Eastnor Castle Special Antiques Roadshow


Eastnor Castle Special

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We've come back to Eastnor Castle, near Ledbury in Herefordshire.

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With its massive walls and picturesque turrets,

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Eastnor is a perfect example of a medieval castle, except, of course,

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that it isn't - it was built in the early part of the 19th century.

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It's equally dramatic inside,

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with some authentically huge pieces of furniture, a comprehensive array of armour

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and a very fine collection of Italian artefacts.

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We'll pick our way through these with Paul Atterbury.

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Also, some choice moments from the Roadshow that you won't have seen.

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When I was a child,

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I was fascinated by ships in bottles. How did they get them in?

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How do they get the masts up? But this is a much nicer one.

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Much more complicated than one usually sees, because not only have we got the ship,

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but also a row of cottages

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and obelisks and a mast and sort of rather lush greenery.

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It's super. Where did the bottle come from?

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Er...my grandfather was a collector of antiques.

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He went round different places to collect things, just that took his fancy.

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-And these were from the same family source?

-Yes.

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-So it wasn't that he was connected with the sea?

-No.

-He just took a shine to it.

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-Yeah.

-I mean what is lovely about this, is not just the bottle, which is great,

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but this incredible shaped stand that it's in.

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-Yes.

-I have to say I've never seen a stand like that. No, it's very handsome.

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One day, perhaps somebody will tell me how they get the masts up.

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Now, let's move on to these, because these are...they, to me,

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-have the same sort of naive folksy quality that the ship in the bottle does.

-Yes.

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-But in this larger scale. We've got two different types here. Have you got any more?

-There's another one.

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-One other...what...similar?

-Similar to that one, yes.

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Right. Here we've got the, the...

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ship against a rather nice painted background of mountains and scenery

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-which I guess could be the coast of Scotland up here.

-Yes.

-Um, and...

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above, it's against a plain painted background, but to me this is actually

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the more interesting one, because there's so much more going on.

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It's been rough-hewn by somebody who had a good feel for the sea,

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but wasn't a trained craftsman, perhaps,

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and the same relates to this.

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The sails themselves are made out of carved wood

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and then painted, but it does give

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this wonderful feeling of movement

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and the whole thing of life at sea,

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and these lovely dimpled, dappled waves.

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All these things are bound by what I've loosely called "folk art"

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or "naive art" and that's a very powerful market force at the moment.

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The little ship in the bottle...

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we'd probably be talking about £200 or £300 because it's got a nice decorative background.

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But it's really these that are the more interesting, and I would have thought

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that we should certainly be talking about between £600 and £800 each.

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My grandmother and my two great-aunts were all suffragettes.

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My grandmother was married and not militant and the other two remained spinsters and were quite militant.

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-They were really active?

-Yes.

-They were from around here?

-From Glasgow.

-This looks as if...

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it's written in a very hasty hand.

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-Is this because she was in prison or...?

-Yes. They went down to London

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and threw bricks through... I think it was a lawyer's window, a sort of Chief Justice of the Peace,

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in order to get arrested and they did and went to Holloway Prison.

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They got two months' hard labour and they smuggled these letters out

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describing the, um...treatment in prison and the forced feeding

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that...they had to endure in prison.

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"The hunger strike is a splendid weapon.

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-"You have no idea how confused the governors, matrons and doctors were."

-Yes.

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-It was finally beginning to have effect.

-Yes.

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-We've got two medals that...

-They were given to my great-aunts from the WSPU in recognition

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-of the forced feeding in Holloway Prison.

-And these of course are the suffragette colours, the green

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and the mauve and white together,

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that they would have worn on their sashes. And this?

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Yes, this is my grandmother on horseback and her WSPU...

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suffragette parade in Edinburgh.

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-That's a lovely reminder of what they looked like.

-Yes.

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-You can see their sashes in the photograph.

-Yes.

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The collection is wonderful - something that people who are doing research into women's studies

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-would be fascinated to see.

-Yes. Oh, I treasure them.

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Yes, I'm sure you do. I think, probably,

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they'd be worth at least £500 and could well fetch more to an interested collector.

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A Victorian paintbox and it looks in remarkably good condition - have you had it a long time?

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Well, it belonged to my mother, and I think...

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-it belonged to her father before that.

-OK.

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If we look from the back first, we have a wonderful morocco leather backing

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with gilt cartouche and the inscription "Winsor and Newton"

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who were, as you probably know, a very well-known firm who made

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artists' paints and the like, and produced a lot of boxes like this in the second half of the 19th century

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and early 20th century.

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It says underneath "manufacturers to Queen Victoria"

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so we know it dates from before she died in 1901.

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It's probably about 1870-1880 in date,

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-and it looks like it's never been used.

-No, I don't think so at all.

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-It's rare to find one in such good condition as this.

-Yes.

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If we look inside, we can see all the various different paints.

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Picking out a few here, you've got brown-pink, you've got

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emerald green, indigo,

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Prussian blue, which these days is an illegal paint because of the acid

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contained in it, so you wouldn't be allowed to have that today.

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Just lift it out.

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Oh yes, there we have various brushes and the...

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brush stand and these for doing...

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-Gold and silver leaf, I think.

-That's right.

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Little shells there. This would be the one for the silver and you've got one for the gold.

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Again, you see, original wrapping paper. Quite astonishing.

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Oh, you've got the charcoals here, if you wanted to draw in charcoal.

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Wonderful. Let's have a look inside.

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Inevitably, the wrapping paper again.

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Have any of your family been artists or not?

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Yes, well, my mother's father was an architect.

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-Yes.

-And if it was older than that, her grandfather on her mother's side was a painter as well.

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-Oh, right.

-I've never dared use it.

-No.

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-That's probably wise, actually.

-I think so, yes.

-Because the glory of this is its condition,

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which is truly outstanding.

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Normally when paintboxes by Winsor and Newton come up on the market, which is fairly often,

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ones in average condition perhaps fetch £300, £400, £500,

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but because this is in such wonderful condition, I would think its value must be nearer £1,000.

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Meanwhile, back at Eastnor Castle, we're in the long library. Very atmospheric it is, too.

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We've established that the house itself isn't classically old, but lots of the contents are valuable.

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Yes, exactly. If you build yourself a medieval 19th-century castle,

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you've got to fill it with old things to give it authenticity, give it style and class, if you like.

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You have to collect those together from sales, from local families, from the Grand Tour, what have you.

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In this room, which is a fabulous sort of statement about 19th-century Italian taste,

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we've got these tapestries - actually Flemish, but bought in Italy -

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the fireplaces, which were carved by Italian craftsmen,

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from Italian marble for this room in the 1860s, and this great collection

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of pieces brought together to give the atmosphere of Victorian Italy.

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Here's the archetypal Italian piece - Romulus and Remus.

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Yes, absolutely, a 17th-century casket. Here we are at the very foundation of Rome.

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Another wonderful piece is this cassapanca which is a large bench, as you can see. Medici coat-of-arms.

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We're in the 16th century, a typical piece assembled in the 19th century to give this atmosphere of the past.

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You had to feel everything had always been here.

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But of course a room like this, this great library, designed in 1860

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by George Fox, was also modern Italian work.

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All the library shelves were designed by Italian craftsmen

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and they bring together past and present in the way that was so common in the 19th century.

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We've plucked one book from the thousands here, about a collection - a collection of armour this time.

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-It's a sort of catalogue.

-The catalogues are very important.

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This gave things authenticity, documentation.

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Every family had its tame scholars, if you like, and they were great amateur antiquarians.

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This catalogue is of the armour at Goodrich Court, a famous collection dispersed in the early 19th century.

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That's how these collections were formed.

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The catalogues tell you how things worked and how it all fits together.

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Wonderful collections of armour here. These sort of pieces tell us so much

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about the history of taste. Everybody wanted the sense of the Middle Ages.

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I don't know if they actually walked round clanking in the armour but they certainly had it on display.

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This very piece here is in the entrance to Eastnor Castle today.

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You know, when I looked at...

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this handle - or these two handles - these pieces had me completely fooled.

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I thought they were Japanese and made in about 1920 and it just shows how wrong one can be.

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I thought they were Japanese and made in the 1920s because of this colour which exists often in 1920.

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-Yes.

-And this sort of rather spongy gilding.

-Yes.

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Also, inside here...

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you've got a rather Japanese design.

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And this bowl, when you turn it up -

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-it could almost be a hat - you see it's like that.

-Viking's hat.

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Anyway, if you look at it on this lovely crab shape,

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you've got the immortal word "Wedgwood".

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-Yes, it's Wedgwood.

-It's Wedgwood and it has a date mark for 1886.

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Here is Wedgwood making an entirely sort of Japanese design piece

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in the 1880s. It's a salad bowl, not a hat, but... and you've got your crab there,

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so presumably you're going to have a crab salad and you've got hermit crabs

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inside these shells in the handles of the design.

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It's very, very elaborate and well thought out.

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And, of course, it's survived with its original plated mounts

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and it is in lovely condition.

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I've never seen one before.

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Er...salad bowls and servers don't often fetch a lot of money, but this is such a good one,

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such a marvellous instance of good design, I think,

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-that I think it's probably worth between £800 and £1,000.

-I'm absolutely amazed. That's wonderful.

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-Well, it's one of a pair. I've always understood it to be teak. Is that, is that, um, so?

-Yes.

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-This is typical of teak. It's a wonderful colour. Rich in the daylight.

-Yes.

-Lovely rich colour.

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Where has it come from? It's got a lot of different influences.

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-You've got a generally French shape, this semi-circle with this serpentine top rail.

-Mmm.

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An elaborate type of cabriole leg...

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-with this extraordinary lion with his tongue hanging out.

-Lovely, isn't it?

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-Very naively carved.

-Yes.

-But a very soft French feeling about it.

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-Right.

-But it's of course made in the Far East.

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-Is it?

-It's got a mixture of Chinese and Indian influence.

-Yes.

-It's actually from Burma.

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-Oh.

-And it's typical of the sort of furniture made in the last century -

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-sorry, the century before last now - the 19th century.

-Yes.

-Where...

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colonial houses, plantation owners, would have suites of furniture made for the dining room,

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-drawing room, bedroom even.

-Yes.

-With various types of furniture,

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following the European models, and this vaguely follows a European sideboard.

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The French influence again - underneath, you've got this very complicated stretcher.

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-Yes.

-It's not necessary for the construction but gives it a French Louis XV feel.

-Yes.

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-But of course 100 years later. I would date this to around - it's quite difficult - 1860 to 1900.

-Mmm.

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-So it's about 100...100 to 150 years old.

-Mmm.

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There's very little written about this sort of thing, so we can't be accurate about the dates.

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It was very much native craftsmanship, and when you look at the detail...

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I think it's probably, it's from a Chinese fox and vine motif

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which you see on export porcelain, but it's...

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a native craftsman, probably illiterate craftsman, working in a local small village.

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Maybe he made this piece, another person made another piece and it was assembled in Rangoon or wherever.

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-So they wouldn't have been made in bulk?

-Difficult to answer that one.

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-One man probably spent his life making certain parts.

-Right, right.

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But the parts would probably fit into a little davenport,

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lady's desk or something, or other pieces of furniture.

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The most common furniture is seat furniture of this type, with these elaborate but curved backs.

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Another feature is this - it's charming.

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I wondered if there was a story behind that.

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But if you look at it, I can't think immediately of a reference.

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My first reaction was Chinese willow pattern, Chinese influence.

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-But no, it's not that little bridge on the willow pattern base.

-No.

-This is very Indian.

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This capital here is typical of sort of Mogul, Indian decoration, and again here,

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you've got this sort of arch, almost like a prayer mat in a way, almost a Persian influence,

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-Islamic influence coming in here.

-Mmm, yes.

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I think it's a Burmese equivalent of an Indian temple,

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-so it's meeting two cultures.

-Yes.

-Well, three cultures.

-Yes.

-Chinese.

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-Mmm.

-Er...Indian and European culture.

-That's amazing.

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Made in solid hardwood, and that's so nice - it's almost indestructible.

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Woodworm is not going to enjoy it.

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It's really nice to to see this on Antiques Roadshow, but a pair is extraordinary.

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-The market for this type of furniture hasn't performed very well in the last 20 years.

-No.

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I remember thinking 20 years ago that they must be a good buy

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because it was such a lot of furniture for your money.

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It hasn't gone up a lot, but I suspect in India and the Chinese...

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as these countries develop and become more and more Westernised and looking towards the West,

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-and people have money to spend, they'll buy this type of furniture back, so its day will come.

-Yes.

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-But even so, you've got to insure them for a very minimum - very rare to have a pair - £5,000.

-Mm-hm.

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Well, from Eastnor to France, to this extraordinary monastery courtyard interior.

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-Yes.

-It's a wonderfully mad picture, this, isn't it?

-Well,

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-it's very, very unusual, isn't it? Yes.

-Well...

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we've got these monks lining up,

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holding guns, doing a bit of arms drill.

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-Yes.

-And we've got this very splendid upstanding French general.

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-Yes.

-Sort of putting them through their paces,

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practically, isn't he? But what's going on here, do you think?

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Well, it apparently was an incident from the Franco-Prussian war.

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-Right.

-And I think a bit like in our last war, and Dad's Army,

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the French were doing so badly, that I imagine

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they just gave arms to everybody, and said, "You will go and fight".

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-Yes, so they even had to call in the monks.

-Yes.

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Here are some very specific-looking faces. Almost portraits, aren't they?

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-We've discovered that this is a self portrait of the artist.

-That's the artist?

-Paul Robinet, yes.

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-Fascinating! We've got the signature down here. Yes. PF Robinet.

-Yes.

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Painted in 1901, but obviously what's depicted is an incident

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-from the war 30 years earlier.

-Yes. He wasn't even born then.

-What more do we know about Robinet?

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Um, the main thing that I know about Paul Robinet was that his wife, who was also French,

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became co-headmistress of the school I was at, at Lawnside in Malvern,

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and girls over the generations grew up with this hanging over the stairs.

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Latterly, when girls were allowed to go up the front stairs, they said

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"We can see ghosts at the window."

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When I began to clean it, you can see...I think it's two old monks

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-looking out of the window.

-You see figures looking in a ghostly way.

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In fact they weren't ghosts, they were the old monks probably too infirm to fight.

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-As a piece of painting, it's quite a memorable piece of work - a very typically French...

-Yes, yes.

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Sort of late 19th... turn of the century in fact,

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-almost photographic in its detail.

-That's right.

-And really...

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-all I can say is it's a memorable image.

-Yes.

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And um, what did you pay for it when you had to buy it quite recently?

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Er, we... we had to pay £3,000.

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The local auctioneer gave that as the top price.

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-That sounds fair.

-It does? We weren't done?

-Insure it for a little bit more.

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The owner of Eastnor Castle, for the past ten years, is James Hervey-Bathurst.

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For him it's meant coming home because it's where he was brought up.

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Well, suitably impressive dining room, and James,

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this is one huge table.

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It certainly is. It takes a large table to fill a large room,

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and this is a terrific table, mahogany sections of wood,

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made from Cuban mahogany... with extra leaves that we've added

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because we needed just to fill the room up a bit more.

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It's a really great experience dining here at night with the candlelight reflected in the wood.

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Overlooking it all, of course, previous masters of the house.

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Certainly. This is not just the master, it's the builder of the house,

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John, First Earl Somers, painted by George Romney.

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He set the whole thing going, finished it off

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and would have handed it over to his eldest son over here,

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but his eldest son had gone to join Wellington's army

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to fight Napoleon in the Peninsular War and he was killed at the Siege of Burgos,

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so his younger brother John, the Second Earl, inherited,

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and he continued the decoration and collecting in the house

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and added a lot to it during his time.

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Now, this great solid server was actually made on the premises, wasn't it?

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Certainly, a lot of timber for the house was produced on the estate,

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lot of oak was cut down, and this is a nice piece because it's got

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this little feature, a sort of Gothic arch which was incorporated in a number of other places

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in the house, and is a sort of feature you'd expect to find in a castle like this.

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A couple of tonnes of ceramics above.

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Luckily it's strong enough to take them.

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These two chargers were made in 1931 by Wedgwood and so was this vase,

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um, dedicated to my grandfather, who commissioned it,

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-painted by a family called the Powells - very, very nice pieces.

-All part of the ongoing collection.

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I started when I was eight, and I saw Robin Hood, became a fan

0:20:460:20:51

-of Errol, you know.

-Oh really?

-But, er...then I was on the road.

-Yes.

0:20:510:20:56

-As a representative, covering the country.

-Yes.

-So...

-What for?

0:20:560:21:00

-For Warner Bros or for somebody like that or...?

-Well, no...I did work at Warner Bros.

-Oh, did you?

-Oh, yes.

0:21:000:21:05

-You said that you became a fan of Errol Flynn. Did you ever meet him?

-Yes.

0:21:050:21:10

In 1948, I actually screened a film for him, because I worked in a private theatre.

0:21:100:21:16

-How fantastic.

-We had a private theatre of six seats,

0:21:160:21:20

and I had a phone call to say that er...this guest was coming

0:21:200:21:24

-and wanted to see "The Blue Lagoon", Jean Simmons film.

-Yes, yes.

-Which Rank sent over,

0:21:240:21:30

-and it was viewing for 9.00pm.

-Did you know who the guest was?

-No.

0:21:300:21:34

-It was kept under wraps.

-Yes.

0:21:340:21:36

Ben, the security chap, rang up and said, "Your guest's arrived."

0:21:360:21:40

It was 9.00pm and out walked Errol. I couldn't believe it.

0:21:400:21:46

I was dumbfounded and because...

0:21:460:21:48

All I said to him was, you know...

0:21:480:21:50

"Do you want me to break the film half-way and make you a cup of tea?" He said, "Yes, please."

0:21:500:21:56

-And that was it! Your meeting with Errol Flynn. Fantastic. Oh, very good.

-Yeah, no, it was good.

0:21:560:22:02

-It's not just Errol Flynn here.

-No, no.

-We've got Johnny Weissmuller,

0:22:020:22:07

Bing Crosby, um, and George Formby - is this perhaps the earliest one you've got here?

0:22:070:22:13

-Yes, that's the earliest one I have here.

-This is 1830...?

-1939.

-'39.

0:22:130:22:18

Now, with film posters there are all sorts of things which determine the value.

0:22:180:22:23

The first is - who is the star, and what is the film, is it an original

0:22:230:22:29

-from the first run or is it a...

-Reprint.

-Reprint?

0:22:290:22:33

For instance, that very fine Robin Hood poster behind you is a later one.

0:22:330:22:38

I guess it's from the 1950s.

0:22:380:22:40

-It's certainly not the original.

-Not 1938, no.

-Not 1938, although...

0:22:400:22:45

it's very evocative and so on.

0:22:450:22:47

Whereas, if we look down here - "The Private Life of Elizabeth I"

0:22:470:22:52

with Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland -

0:22:520:22:56

-one of the absolute pinnacles of the poster art, I would say.

-Yes. Oh, yes, oh, yes.

0:22:560:23:02

That is an extremely desirable one.

0:23:020:23:04

-Yes.

-Captain Blood is extremely desirable, even in Spanish,

0:23:040:23:08

we're talking about perhaps £400.

0:23:080:23:10

-I think they make marvellous pictures as well.

-They do, don't they?

-They do.

0:23:100:23:16

-A picture with a story.

-Yes.

-Which is the best picture of all.

0:23:160:23:20

It's a rather nice travelling compendium altogether, isn't it?

0:23:200:23:24

We've got, on the top, a compass.

0:23:240:23:27

-Mm-hm.

-Here we've got the timepiece and then,

0:23:270:23:30

just rotating it round, a Centigrade thermometer and on the reverse,

0:23:300:23:36

-an aneroid barometer.

-Yes.

-And here we've got a Fahrenheit thermometer.

0:23:360:23:40

-Everything.

-Everything...

0:23:400:23:42

that the late Victorian traveller would wish to own.

0:23:420:23:46

-How long have you had it?

-I found it under the floorboards of the house after my father died.

0:23:460:23:52

-So...

-I'd never seen it before until I found it.

-So as a young lad,

0:23:520:23:55

-you never saw it?

-I never saw that in the house at all.

-You never saw it.

-No.

0:23:550:24:00

If you went for a shooting holiday in this part of the world - before wirelesses

0:24:000:24:05

or televisions or anything - you wanted to know what the weather was going to be like,

0:24:050:24:10

you'd look at the temperature, you'd look at the barometer and say,

0:24:100:24:14

"This could be a jolly good day for doing something."

0:24:140:24:17

-It's basically a rich man's toy.

-Is that what it is?

0:24:170:24:20

It's a rich man's toy, but what fun. And lovely to have the original box, in French throughout,

0:24:200:24:26

made in France for the English market because it's done

0:24:260:24:29

with English writing rather than French.

0:24:290:24:32

-Mm-hm.

-And we've got Henry Birks's name on the dial as well.

0:24:320:24:36

So clearly you have associated no value with it.

0:24:360:24:40

None whatsoever, I didn't even know how old it was. I thought...

0:24:400:24:45

-We can probably say it's round about the turn of the century.

-Uh-huh.

0:24:450:24:49

Well, certainly if I were retailing it, it would be at least £1,500.

0:24:490:24:53

You must be joking!

0:24:530:24:56

My great-great-grandfather left Edinburgh in 1826 for South Africa.

0:24:560:25:01

He was a judge, and he married the daughter of a senior naval officer.

0:25:010:25:06

These were a wedding present

0:25:060:25:09

-from the bride's father to the couple.

-1826 or thereabouts.

-About there.

0:25:090:25:15

Ostensibly. the style...

0:25:150:25:17

is late Regency, certainly of the cabinets, and you've got these

0:25:170:25:21

very typical anthemion motifs, for example,

0:25:210:25:24

fairly typical of Regency iconography.

0:25:240:25:27

Um, but what particularly interests me is the timbers used,

0:25:270:25:32

because we have here East Indian satinwood,

0:25:320:25:36

we have ebony and we have ivory.

0:25:360:25:38

All these woods come from further east, and the most likely source is going to be Sri Lanka,

0:25:380:25:44

but having said that, of course, South Africa and the Cape is on the trade route home,

0:25:440:25:50

so those sort of woods would not be scarce in South Africa.

0:25:500:25:55

Um, let's just open up and see what happens inside.

0:25:550:25:59

Because there we've got the most wonderful...

0:26:040:26:08

interior, absolutely super.

0:26:080:26:10

Now this must have been built for a purpose.

0:26:100:26:15

-It holds a collection of seashells.

-Do you think that was its original purpose?

0:26:150:26:20

-I think so, but I don't know.

-I think the man who made this was trained in cabinet work. It's lovely quality.

0:26:200:26:26

I mean the cutting of the dovetails, the jointing, everything about it

0:26:260:26:31

is really very, very nice indeed.

0:26:310:26:34

In the interior here we pick up again the use of satinwood,

0:26:340:26:39

the use of the ebony and another unidentified tropical hardwood - it's really remarkable.

0:26:390:26:46

My guess is that the cabinets were made first

0:26:460:26:49

and the stands were made later,

0:26:490:26:51

because none of the motifs on the cabinet is matched on the base.

0:26:510:26:56

-Have you got them insured?

-They are insured, yes.

-What are they insured for?

0:26:560:27:03

-£25,000.

-Well, that's a hefty insurance price.

0:27:030:27:08

But I think it's probably about right.

0:27:080:27:11

And now we've come to the drawing room at Eastnor Castle.

0:27:110:27:14

Paul, another room, another style.

0:27:140:27:16

Yes, and this time it's the high Victorian Gothic dream.

0:27:160:27:20

This room was created by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin, in the late 1840s.

0:27:200:27:25

He's known as the designer of much of the Palace of Westminster, the Houses of Parliament,

0:27:250:27:30

and he was brought...in a sense to bring up to date what was already a Gothic building.

0:27:300:27:35

He started, if you like, with the fireplace, where we can start.

0:27:350:27:38

You've got this family tree which descends through the ages, giving the historical background

0:27:380:27:44

that the family felt they needed,

0:27:440:27:46

and the great coat of arms which forms the fireplace - wonderful colour and carving.

0:27:460:27:51

And down below you've got the tiles, beautiful colours, new printing process developed by Minton,

0:27:510:27:57

and then the totality framed

0:27:570:28:00

by these brass fire dogs, which were made just for that setting.

0:28:000:28:04

And the centre of the room is this magnificent chandelier.

0:28:040:28:08

In a way they were Pugin's trademark.

0:28:080:28:10

if he had clients rich enough, he'd persuade them to have a chandelier made by Hardman of Birmingham,

0:28:100:28:16

a fabulous statement about modern Gothic, and they were designed

0:28:160:28:19

to be seen hanging against this sort of highly coloured ceiling.

0:28:190:28:23

When he came in, as an interior decorator, effectively, the ceiling structure was already there,

0:28:230:28:29

but he thought, "It's a bit boring. Let's bring it to life with colour and pattern and richness."

0:28:290:28:35

We think of that period as being rather heavy and dull and ponderous.

0:28:350:28:39

But it was very lively, the full pageant of the Middle Ages brought into the modern Victorian world.

0:28:390:28:44

-Is everything here by Pugin?

-Yes, Pugin was one of those very demanding all-round designers.

0:28:440:28:49

If you commissioned him, he wanted to do everything, all the components of the living space,

0:28:490:28:53

everything that made the room work and define his style.

0:28:530:28:56

In this room, for example there are candlesticks by him, now used as lamps,

0:28:560:29:00

there's very lovely pierced door plates and door furniture,

0:29:000:29:03

but of course the main thing here is the suite of furniture he designed for these rooms.

0:29:030:29:09

We've got the lovely bookcase with its fantastic marquetry panels,

0:29:090:29:13

but many people would like the desk best.

0:29:130:29:17

It's got that lovely carved stretcher rail beneath it,

0:29:170:29:21

which defines it and makes it a very strong piece.

0:29:210:29:24

-And of course this superb table.

-Yes, the octagonal table was one of his favourite motifs.

0:29:240:29:28

You can see here it's elegant, it's modern, it's decorative,

0:29:280:29:33

it has all this force of decoration in this room,

0:29:330:29:37

at the same time as with all his furniture - this and the chairs

0:29:370:29:41

conform to certain basic principles.

0:29:410:29:43

Let me show you on the chair.

0:29:430:29:44

Traditionally this is a very old- fashioned x-frame chair, but it's a very modern piece as he saw it.

0:29:440:29:50

He's revealed the structure. You can actually look at it and see how it all goes together.

0:29:500:29:56

It's a modern piece of design. "Honesty", "integrity" - these were words that he used.

0:29:560:30:00

"Truth to materials", and, in a sense, a piece like this defines modernity in the Victorian period.

0:30:000:30:06

So is it unique, to be found nowhere else but in this room?

0:30:060:30:09

These designs were used for other clients, but every piece was created for that particular client.

0:30:090:30:15

In the centre of this table is the "S" for Somers.

0:30:150:30:19

This motif was picked up again and again,

0:30:190:30:22

to make sure you know these were made for that family.

0:30:220:30:26

So Pugin was a high-class interior decorator?

0:30:260:30:29

Absolutely. You or I might have our bathroom or our bedroom done in the latest fashion.

0:30:290:30:34

He was doing that for a different sort of client, on a grander scale.

0:30:340:30:38

What he brought to Eastnor was the great modern Gothic style of the 1840s, 1850s.

0:30:380:30:43

And his legacy to us today is that here at Eastnor,

0:30:430:30:46

we have the greatest surviving example of a domestic space in the Gothic style of that period.

0:30:460:30:52

This is a lovely wine bottle

0:30:540:30:57

for decanting wine. You take this bottle down to the cellar,

0:30:570:31:01

pour the wine from the barrel into this, and serve it at the table.

0:31:010:31:05

Quite an early one, one of the earliest of the English wine bottles that one can have.

0:31:050:31:10

It's called a globe and shaft and actually sealed.

0:31:100:31:14

It's got the seal of the original owner,

0:31:140:31:17

-with a coat of arms - do you know whose coat of arms it is?

-Yes, um...

0:31:170:31:22

I did some research at Birmingham Library and found that it belongs to

0:31:220:31:27

Sir Richard Hanson, who was, um, knighted in 1665

0:31:270:31:33

-and then later on, in 1673, he was Lord Mayor of London.

-That's very interesting.

0:31:330:31:40

-How long have you had it?

-48 years.

-Yes, and how did you come by it?

0:31:400:31:44

We were on the way back from holiday and we saw it in an antique shop window.

0:31:440:31:49

We went in and they were asking £5 for it

0:31:490:31:52

-and we could only scrape up four pounds ten shillings between us so they let us have it for that.

-£4.50.

0:31:520:32:00

-That's right.

-My golly. These, of course, have become terribly exciting and interesting nowadays,

0:32:000:32:05

especially this shaft and globe.

0:32:050:32:07

Well, one in slightly better condition, not so pitted, was sold last month

0:32:070:32:12

-for £18,000.

-Oh, that's not too bad, is it?!

-Wow!

0:32:120:32:17

I won't suggest this is quite that much, but it's a jolly fine piece.

0:32:170:32:21

-I think with the pitting, I reckon you'll be £10,000 to £12,000 for this.

-Good gracious me.

0:32:210:32:28

My husband was doing some building work on a old house in Moseley,

0:32:280:32:32

where we live, and he found it in a skip, so he brought it home.

0:32:320:32:36

-He didn't! Actually in a skip outside?

-Yes.

-So for free.

0:32:360:32:40

-Yes,

-Do you know what it is?

-Um, some sort of candle holder, that's as much as I know, or think.

0:32:400:32:47

But I liked it and it's been sitting in our hallway for years.

0:32:470:32:51

You're right, I mean it is a form of candle holder.

0:32:510:32:54

It's actually what we would call a rush light holder,

0:32:540:32:58

-probably made in the middle of the 18th century.

-Uh-huh.

0:32:580:33:01

And because candles were quite expensive, even in those days, for wax and things,

0:33:010:33:06

-they used to get little rushes, which were like reeds.

-Yeah.

0:33:060:33:10

And they would actually immerse them in animal fat,

0:33:100:33:13

bearing in mind this would probably be the only form of light in the old cottages.

0:33:130:33:22

What would you say if I told you it was worth £1,000?

0:33:220:33:25

My father was part of a Royal Navy air mission to Japan

0:33:280:33:32

-from 1922 to '23 and while he was there, a lot of these are gifts from the military...

-Right.

0:33:320:33:39

-And a lot are just items that he picked up while he was there.

-What was he actually doing there?

0:33:390:33:45

-Do you know?

-Believe it or not, he was a carpenter and his job was to repair aeroplanes.

-Really?

0:33:450:33:52

-All made out of wood and plywood.

-How fascinating.

-Yes, a long time ago, it was.

0:33:520:33:58

He obviously hit it off quite seriously with the Japanese

0:33:580:34:02

-because he was presented with a lot of really quite interesting things.

-Mm-hm.

0:34:020:34:07

We've got a pipe case here. These are popularly known as opium pipes.

0:34:070:34:12

Yes, I always thought it was an opium pipe.

0:34:120:34:15

They never are. Japanese didn't go in for opium, that was the Chinese.

0:34:150:34:19

I've always worried about getting it through Customs.

0:34:190:34:22

-You don't smoke opium in a pipe like this.

-Right.

-The Japanese actually take one pinch of tobacco,

0:34:220:34:28

-put it in, smoke it and chuck it away.

-Chuck it out again.

-And then have another one.

-Right.

0:34:280:34:33

And a very nice netsuke to go with it, with some of the gods of good fortune on top,

0:34:330:34:40

and a couple of bizen stoneware figures.

0:34:400:34:43

I think these are probably the earliest things on the table. THESE all relate to his period in Japan,

0:34:430:34:51

but these, I think, would have been old when he bought them

0:34:510:34:54

and they date back to the middle of the 19th century.

0:34:540:35:00

Nice cloisonne box. This is wire-less cloisonne, nothing to do with the radio.

0:35:000:35:07

-Right.

-But this is a technique of putting the wires in

0:35:070:35:11

and then etching them out again and so you get watercolour-like effects

0:35:110:35:16

and, um, that's actually a nice box. What have we got in here?

0:35:160:35:22

Cigarette case, that's nice quality.

0:35:220:35:26

Ah, and that's why. That is the mark of a maker called Komai

0:35:260:35:30

who did really fine quality inlay in gold and silver.

0:35:300:35:35

-Beautiful.

-I suppose that's nothing to do with it, is it?

-I think it may well be.

-Oh, look at that!

0:35:350:35:43

Bought of Komai, one damascene cigarette case.

0:35:450:35:48

-Oh, is that his...?

-That's it, that's it. How fascinating.

0:35:480:35:52

And that's dated 1923, again, obviously, when he was out there.

0:35:520:35:57

I think it's an interesting little group, um...

0:35:570:36:02

obviously having them together adds more to it

0:36:020:36:06

and somebody who was perhaps into militaria would find the whole relationship fascinating.

0:36:060:36:12

But pricing it up individually -

0:36:130:36:17

your two figures here are worth around £120 and £200 each,

0:36:170:36:23

-and I think these are probably going to be worth around, um, £300 to £400.

-Right.

0:36:240:36:33

And the cigarette box in wire-less cloisonne is going to be worth around

0:36:330:36:39

-£600 to £900.

-Wow.

-And the cigarette case

0:36:390:36:44

about £800 to £1,000.

0:36:440:36:47

-Really?

-So it's quite an interesting little group.

0:36:470:36:51

-Wow.

-It tots up.

0:36:510:36:52

-Thank you very much...

-Yes, thank you.

-..for bringing in

0:36:520:36:56

such a riveting piece of English-Japanese history.

0:36:560:37:00

When we came back from India, my parents and I, we went to my grandparents' home

0:37:000:37:05

and they had a big show case, that the Victorians, late Victorians, used to have,

0:37:050:37:11

and in it was this bust of General Gordon together with a whip,

0:37:110:37:17

and we know that because of this, that it was Augusta,

0:37:170:37:21

General Gordon's sister, who gave it to my great-grandfather, the Reverend Alexander Fullerton.

0:37:210:37:27

But the whip is definitely General Gordon's also?

0:37:270:37:30

That's his as well. That's always what I've been told.

0:37:300:37:33

It strikes me a pretty good family history and I think that we can take that as read.

0:37:330:37:39

Gordon was undoubtedly the epitome of all Victorian heroes.

0:37:390:37:44

He was the personification of the British Empire,

0:37:440:37:50

of the desire to expand and also the "white man's burden" approach to colonialism.

0:37:500:37:57

He definitely thought that he was driven by the mission of God

0:37:570:38:02

to bring civilisation to all these wild parts of the world.

0:38:020:38:05

Gordon was sent to Khartoum to actually organise the retreat, a decent retreat,

0:38:060:38:11

but he said, "I don't want to do that. I think we should stay".

0:38:110:38:15

He actually went against the policy and he had the public behind him in a big way.

0:38:150:38:20

Um, to cut a long story short,

0:38:200:38:23

he died in Khartoum and of course that made him THE super-hero.

0:38:230:38:28

This Goss model was issued in... It's unclear,

0:38:280:38:31

It's under there, but I think I see it says 1886 which would be

0:38:310:38:36

almost exactly at the time of his death.

0:38:360:38:40

This is a memorial bust to the death of perhaps

0:38:400:38:44

the most eminent, the bravest of all Victorian leaders.

0:38:440:38:49

-Now Goss in itself is a collectable factory.

-Yes.

0:38:490:38:52

That adds a certain value but your family history is infinitely more interesting than a financial value.

0:38:520:38:58

To a Goss collector or an enthusiast for General Gordon, it's probably worth somewhere in the region of

0:38:580:39:04

maybe £300 - £400.

0:39:040:39:08

It was a travelling case that was belonging... to my great-great-grandmother.

0:39:080:39:13

Although the case outside is rather tatty, it looks lovely inside.

0:39:130:39:18

We've got a beautiful brass-bound

0:39:180:39:21

coromandel wood case and it's got the name "Flora Campbell" - she was what relation, again?

0:39:210:39:29

-My great-great-grandmother.

-Your great-great-grandmother. Yes. One thing I love

0:39:290:39:34

about these cases is that they are a perfect example of a real bygone age

0:39:340:39:40

where style was often more important than comfort.

0:39:400:39:45

Now any self-respecting woman who travelled would have had

0:39:450:39:49

a decent case like this and this looks a real beauty.

0:39:490:39:53

Where did your great-great-grandmother travel to?

0:39:530:39:58

-Well she was married in Brazil in 19...in 1846.

-In 1846?

-Yes.

0:39:580:40:03

Right. Well I'll just have a look. I can see that it's got the initials FC

0:40:030:40:11

and these have some hallmarks on here...

0:40:110:40:15

and I can see that it's got a date letter here for 1840,

0:40:150:40:19

so it was made a little earlier than when she was married.

0:40:190:40:23

And it's got a maker's mark here, GR, which is George Richards,

0:40:230:40:27

who was a fairly well-known maker of these sort of things.

0:40:270:40:31

One of the great features of these cases is the attention to detail -

0:40:310:40:36

the cutting of the glass, for example, you know,

0:40:360:40:40

absolutely beautifully done and not really any expense was spared.

0:40:400:40:46

They usually have a secret catch under here to release... if I can find it...

0:40:460:40:52

-You know about this?

-Yes.

-Right.

0:40:520:40:54

And look at that, the original mirror with this lovely brass inlay all round the outside,

0:40:570:41:03

This is where the letters would have been kept and it actually has a label.

0:41:030:41:10

"Hallstaff and Hannaford, manufacturers, Regent Street".

0:41:100:41:14

-Yes.

-So they were the retailers rather than the actual makers.

0:41:140:41:20

George Richards was the actual silversmith who made this.

0:41:200:41:23

If we look at some of the objects inside - they catered for absolutely everything.

0:41:230:41:29

This lovely little piece with a screw fastening top...

0:41:290:41:34

is a travelling inkwell

0:41:340:41:37

and...you know that was a necessity for, you know, writing home or taking notes.

0:41:370:41:45

And very often they have other compartments inside and if we lift these here...

0:41:450:41:54

What's this?

0:41:540:41:56

This is a photo of... the one in the middle is my great-great-grandfather,

0:41:560:42:01

that's Charles Campbell, Flora Campbell's husband.

0:42:010:42:05

-That is Flora Campbell herself.

-And this is the great lady herself?

0:42:050:42:08

-Yes.

-Isn't that wonderful?

0:42:080:42:10

It's so unusual to have all these things still together. And lastly,

0:42:100:42:18

they have these secret drawers.

0:42:180:42:20

Slightly stiff.

0:42:200:42:23

I see it's been well used.

0:42:240:42:27

-Yes, you can see that.

-Oh, and that's where all the...

0:42:270:42:31

um, you know bracelets, necklaces, rings etc, would have gone.

0:42:310:42:35

But a lovely set and the most important thing about these travelling sets

0:42:350:42:39

is whether they are complete or not, and this is absolutely complete.

0:42:390:42:43

I think we're looking at probably in the region of £4,000 to £5,000.

0:42:430:42:48

-Yes.

-Thank you very much for bringing it in.

-Thank you.

0:42:480:42:53

It was the 3rd Earl Somers who, in the middle of the 19th century,

0:42:530:42:57

filled his home with fine furniture and works of art,

0:42:570:43:00

but we've only had time to look at a little of it today.

0:43:000:43:03

Interestingly, one of the most exotic objects that he acquired was mislaid and only discovered

0:43:030:43:09

just a few years ago when one of the cellars was being renovated.

0:43:090:43:12

There, leaning against a disused oil stove,

0:43:120:43:16

was this Assyrian tablet, nearly 3,000 years old.

0:43:160:43:20

It's now been restored to a place of honour and the Earl would have been delighted.

0:43:200:43:25

From Eastnor Castle, goodbye.

0:43:250:43:27

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0:43:400:43:46

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