian war.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57- Right.- And I think a bit like in our last war, and Dad's Army,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01the French were doing so badly, that I imagine
0:17:01 > 0:17:05they just gave arms to everybody, and said, "You will go and fight".
0:17:05 > 0:17:09- Yes, so they even had to call in the monks.- Yes.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13Here are some very specific-looking faces. Almost portraits, aren't they?
0:17:13 > 0:17:20- We've discovered that this is a self portrait of the artist.- That's the artist?- Paul Robinet, yes.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- Fascinating! We've got the signature down here. Yes. PF Robinet.- Yes.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28Painted in 1901, but obviously what's depicted is an incident
0:17:28 > 0:17:34- from the war 30 years earlier. - Yes. He wasn't even born then. - What more do we know about Robinet?
0:17:34 > 0:17:40Um, the main thing that I know about Paul Robinet was that his wife, who was also French,
0:17:40 > 0:17:46became co-headmistress of the school I was at, at Lawnside in Malvern,
0:17:46 > 0:17:51and girls over the generations grew up with this hanging over the stairs.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Latterly, when girls were allowed to go up the front stairs, they said
0:17:55 > 0:17:57"We can see ghosts at the window."
0:17:57 > 0:18:01When I began to clean it, you can see...I think it's two old monks
0:18:01 > 0:18:05- looking out of the window.- You see figures looking in a ghostly way.
0:18:05 > 0:18:10In fact they weren't ghosts, they were the old monks probably too infirm to fight.
0:18:10 > 0:18:16- As a piece of painting, it's quite a memorable piece of work - a very typically French...- Yes, yes.
0:18:16 > 0:18:21Sort of late 19th... turn of the century in fact,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- almost photographic in its detail. - That's right.- And really...
0:18:24 > 0:18:27- all I can say is it's a memorable image.- Yes.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30And um, what did you pay for it when you had to buy it quite recently?
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Er, we... we had to pay £3,000.
0:18:33 > 0:18:36The local auctioneer gave that as the top price.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41- That sounds fair.- It does? We weren't done?- Insure it for a little bit more.
0:18:41 > 0:18:47The owner of Eastnor Castle, for the past ten years, is James Hervey-Bathurst.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51For him it's meant coming home because it's where he was brought up.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56Well, suitably impressive dining room, and James,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58this is one huge table.
0:18:58 > 0:19:02It certainly is. It takes a large table to fill a large room,
0:19:02 > 0:19:07and this is a terrific table, mahogany sections of wood,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11made from Cuban mahogany... with extra leaves that we've added
0:19:11 > 0:19:14because we needed just to fill the room up a bit more.
0:19:14 > 0:19:20It's a really great experience dining here at night with the candlelight reflected in the wood.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Overlooking it all, of course, previous masters of the house.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28Certainly. This is not just the master, it's the builder of the house,
0:19:28 > 0:19:32John, First Earl Somers, painted by George Romney.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35He set the whole thing going, finished it off
0:19:35 > 0:19:39and would have handed it over to his eldest son over here,
0:19:39 > 0:19:42but his eldest son had gone to join Wellington's army
0:19:42 > 0:19:48to fight Napoleon in the Peninsular War and he was killed at the Siege of Burgos,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51so his younger brother John, the Second Earl, inherited,
0:19:51 > 0:19:57and he continued the decoration and collecting in the house
0:19:57 > 0:20:01and added a lot to it during his time.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06Now, this great solid server was actually made on the premises, wasn't it?
0:20:06 > 0:20:11Certainly, a lot of timber for the house was produced on the estate,
0:20:11 > 0:20:14lot of oak was cut down, and this is a nice piece because it's got
0:20:14 > 0:20:19this little feature, a sort of Gothic arch which was incorporated in a number of other places
0:20:19 > 0:20:24in the house, and is a sort of feature you'd expect to find in a castle like this.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27A couple of tonnes of ceramics above.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29Luckily it's strong enough to take them.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33These two chargers were made in 1931 by Wedgwood and so was this vase,
0:20:33 > 0:20:38um, dedicated to my grandfather, who commissioned it,
0:20:38 > 0:20:46- painted by a family called the Powells - very, very nice pieces. - All part of the ongoing collection.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51I started when I was eight, and I saw Robin Hood, became a fan
0:20:51 > 0:20:56- of Errol, you know.- Oh really?- But, er...then I was on the road.- Yes.
0:20:56 > 0:21:00- As a representative, covering the country.- Yes.- So...- What for?
0:21:00 > 0:21:05- For Warner Bros or for somebody like that or...?- Well, no...I did work at Warner Bros.- Oh, did you?- Oh, yes.
0:21:05 > 0:21:10- You said that you became a fan of Errol Flynn. Did you ever meet him?- Yes.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16In 1948, I actually screened a film for him, because I worked in a private theatre.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20- How fantastic.- We had a private theatre of six seats,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24and I had a phone call to say that er...this guest was coming
0:21:24 > 0:21:30- and wanted to see "The Blue Lagoon", Jean Simmons film.- Yes, yes. - Which Rank sent over,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34- and it was viewing for 9.00pm. - Did you know who the guest was?- No.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36- It was kept under wraps.- Yes.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40Ben, the security chap, rang up and said, "Your guest's arrived."
0:21:40 > 0:21:46It was 9.00pm and out walked Errol. I couldn't believe it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:48I was dumbfounded and because...
0:21:48 > 0:21:50All I said to him was, you know...
0:21:50 > 0:21:56"Do you want me to break the film half-way and make you a cup of tea?" He said, "Yes, please."
0:21:56 > 0:22:02- And that was it! Your meeting with Errol Flynn. Fantastic. Oh, very good.- Yeah, no, it was good.
0:22:02 > 0:22:07- It's not just Errol Flynn here.- No, no.- We've got Johnny Weissmuller,
0:22:07 > 0:22:13Bing Crosby, um, and George Formby - is this perhaps the earliest one you've got here?
0:22:13 > 0:22:18- Yes, that's the earliest one I have here.- This is 1830...?- 1939.- '39.
0:22:18 > 0:22:23Now, with film posters there are all sorts of things which determine the value.
0:22:23 > 0:22:29The first is - who is the star, and what is the film, is it an original
0:22:29 > 0:22:33- from the first run or is it a... - Reprint.- Reprint?
0:22:33 > 0:22:38For instance, that very fine Robin Hood poster behind you is a later one.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40I guess it's from the 1950s.
0:22:40 > 0:22:45- It's certainly not the original. - Not 1938, no.- Not 1938, although...
0:22:45 > 0:22:47it's very evocative and so on.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52Whereas, if we look down here - "The Private Life of Elizabeth I"
0:22:52 > 0:22:56with Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland -
0:22:56 > 0:23:02- one of the absolute pinnacles of the poster art, I would say. - Yes. Oh, yes, oh, yes.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04That is an extremely desirable one.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08- Yes.- Captain Blood is extremely desirable, even in Spanish,
0:23:08 > 0:23:10we're talking about perhaps £400.
0:23:10 > 0:23:16- I think they make marvellous pictures as well. - They do, don't they?- They do.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20- A picture with a story.- Yes. - Which is the best picture of all.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24It's a rather nice travelling compendium altogether, isn't it?
0:23:24 > 0:23:27We've got, on the top, a compass.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30- Mm-hm.- Here we've got the timepiece and then,
0:23:30 > 0:23:36just rotating it round, a Centigrade thermometer and on the reverse,
0:23:36 > 0:23:40- an aneroid barometer.- Yes.- And here we've got a Fahrenheit thermometer.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42- Everything.- Everything...
0:23:42 > 0:23:46that the late Victorian traveller would wish to own.
0:23:46 > 0:23:52- How long have you had it?- I found it under the floorboards of the house after my father died.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- So...- I'd never seen it before until I found it.- So as a young lad,
0:23:55 > 0:24:00- you never saw it?- I never saw that in the house at all. - You never saw it.- No.
0:24:00 > 0:24:05If you went for a shooting holiday in this part of the world - before wirelesses
0:24:05 > 0:24:10or televisions or anything - you wanted to know what the weather was going to be like,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14you'd look at the temperature, you'd look at the barometer and say,
0:24:14 > 0:24:17"This could be a jolly good day for doing something."
0:24:17 > 0:24:20- It's basically a rich man's toy. - Is that what it is?
0:24:20 > 0:24:26It's a rich man's toy, but what fun. And lovely to have the original box, in French throughout,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29made in France for the English market because it's done
0:24:29 > 0:24:32with English writing rather than French.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36- Mm-hm.- And we've got Henry Birks's name on the dial as well.
0:24:36 > 0:24:40So clearly you have associated no value with it.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45None whatsoever, I didn't even know how old it was. I thought...
0:24:45 > 0:24:49- We can probably say it's round about the turn of the century.- Uh-huh.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53Well, certainly if I were retailing it, it would be at least £1,500.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56You must be joking!
0:24:56 > 0:25:01My great-great-grandfather left Edinburgh in 1826 for South Africa.
0:25:01 > 0:25:06He was a judge, and he married the daughter of a senior naval officer.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09These were a wedding present
0:25:09 > 0:25:15- from the bride's father to the couple. - 1826 or thereabouts.- About there.
0:25:15 > 0:25:17Ostensibly. the style...
0:25:17 > 0:25:21is late Regency, certainly of the cabinets, and you've got these
0:25:21 > 0:25:24very typical anthemion motifs, for example,
0:25:24 > 0:25:27fairly typical of Regency iconography.
0:25:27 > 0:25:32Um, but what particularly interests me is the timbers used,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36because we have here East Indian satinwood,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38we have ebony and we have ivory.
0:25:38 > 0:25:44All these woods come from further east, and the most likely source is going to be Sri Lanka,
0:25:44 > 0:25:50but having said that, of course, South Africa and the Cape is on the trade route home,
0:25:50 > 0:25:55so those sort of woods would not be scarce in South Africa.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Um, let's just open up and see what happens inside.
0:26:04 > 0:26:08Because there we've got the most wonderful...
0:26:08 > 0:26:10interior, absolutely super.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15Now this must have been built for a purpose.
0:26:15 > 0:26:20- It holds a collection of seashells. - Do you think that was its original purpose?
0:26:20 > 0:26:26- I think so, but I don't know.- I think the man who made this was trained in cabinet work. It's lovely quality.
0:26:26 > 0:26:31I mean the cutting of the dovetails, the jointing, everything about it
0:26:31 > 0:26:34is really very, very nice indeed.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39In the interior here we pick up again the use of satinwood,
0:26:39 > 0:26:46the use of the ebony and another unidentified tropical hardwood - it's really remarkable.
0:26:46 > 0:26:49My guess is that the cabinets were made first
0:26:49 > 0:26:51and the stands were made later,
0:26:51 > 0:26:56because none of the motifs on the cabinet is matched on the base.
0:26:56 > 0:27:03- Have you got them insured? - They are insured, yes. - What are they insured for?
0:27:03 > 0:27:08- £25,000.- Well, that's a hefty insurance price.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11But I think it's probably about right.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14And now we've come to the drawing room at Eastnor Castle.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16Paul, another room, another style.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20Yes, and this time it's the high Victorian Gothic dream.
0:27:20 > 0:27:25This room was created by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, in the late 1840s.
0:27:25 > 0:27:30He's known as the designer of much of the Palace of Westminster, the Houses of Parliament,
0:27:30 > 0:27:35and he was brought...in a sense to bring up to date what was already a Gothic building.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38He started, if you like, with the fireplace, where we can start.
0:27:38 > 0:27:44You've got this family tree which descends through the ages, giving the historical background
0:27:44 > 0:27:46that the family felt they needed,
0:27:46 > 0:27:51and the great coat of arms which forms the fireplace - wonderful colour and carving.
0:27:51 > 0:27:57And down below you've got the tiles, beautiful colours, new printing process developed by Minton,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00and then the totality framed
0:28:00 > 0:28:04by these brass fire dogs, which were made just for that setting.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08And the centre of the room is this magnificent chandelier.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10In a way they were Pugin's trademark.
0:28:10 > 0:28:16if he had clients rich enough, he'd persuade them to have a chandelier made by Hardman of Birmingham,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19a fabulous statement about modern Gothic, and they were designed
0:28:19 > 0:28:23to be seen hanging against this sort of highly coloured ceiling.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29When he came in, as an interior decorator, effectively, the ceiling structure was already there,
0:28:29 > 0:28:35but he thought, "It's a bit boring. Let's bring it to life with colour and pattern and richness."
0:28:35 > 0:28:39We think of that period as being rather heavy and dull and ponderous.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44But it was very lively, the full pageant of the Middle Ages brought into the modern Victorian world.
0:28:44 > 0:28:49- Is everything here by Pugin? - Yes, Pugin was one of those very demanding all-round designers.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53If you commissioned him, he wanted to do everything, all the components of the living space,
0:28:53 > 0:28:56everything that made the room work and define his style.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00In this room, for example there are candlesticks by him, now used as lamps,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03there's very lovely pierced door plates and door furniture,
0:29:03 > 0:29:09but of course the main thing here is the suite of furniture he designed for these rooms.
0:29:09 > 0:29:13We've got the lovely bookcase with its fantastic marquetry panels,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17but many people would like the desk best.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21It's got that lovely carved stretcher rail beneath it,
0:29:21 > 0:29:24which defines it and makes it a very strong piece.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28- And of course this superb table. - Yes, the octagonal table was one of his favourite motifs.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33You can see here it's elegant, it's modern, it's decorative,
0:29:33 > 0:29:37it has all this force of decoration in this room,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41at the same time as with all his furniture - this and the chairs
0:29:41 > 0:29:43conform to certain basic principles.
0:29:43 > 0:29:44Let me show you on the chair.
0:29:44 > 0:29:50Traditionally this is a very old- fashioned x-frame chair, but it's a very modern piece as he saw it.
0:29:50 > 0:29:56He's revealed the structure. You can actually look at it and see how it all goes together.
0:29:56 > 0:30:00It's a modern piece of design. "Honesty", "integrity" - these were words that he used.
0:30:00 > 0:30:06"Truth to materials", and, in a sense, a piece like this defines modernity in the Victorian period.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09So is it unique, to be found nowhere else but in this room?
0:30:09 > 0:30:15These designs were used for other clients, but every piece was created for that particular client.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19In the centre of this table is the "S" for Somers.
0:30:19 > 0:30:22This motif was picked up again and again,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26to make sure you know these were made for that family.
0:30:26 > 0:30:29So Pugin was a high-class interior decorator?
0:30:29 > 0:30:34Absolutely. You or I might have our bathroom or our bedroom done in the latest fashion.
0:30:34 > 0:30:38He was doing that for a different sort of client, on a grander scale.
0:30:38 > 0:30:43What he brought to Eastnor was the great modern Gothic style of the 1840s, 1850s.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46And his legacy to us today is that here at Eastnor,
0:30:46 > 0:30:52we have the greatest surviving example of a domestic space in the Gothic style of that period.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57This is a lovely wine bottle
0:30:57 > 0:31:01for decanting wine. You take this bottle down to the cellar,
0:31:01 > 0:31:05pour the wine from the barrel into this, and serve it at the table.
0:31:05 > 0:31:10Quite an early one, one of the earliest of the English wine bottles that one can have.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14It's called a globe and shaft and actually sealed.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17It's got the seal of the original owner,
0:31:17 > 0:31:22- with a coat of arms - do you know whose coat of arms it is?- Yes, um...
0:31:22 > 0:31:27I did some research at Birmingham Library and found that it belongs to
0:31:27 > 0:31:33Sir Richard Hanson, who was, um, knighted in 1665
0:31:33 > 0:31:40- and then later on, in 1673, he was Lord Mayor of London. - That's very interesting.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44- How long have you had it?- 48 years. - Yes, and how did you come by it?
0:31:44 > 0:31:49We were on the way back from holiday and we saw it in an antique shop window.
0:31:49 > 0:31:52We went in and they were asking £5 for it
0:31:52 > 0:32:00- and we could only scrape up four pounds ten shillings between us so they let us have it for that.- £4.50.
0:32:00 > 0:32:05- That's right.- My golly. These, of course, have become terribly exciting and interesting nowadays,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07especially this shaft and globe.
0:32:07 > 0:32:12Well, one in slightly better condition, not so pitted, was sold last month
0:32:12 > 0:32:17- for £18,000. - Oh, that's not too bad, is it?!- Wow!
0:32:17 > 0:32:21I won't suggest this is quite that much, but it's a jolly fine piece.
0:32:21 > 0:32:28- I think with the pitting, I reckon you'll be £10,000 to £12,000 for this.- Good gracious me.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32My husband was doing some building work on a old house in Moseley,
0:32:32 > 0:32:36where we live, and he found it in a skip, so he brought it home.
0:32:36 > 0:32:40- He didn't! Actually in a skip outside?- Yes.- So for free.
0:32:40 > 0:32:47- Yes,- Do you know what it is? - Um, some sort of candle holder, that's as much as I know, or think.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51But I liked it and it's been sitting in our hallway for years.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54You're right, I mean it is a form of candle holder.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58It's actually what we would call a rush light holder,
0:32:58 > 0:33:01- probably made in the middle of the 18th century.- Uh-huh.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06And because candles were quite expensive, even in those days, for wax and things,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10- they used to get little rushes, which were like reeds.- Yeah.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13And they would actually immerse them in animal fat,
0:33:13 > 0:33:22bearing in mind this would probably be the only form of light in the old cottages.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25What would you say if I told you it was worth £1,000?
0:33:28 > 0:33:32My father was part of a Royal Navy air mission to Japan
0:33:32 > 0:33:39- from 1922 to '23 and while he was there, a lot of these are gifts from the military...- Right.
0:33:39 > 0:33:45- And a lot are just items that he picked up while he was there. - What was he actually doing there?
0:33:45 > 0:33:52- Do you know?- Believe it or not, he was a carpenter and his job was to repair aeroplanes.- Really?
0:33:52 > 0:33:58- All made out of wood and plywood. - How fascinating. - Yes, a long time ago, it was.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02He obviously hit it off quite seriously with the Japanese
0:34:02 > 0:34:07- because he was presented with a lot of really quite interesting things.- Mm-hm.
0:34:07 > 0:34:12We've got a pipe case here. These are popularly known as opium pipes.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15Yes, I always thought it was an opium pipe.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19They never are. Japanese didn't go in for opium, that was the Chinese.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22I've always worried about getting it through Customs.
0:34:22 > 0:34:28- You don't smoke opium in a pipe like this.- Right.- The Japanese actually take one pinch of tobacco,
0:34:28 > 0:34:33- put it in, smoke it and chuck it away.- Chuck it out again. - And then have another one.- Right.
0:34:33 > 0:34:40And a very nice netsuke to go with it, with some of the gods of good fortune on top,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43and a couple of bizen stoneware figures.
0:34:43 > 0:34:51I think these are probably the earliest things on the table. THESE all relate to his period in Japan,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54but these, I think, would have been old when he bought them
0:34:54 > 0:35:00and they date back to the middle of the 19th century.
0:35:00 > 0:35:07Nice cloisonne box. This is wire-less cloisonne, nothing to do with the radio.
0:35:07 > 0:35:11- Right.- But this is a technique of putting the wires in
0:35:11 > 0:35:16and then etching them out again and so you get watercolour-like effects
0:35:16 > 0:35:22and, um, that's actually a nice box. What have we got in here?
0:35:22 > 0:35:26Cigarette case, that's nice quality.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30Ah, and that's why. That is the mark of a maker called Komai
0:35:30 > 0:35:35who did really fine quality inlay in gold and silver.
0:35:35 > 0:35:43- Beautiful.- I suppose that's nothing to do with it, is it?- I think it may well be.- Oh, look at that!
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Bought of Komai, one damascene cigarette case.
0:35:48 > 0:35:52- Oh, is that his...?- That's it, that's it. How fascinating.
0:35:52 > 0:35:57And that's dated 1923, again, obviously, when he was out there.
0:35:57 > 0:36:02I think it's an interesting little group, um...
0:36:02 > 0:36:06obviously having them together adds more to it
0:36:06 > 0:36:12and somebody who was perhaps into militaria would find the whole relationship fascinating.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17But pricing it up individually -
0:36:17 > 0:36:23your two figures here are worth around £120 and £200 each,
0:36:24 > 0:36:33- and I think these are probably going to be worth around, um, £300 to £400.- Right.
0:36:33 > 0:36:39And the cigarette box in wire-less cloisonne is going to be worth around
0:36:39 > 0:36:44- £600 to £900. - Wow.- And the cigarette case
0:36:44 > 0:36:47about £800 to £1,000.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51- Really?- So it's quite an interesting little group.
0:36:51 > 0:36:52- Wow.- It tots up.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56- Thank you very much... - Yes, thank you.- ..for bringing in
0:36:56 > 0:37:00such a riveting piece of English-Japanese history.
0:37:00 > 0:37:05When we came back from India, my parents and I, we went to my grandparents' home
0:37:05 > 0:37:11and they had a big show case, that the Victorians, late Victorians, used to have,
0:37:11 > 0:37:17and in it was this bust of General Gordon together with a whip,
0:37:17 > 0:37:21and we know that because of this, that it was Augusta,
0:37:21 > 0:37:27General Gordon's sister, who gave it to my great-grandfather, the Reverend Alexander Fullerton.
0:37:27 > 0:37:30But the whip is definitely General Gordon's also?
0:37:30 > 0:37:33That's his as well. That's always what I've been told.
0:37:33 > 0:37:39It strikes me a pretty good family history and I think that we can take that as read.
0:37:39 > 0:37:44Gordon was undoubtedly the epitome of all Victorian heroes.
0:37:44 > 0:37:50He was the personification of the British Empire,
0:37:50 > 0:37:57of the desire to expand and also the "white man's burden" approach to colonialism.
0:37:57 > 0:38:02He definitely thought that he was driven by the mission of God
0:38:02 > 0:38:05to bring civilisation to all these wild parts of the world.
0:38:06 > 0:38:11Gordon was sent to Khartoum to actually organise the retreat, a decent retreat,
0:38:11 > 0:38:15but he said, "I don't want to do that. I think we should stay".
0:38:15 > 0:38:20He actually went against the policy and he had the public behind him in a big way.
0:38:20 > 0:38:23Um, to cut a long story short,
0:38:23 > 0:38:28he died in Khartoum and of course that made him THE super-hero.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31This Goss model was issued in... It's unclear,
0:38:31 > 0:38:36It's under there, but I think I see it says 1886 which would be
0:38:36 > 0:38:40almost exactly at the time of his death.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44This is a memorial bust to the death of perhaps
0:38:44 > 0:38:49the most eminent, the bravest of all Victorian leaders.
0:38:49 > 0:38:52- Now Goss in itself is a collectable factory.- Yes.
0:38:52 > 0:38:58That adds a certain value but your family history is infinitely more interesting than a financial value.
0:38:58 > 0:39:04To a Goss collector or an enthusiast for General Gordon, it's probably worth somewhere in the region of
0:39:04 > 0:39:08maybe £300 - £400.
0:39:08 > 0:39:13It was a travelling case that was belonging... to my great-great-grandmother.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18Although the case outside is rather tatty, it looks lovely inside.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21We've got a beautiful brass-bound
0:39:21 > 0:39:29coromandel wood case and it's got the name "Flora Campbell" - she was what relation, again?
0:39:29 > 0:39:34- My great-great-grandmother. - Your great-great-grandmother. Yes. One thing I love
0:39:34 > 0:39:40about these cases is that they are a perfect example of a real bygone age
0:39:40 > 0:39:45where style was often more important than comfort.
0:39:45 > 0:39:49Now any self-respecting woman who travelled would have had
0:39:49 > 0:39:53a decent case like this and this looks a real beauty.
0:39:53 > 0:39:58Where did your great-great-grandmother travel to?
0:39:58 > 0:40:03- Well she was married in Brazil in 19...in 1846.- In 1846?- Yes.
0:40:03 > 0:40:11Right. Well I'll just have a look. I can see that it's got the initials FC
0:40:11 > 0:40:15and these have some hallmarks on here...
0:40:15 > 0:40:19and I can see that it's got a date letter here for 1840,
0:40:19 > 0:40:23so it was made a little earlier than when she was married.
0:40:23 > 0:40:27And it's got a maker's mark here, GR, which is George Richards,
0:40:27 > 0:40:31who was a fairly well-known maker of these sort of things.
0:40:31 > 0:40:36One of the great features of these cases is the attention to detail -
0:40:36 > 0:40:40the cutting of the glass, for example, you know,
0:40:40 > 0:40:46absolutely beautifully done and not really any expense was spared.
0:40:46 > 0:40:52They usually have a secret catch under here to release... if I can find it...
0:40:52 > 0:40:54- You know about this?- Yes.- Right.
0:40:57 > 0:41:03And look at that, the original mirror with this lovely brass inlay all round the outside,
0:41:03 > 0:41:10This is where the letters would have been kept and it actually has a label.
0:41:10 > 0:41:14"Hallstaff and Hannaford, manufacturers, Regent Street".
0:41:14 > 0:41:20- Yes.- So they were the retailers rather than the actual makers.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23George Richards was the actual silversmith who made this.
0:41:23 > 0:41:29If we look at some of the objects inside - they catered for absolutely everything.
0:41:29 > 0:41:34This lovely little piece with a screw fastening top...
0:41:34 > 0:41:37is a travelling inkwell
0:41:37 > 0:41:45and...you know that was a necessity for, you know, writing home or taking notes.
0:41:45 > 0:41:54And very often they have other compartments inside and if we lift these here...
0:41:54 > 0:41:56What's this?
0:41:56 > 0:42:01This is a photo of... the one in the middle is my great-great-grandfather,
0:42:01 > 0:42:05that's Charles Campbell, Flora Campbell's husband.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08- That is Flora Campbell herself. - And this is the great lady herself?
0:42:08 > 0:42:10- Yes.- Isn't that wonderful?
0:42:10 > 0:42:18It's so unusual to have all these things still together. And lastly,
0:42:18 > 0:42:20they have these secret drawers.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23Slightly stiff.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27I see it's been well used.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31- Yes, you can see that. - Oh, and that's where all the...
0:42:31 > 0:42:35um, you know bracelets, necklaces, rings etc, would have gone.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39But a lovely set and the most important thing about these travelling sets
0:42:39 > 0:42:43is whether they are complete or not, and this is absolutely complete.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48I think we're looking at probably in the region of £4,000 to £5,000.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53- Yes.- Thank you very much for bringing it in.- Thank you.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57It was the 3rd Earl Somers who, in the middle of the 19th century,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00filled his home with fine furniture and works of art,
0:43:00 > 0:43:03but we've only had time to look at a little of it today.
0:43:03 > 0:43:09Interestingly, one of the most exotic objects that he acquired was mislaid and only discovered
0:43:09 > 0:43:12just a few years ago when one of the cellars was being renovated.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16There, leaning against a disused oil stove,
0:43:16 > 0:43:20was this Assyrian tablet, nearly 3,000 years old.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25It's now been restored to a place of honour and the Earl would have been delighted.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27From Eastnor Castle, goodbye.
0:43:40 > 0:43:46Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd