0:00:33 > 0:00:37A view to thrill any student of British commerce -
0:00:37 > 0:00:40the mouth of the mighty River Tees.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45On its banks stand some of Europe's most important industrial complexes.
0:00:46 > 0:00:51150 years ago, the fortunes of South Teesside were given a colossal boost
0:00:51 > 0:00:58when two entrepreneurs discovered ironstone in the hills of Eston. Their timing was perfect.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03The ironworks in Middlesbrough had run out of accessible material.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08The Eston hills yielded 63 million tons of ore over the next 100 years,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12so industry in the region was able to prosper.
0:01:12 > 0:01:17On the other side of Eston developed the Wilton Chemical Plant.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23This extraordinary place is no slumbering giant.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Wilton never sleeps. Work goes on day and night -
0:01:27 > 0:01:32and it's just one of the massive industrial sites in the area.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Now, Middlesbrough is one of the region's biggest commercial centres,
0:01:37 > 0:01:43with an impressive premier football stadium and a startling piece of street sculpture.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47In the Civic Centre is this creation by Claes Oldenburg.
0:01:47 > 0:01:53Its relevance is that it reproduces the handwriting of a local hero -
0:01:53 > 0:01:56the illustrious Captain Cook.
0:01:56 > 0:02:02James Cook, sailor and explorer, was born in a farm-labourer's cottage a few miles from Eston.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07As a boy, he would've seen the tall ships on the Tees -
0:02:07 > 0:02:09inspiring him to join the navy
0:02:09 > 0:02:16and see more of the world than any man before him. North America, New Zealand, the Pacific islands.
0:02:16 > 0:02:21He discovered exotic plants and creatures, and wonderful artefacts.
0:02:21 > 0:02:30In 1779, Cook got on the wrong side of the natives in Hawaii, and died at the age of 51. But what a legacy.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32He changed the map of the world.
0:02:32 > 0:02:40His interest in science and medicine improved the quality of life aboard the ships of the Royal Navy.
0:02:40 > 0:02:45Eston houses the Civic Offices of the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland,
0:02:45 > 0:02:52and, on a suitably grand scale, the new Eston Sports Academy is host to this week's Antiques Roadshow.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Join the experts and start our voyage of discovery.
0:02:56 > 0:03:03- It belonged to my grandma. She had a shop in Halifax in, probably, the 1920s.- Right.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08Whether she had it on display there, or bought it then, I don't know.
0:03:08 > 0:03:13Well, I can tell you it dates from a bit earlier, around 1900-1905.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17Stylistically this is Art Nouveau - in every sense.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20You've got this very organic look,
0:03:20 > 0:03:25you've got this sort of tendril... stalk handle
0:03:25 > 0:03:29with a whiplash-type piercing here, and also,
0:03:29 > 0:03:34if you look, piercing on the stopper as well.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38I want to turn it over...
0:03:38 > 0:03:41and look for a tiny, tiny mark.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45Where is it, Eric...? Oh, there it is.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49- Blink and you'd miss it, wouldn't you?- Yes, I see. On the foot.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53OK, well, in there is a little lozenge, and...
0:03:53 > 0:03:59You can hardly see it. There's a little stork in the middle.
0:03:59 > 0:04:03The initials have worn in the other stamp marks.
0:04:03 > 0:04:10It would've said WMF. WMF being the Wurttembergische Metalwaren Fabrik.
0:04:10 > 0:04:15So, yes, - and I failed German O-level - it's incredible, isn't it?
0:04:15 > 0:04:20This is one of their better sellers of that period.
0:04:20 > 0:04:27Anyway...the actual piece itself is the sort of thing that would have been made in quantity.
0:04:27 > 0:04:32This was a very popular shape. It's nice you've got it in green glass.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37You can sometimes find them in red. Red IS a bit more desirable.
0:04:37 > 0:04:44In terms of desirability, converting that into money, you're looking at a claret jug worth about £800.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47- My word!- Even £900 on a good day.
0:04:47 > 0:04:53Well, I obtained it in the mid-'70s from a flooring company sales rep,
0:04:53 > 0:05:00- as a means of selling their product literature, in a way. And nobody seemed to like it at the time.- Right.
0:05:00 > 0:05:07- I quite took a fancy to it and hung on to it.- So you took it home?- That's right, took it home eventually.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10- You gave it a new life.- Right.- So...
0:05:10 > 0:05:17- did you know what it was, apart from a catalogue?- Not really. A few years later, my daughter took an interest.
0:05:17 > 0:05:24she's on the arty side, and she said, "Did you know it was by Paolozzi?" I hadn't really gone into it.
0:05:24 > 0:05:29- I couldn't find out much more about it other than what was within it.- OK.
0:05:29 > 0:05:36Eduardo Paolozzi - now Sir Eduardo Paolozzi - is one of the, I suppose, leading British sculptors today.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41- Despite his name, he's Scottish. You know it's an elephant?- Yes.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46This elephant was one of the things that he made as a commission.
0:05:46 > 0:05:53Nairn Flooring, manufacturers of floor tiles and things like that, came up with this bizarre idea
0:05:53 > 0:05:58of a Paolozzi sculpture to transmit their catalogue information.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03If we take the top off - a slight struggle - we find, inside,
0:06:03 > 0:06:08there are indeed brochures, so it's a very elaborate brochure holder.
0:06:08 > 0:06:13Here's one which is about Paolozzi and about the making of the object.
0:06:13 > 0:06:18- and here is a - you know - a typical flooring catalogue.- That's right.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23One imagines they went to architects and building companies all over.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29He's very much an architectural sculptor - cubic form, structure, blocking.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33One thinks of Cubism but, more important, the styles of the '60s -
0:06:33 > 0:06:41Brutalist architecture, the ultimate sort of international modern style, London's South Bank development -
0:06:41 > 0:06:43plain concrete in block-like forms -
0:06:43 > 0:06:501960s philosophy in architecture. Paolozzi's sculpture often represents that and reflects it.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56He creates forms essentially architectural rather than sculptural.
0:06:56 > 0:07:03I think it is a wonderful object. I'm so delighted to see one. I knew it existed. I've never handled one.
0:07:03 > 0:07:10- Yes.- It was an edition of 3,000. It's a multiple, a limited edition, all those phrases. You live with it?
0:07:10 > 0:07:15- In my study. The wife doesn't like it.- No?- She thinks it collects dust.
0:07:15 > 0:07:19- All the corners?- Yes.- It's your job to keep it clean?- Yes.
0:07:19 > 0:07:27I should say, it's made of a plastic material, deliberately made of a material relating to Nairn Flooring,
0:07:27 > 0:07:34so they had the challenge of casting this complicated shape from a mould, a typical way for Paolozzi to work.
0:07:34 > 0:07:40He works in stone and bronze, but he enjoys using industrial materials.
0:07:40 > 0:07:46People will say "1973? Certainly not an antique, just a second-hand object." Fair enough,
0:07:46 > 0:07:54but we are dealing with the recent past as well as the distant past. We need to look at things like this.
0:07:54 > 0:08:01It is, like it or not, a major work of British 20th century art. £2,000 or £3,000.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05Good grief! I wouldn't have thought that much.
0:08:05 > 0:08:13- I think you will. You'd better start dusting it more carefully. Perhaps your wife will like it now!- Maybe.
0:08:13 > 0:08:18The early Dandy and Beanos are worth quite a lot of money.
0:08:18 > 0:08:23- The problem with these is they're a bit on the modern side.- Yes.
0:08:23 > 0:08:31I think you've got them here from 1994, 1997 and these are really just going to be worth 10p.
0:08:31 > 0:08:38- Yeah.- The thing to do is to look out for the Dandy and Beanos from the 19...- There's just one old one,
0:08:38 > 0:08:43- Is there? A very old one? - It's the, er...
0:08:43 > 0:08:47- I did have one.- Let's have a look. Just flick through here...
0:08:47 > 0:08:52There's one from 1989, one from 1990 but they're still much too modern.
0:08:52 > 0:08:59- They need to be before the Second World War in order to be interesting to collectors.- Yes.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02Look at that. Wonderful, isn't it?
0:09:02 > 0:09:05Have you actually ever used this radio?
0:09:05 > 0:09:10I've never... Well, I've plugged it in. You can get a sound from it,
0:09:10 > 0:09:15but you can't hear the words properly - it's very crackly.
0:09:15 > 0:09:21It must be 1950s, mustn't it? You've got the Third Programme, the Home,
0:09:21 > 0:09:28the North, the Light Programme. This was probably in use about the time that I did my first radio broadcast.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34- The crackling you heard was probably me.- Could've been.- Back in the '50s.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36- Are you familiar with the technique? - No, I don't know anything about it.
0:09:36 > 0:09:44It's Boulle work, a technique of - rather like cutting out a jigsaw - inlaying brass into tortoiseshell.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49The way they did it was they made a sandwich, a packet,
0:09:49 > 0:09:56which has the tortoiseshell and the brass and the pattern - rather like paper, like marquetry -
0:09:56 > 0:10:01then you saw through both parts and end up with the male and the female.
0:10:01 > 0:10:07Where the hole is cut in one, you can set the other piece in. This is a very late example.
0:10:07 > 0:10:12The technique was invented by Andre Charles Boulle in the 17C,
0:10:12 > 0:10:20remaining popular ever afterwards. In France they made them right up to the beginning of the century.
0:10:20 > 0:10:27A wonderfully decorative clock, but there's probably more interesting information to give about the watch.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32That was my great-grandfather's, but we don't know anything else about it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36It has a threaded-on back, which is maybe why you never got inside it.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41In fact it's signed with the famous Rolex name.
0:10:41 > 0:10:47"Rolex" is signed on the actual train wheels, the winding wheels...
0:10:47 > 0:10:50And in the back of the case...
0:10:50 > 0:10:53in miniscule writing,
0:10:53 > 0:10:59is not only the hallmark date - because it was imported - which is 1919,
0:10:59 > 0:11:05but also the W&D mark, which is Wilsdorf and Davis.
0:11:05 > 0:11:11Wilsdorf and Davis were the first partners in Rolex before it became Rolex Corporation.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15It's a very rare model, believe it or not.
0:11:15 > 0:11:20The other interesting feature is the black and white dial - a rarity.
0:11:20 > 0:11:231919 is a perfect date for it
0:11:23 > 0:11:30because, in the war, watches were made with black dials to prevent reflection - in the trenches...
0:11:30 > 0:11:38Light reflecting. The numbers are white, the seconds dial is white, and the face black.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43Originally it was luminous. You can see traces of green, luminous paint,
0:11:43 > 0:11:51- which, by the way, caused a lot of people to die.- Really?- The ladies who'd paint the luminous paint on
0:11:51 > 0:11:56used to lick the end of the very, very fine brush on their tongue,
0:11:56 > 0:12:04- pick up what was then radioactive material - it's not now - causing cancer. Nobody understood it.- Oh!
0:12:04 > 0:12:10If you had to choose, which piece would you think is most valuable?
0:12:10 > 0:12:18- You mentioned Rolex, so I'd assume it's possibly worth something, I don't know.- Well, you're right.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20This very decorative clock is worth
0:12:20 > 0:12:25perhaps in the order of £1,500 to £2,000 because it is a late example.
0:12:25 > 0:12:33- But I think this is sufficiently rare and early to probably be worth between £2,000 and £3,000.- Oh!
0:12:34 > 0:12:39- Well, my father was working in Sunderland in the 1950s.- Right.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44One night, as he came home it was raining. He missed the tram.
0:12:44 > 0:12:52He went into a second-hand shop just to keep dry, and found this. Mother tells me he purchased it for 5/-.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- Five shillings.- Yes.- Goodness me!
0:12:55 > 0:12:59Charming picture, well-produced, by Wilson Hepple.
0:12:59 > 0:13:06- Probably painted in the Newcastle area, around 1910-1920.- Ah, right.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11He was a founder member of the Bewick Club in Newcastle,
0:13:11 > 0:13:15and exhibited many pictures there, during his lifetime.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20He lived a long life, from the 1850s to, I think, 1937 or thereabouts.
0:13:20 > 0:13:27He's also known for painting not only kitten pictures - for which he's probably most noted -
0:13:27 > 0:13:31but also horse pictures, hunting scenes...
0:13:31 > 0:13:35But here he is. Shown here, he's at his absolute best, I think,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38it's a nice size, compact.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41It says everything.
0:13:41 > 0:13:48- Value today - around £5,000.- Oh, my God!- Maybe on a good day, a bit more.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Sure, right... Good grief.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55I worked for an old gentleman for 20 years as housekeeper.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00- I've dusted them every week for 20 years.- And now they've come to you?
0:14:00 > 0:14:05- Yes. I think they're foreign.- Right. - Heavy.- A very proud bird, isn't he?
0:14:05 > 0:14:10- Beautiful.- What we call a fancy bird. - Oh, yes?- Very distinctive.
0:14:10 > 0:14:12- Any marks on it?- There's a crown.
0:14:12 > 0:14:20Right, and some letters underneath - that's what I was hoping to see. You've got little letters - FBB.
0:14:20 > 0:14:27- Flight, Barr and Barr. Not foreign but Worcester.- Oh! - A great Worcester factory.- Yes.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32- So we're looking at 1825.- Goodness me!- They're in jolly good shape.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35I thought Worcester stamped a mark on.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40- Often you get clear, printed marks. - Yes.- Sometimes just that tiny mark.
0:14:40 > 0:14:47- Hard to see.- Yes.- But enough to tell they're Worcester, from a great fruit service,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50painted...possibly by George Davis.
0:14:50 > 0:14:57He specialised in "fancy birds", these incredible colours and lovely backgrounds. The Malvern Hills.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01That's rural Worcestershire, not foreign. But French-influenced.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04The quality - wonderful.
0:15:04 > 0:15:09They're in such good condition they're going to be quite expensive.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14I would have thought we're looking at a nice pair around £800.
0:15:14 > 0:15:22- Very nice!- Go on dusting and keeping them looking as good as that. - I will, I won't part with them.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28- It started at a fiver. - Yeah.- Went to £10...
0:15:28 > 0:15:30- went to 12.- Serious competition!
0:15:30 > 0:15:35And 14. I was reminded by the chap in charge I was bidding against myself!
0:15:35 > 0:15:43- It's a common mistake. We've all done it.- Yes. Bidding like mad! But I got it for £12.- A local sale?- Yes.
0:15:43 > 0:15:50Right. We should reveal that it is actually a chair! It's an amazing object, isn't it?
0:15:51 > 0:15:58- Yeah.- What do you feel about it? - I don't know - it just has a certain sort of charm, if it's the word.
0:15:58 > 0:16:06- Funky's the word, I suppose.- It's all those things.- Yes, got everything. - It shrieks, literally, '60s at you.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09Incredible colours, so dynamic and vibrant.
0:16:09 > 0:16:16It's part of a whole production idea in the 1960s of making furniture out of other materials.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20- None of this old wood stuff. - No.- Cardboard, plastics,
0:16:20 > 0:16:25fibreglass. Anything that was new and dynamic was the thing to do.
0:16:25 > 0:16:32This is fibreglass. It came out of a whole generation of fibreglass furniture at that time,
0:16:32 > 0:16:36starting in the mid-'60s. It suddenly emerges.
0:16:36 > 0:16:41These rounded shapes were naturally what you could cast in fibreglass.
0:16:41 > 0:16:48- 1968 is when it was first produced. - OK.- It's by a German designer, but of course it was sold very widely.
0:16:48 > 0:16:55- You didn't have to go to Germany. I can tell you his name, but can't pronounce it.- Right.
0:16:55 > 0:17:00I've seen it written, but never found anybody who can pronounce it.
0:17:00 > 0:17:06- It is Peter G-H-Y-C-Z-Y.- Ri-ight. - So I challenge you to say it.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09- No!- I'm afraid I'm bound to be wrong.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13He's a German of Polish extraction, well-known designer of this period.
0:17:13 > 0:17:18- This is his great work of art, if you like.- Yeah.
0:17:18 > 0:17:25He called it the "garden egg chair". The idea was that because you can shut it - it's waterproof -
0:17:25 > 0:17:27it can live outdoors or come in.
0:17:27 > 0:17:34It was all to do with bringing the garden into the house, the house in the garden - informal, open living,
0:17:34 > 0:17:40very much part of the 1960s. Value is dependent upon the colour. This is good.
0:17:40 > 0:17:45- The more vibrant and aggressive, the more popular.- OK.- Also, condition.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49The original fabric is there but it's a bit snagged.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53A nylon, and obviously wear and tear will affect it.
0:17:53 > 0:18:01£500 probably is about the starting point. A really good immaculate one has been sold for £1,000
0:18:01 > 0:18:06and if ever there was an antique for the future, here it is.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10- Oh, great! Thanks very much. - Thank you!- Cheers!
0:18:10 > 0:18:17Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum near Redcar - the local history museum for the area. We've a large collection
0:18:17 > 0:18:25- of ironstone mining material from the Eston area.- So 63 million tons of ironstone dug from the Eston Hills,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- over 100 years. This is part of it? - A tourism use of the stone.
0:18:29 > 0:18:34These were carved as souvenirs for sale to tourists - and local people.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39It spawned a mini-industry. Gentlemen used to get a lump of this ironstone
0:18:39 > 0:18:46and carve books, bibles, memorials, monuments, war memorials and even churches.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49We've even got a selection of models
0:18:49 > 0:18:55of ironstone miners' tools. Pickaxes, shovels, that kind of thing.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00Is it all used up now? Any chance of digging out some for my own carving?
0:19:00 > 0:19:05It's dangerous to go down into the drift entrances. Some are sealed.
0:19:05 > 0:19:11But there's a huge pile of debris at the bottom of one of the inclines.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14You can pick up a bit, yes - free.
0:19:14 > 0:19:18- I've got two watercolours...- Yes. - ..found in the bottom of a drawer
0:19:18 > 0:19:21which belonged to my mother-in-law.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26She died about six years ago. These were underneath the drawer-lining.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30- You'd never seen them? - No. Knew nothing of them.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35- I believe they could've been painted in Northumberland.- Why's that?
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Well, my mother-in-law lived in Newcastle.
0:19:40 > 0:19:46She worked in service, and the lady she worked for, I think, was...
0:19:46 > 0:19:53- lived in Northumberland. - Right, so she was probably given these as a little present?
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Well, I've no idea actually, none at all.
0:19:56 > 0:20:02Well, you hit the spot, in a way - that's why I said, "Why Northumberland?"
0:20:02 > 0:20:05- Because do they look Northumberland? - They do, yes.
0:20:05 > 0:20:10- This house...feels Northumbrian to you?- Yes.- That's interesting.
0:20:10 > 0:20:17- They are by a man called James Burrell Smith, born in Alnwick. - Oh.- "Annick", right?- Yes.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22And...until 1854 he lived up here.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27After that, he went to London
0:20:27 > 0:20:35and he started a very successful school of watercolour painting
0:20:35 > 0:20:37- in Bond Street in London.- Oh.
0:20:37 > 0:20:44In fact, when he was up here, he studied under an artist called Thomas Miles Richardson.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49- And, his whole life, he painted in that style.- They are watercolour?
0:20:49 > 0:20:57- They are original watercolours. - Yes.- And this is the GOOD quality watercolour paper.
0:20:57 > 0:21:02Look, "Ingram". They were trying to read it. In pretty good condition.
0:21:02 > 0:21:10There is some staining, but a light clean should bring that out - by a professional watercolour cleaner.
0:21:10 > 0:21:16They are a terrific pair. What a nice pair! Let's pop that up here.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18What a lovely pair of local views.
0:21:18 > 0:21:26- I think sort of £3,000 to £4,000 the pair. Not bad from the bottom of the drawer, really.- Not bad at all!
0:21:26 > 0:21:29It's a lot more than I thought it'd be.
0:21:29 > 0:21:35We've had them about 16 months. We got them from a small antique shop
0:21:35 > 0:21:39sort of as a joint Christmas present, really.
0:21:39 > 0:21:44For me they suggest a kind of..."Reformed Gothic",
0:21:44 > 0:21:51I suppose, it's often called. There was a Gothic revival in the 18 C, but it's very pretty and frilly.
0:21:51 > 0:21:58These are much more solid and, interestingly, have a slightly Regency feeling to them
0:21:58 > 0:22:03with this broad, yoke back. Even the front legs and the front seat rail
0:22:03 > 0:22:08could be of the sort of William IV period, the 1830s, for instance,
0:22:08 > 0:22:14but you've got this extra detailing, particularly the quatrefoil here,
0:22:14 > 0:22:20- this dark wood set into the splat. - What type of wood do you think it is?
0:22:20 > 0:22:27- The chairs are oak, are they?- The chairs are oak. This is probably an ebonised wood. It could be ebony,
0:22:27 > 0:22:33but it's probably an ebonised wood like pearwood, something like that.
0:22:33 > 0:22:40- Have you done anything to the upholstery?- No. They are as we got them.- They may have been re-covered.
0:22:40 > 0:22:47- We did wonder whether they had been. - Yes, I think they may have been at some stage, but almost certainly,
0:22:47 > 0:22:52- this has been kept from the original upholstery.- Like little studs.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57Like little decorative heads of the nails holding up the upholstery.
0:22:57 > 0:23:04I'm sure they would've been leather or horsehair originally. They almost have the feeling of a town hall,
0:23:04 > 0:23:09a very grand municipal interior, to them - or a dining room.
0:23:09 > 0:23:16Dining rooms were often done in the Gothic style in the 19 C. It was thought to be an appropriate style.
0:23:16 > 0:23:23- Great fun. There's a tiny black bobble on the top of this finial. - It's the only one that has it.
0:23:23 > 0:23:28- The only one that's left.- Yes, and the only one when we bought them that had the bobble on.
0:23:28 > 0:23:35- Obviously, they must've been knocked off.- Well, it's lovely that there's at least one surviving
0:23:35 > 0:23:41- as a pattern for all the rest.- What date would you...?- I think 1850-1860,
0:23:41 > 0:23:48so after the building of the new Houses of Parliament by Pugin and Barry,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50in the 1830s and 1840s.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55And in the style of an architect LIKE Waterhouse. I couldn't be sure.
0:23:55 > 0:24:00If we could just track down their specific design or location...
0:24:00 > 0:24:04- Yes.- ..then that would increase the value quite considerably.
0:24:04 > 0:24:10- Can I ask what you paid for them? - Roughly, was about £500 for the six.
0:24:10 > 0:24:17- £500 the six.- I'm not sure of the exact amount, no.- Right. - Round about there somewhere.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21Um, well, I think you've done extremely well.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25- Right.- And I think as they stand...
0:24:25 > 0:24:30in the right place, you might be able to get £1,800 to £2,000...
0:24:30 > 0:24:36- Lovely!- ..sale price for the set. If you could attach the designer's name
0:24:36 > 0:24:39- then it could be substantially more. - Fine.
0:24:39 > 0:24:46- It sits at the top of the landing on a plant stand with artificial flowers coming out.- Artificial?
0:24:46 > 0:24:49- Yes.- You're doing the right thing,
0:24:49 > 0:24:54because it IS actually a toad flower pot. Any idea where it originated?
0:24:54 > 0:24:58- No idea at all.- It's Chinese.- Is it?
0:24:58 > 0:25:03And Chinese for toad - or frog - is "waa".
0:25:03 > 0:25:06It's the noise they make, "waa".
0:25:06 > 0:25:08And he really is a very fine waa,
0:25:08 > 0:25:14look at that, he's got a beautiful pink chest, sweet little arms,
0:25:14 > 0:25:19but the thing I love is the skin. It's really tactile isn't it?
0:25:19 > 0:25:22- You could grate a carrot on this. - Yes!
0:25:22 > 0:25:29If you look at it really closely, all of these little bobbles have been put on very carefully indeed.
0:25:29 > 0:25:35- They follow lines, don't they? They're not randomly put on.- No.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Beautiful lines.
0:25:37 > 0:25:44There's a lot of care taken - makes a lovely noise - and then round the legs. Beautifully done, up and down.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Then these beautiful bulging eyes.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49I'm going to try to date it by these.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55Arthur Negus had a thing about porcelain figures - if it had brown eyes it was 18 C,
0:25:55 > 0:26:01blue, later than 18 C. Frogs are not quite the same. Gilding's the clue.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06This colour of gilding takes us to around the 1800-1820 period.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11The Chinese emperor reigning at the time was called Chia Ch'ing,
0:26:11 > 0:26:15and I'm sure this is from the Chia Ch'ing period.
0:26:15 > 0:26:18Chinese frogs go back much further,
0:26:18 > 0:26:23because in China, frogs are lucky. Has he brought you good luck?
0:26:23 > 0:26:29- Well, we haven't been UNlucky. - Not UNlucky? - No, not particularly lucky either!
0:26:29 > 0:26:33- So he's biding his time? - He must be, yes.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Let's see, is he in good condition?
0:26:36 > 0:26:41- No.- No, he's got a chip.- More than a chip - a massive chunk out.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46- Perky for all that. Do you have him insured?- Just the house insurance.
0:26:46 > 0:26:53- If he vanished, you wouldn't know what to claim.- No.- What WOULD you claim?- I've no idea.- Anything?
0:26:53 > 0:26:59- £1,000?- Yes. About that.- £1,000. Very good! That's what he's worth.
0:26:59 > 0:27:05- £1,000 to £1,500.- Right. Good! - £1,000 to £1,500 - a lucky toad!
0:27:05 > 0:27:10- He is, isn't he? Lovely... What is he made of then?- He's made of porcelain.
0:27:10 > 0:27:16- IS it porcelain?- It is.- Oh, I thought it was cementy stuff.- Cementy stuff?!
0:27:16 > 0:27:22Now this is a box that tells a story. "This belongs to Walter".
0:27:22 > 0:27:26- Are you by any chance Walter? - I am indeed, yes, yes.
0:27:26 > 0:27:33- You are responsible for this little graffiti.- I was responsible, yes. - A very nice submarine here.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36This was purchased when and where?
0:27:36 > 0:27:42Purchased at a toy shop, Nelsons. It was a big toy shop in Middlesbrough.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45It's no longer there, now.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48It probably... Maybe I would be...
0:27:48 > 0:27:5460 years ago probably, when I bought it. But I can't put a precise date on it.
0:27:54 > 0:27:59Not wishing to date you too precisely, that'd be the late '30s?
0:27:59 > 0:28:04- In the late '30s. The late '30s, yes. - It's in VERY good condition.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09- Yes. It was used extensively as well. - I can't believe it.- Oh, it was, yes.
0:28:09 > 0:28:17- And it went back in its box - with the instructions?- Yes, sure did.- Do you know, you're my kind of child!
0:28:17 > 0:28:21Why aren't there more children like you around?
0:28:21 > 0:28:26- That's very nice. In this condition, very nearly mint...- Yes.
0:28:26 > 0:28:32..I would have said we're talking about perhaps £100 - £150.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35- That is a lovely item.- Yes.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38Now... I like this!
0:28:38 > 0:28:46- This aircraft here. We can just see it in the box.- Yes.- It's almost hangared here, isn't it?
0:28:46 > 0:28:50It's got its wings on. They are very flimsy. They're just made of paper.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53- The body's made of aluminium.- Yeah.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57- It's got a holder for the propeller. - Yes.
0:28:57 > 0:29:02- And we take that up, wind it up. - Wind it to the left.- To the left...
0:29:05 > 0:29:09There, that primes it, and off it goes. Do you know what "FROG" means?
0:29:09 > 0:29:13- Er...- Flies Right Off the Ground. - Does it?
0:29:13 > 0:29:16Well, you've taught me something!
0:29:16 > 0:29:18Well, I'm pleased about that.
0:29:18 > 0:29:26- That was their abbreviation for this lovely slogan - Flies Right Off the Ground - a FROG aeroplane.- Yes.
0:29:26 > 0:29:32- You'd have been older when you got that? - Oh, yes, I'd think 12, possibly.
0:29:32 > 0:29:39- It's flimsier. It needed a careful hand.- You have to know a little about the mechanism to operate it.
0:29:39 > 0:29:46- Exactly. Was this bought at Nelsons? - No. This was bought at another quite famous shop in Middlesbrough,
0:29:46 > 0:29:52R Scupham & Son, which was really the sort of Aladdin's Cave toy shop.
0:29:52 > 0:29:58- Was it?- They had all the marvellous Hornby trains and Meccano sets and things like this.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03- It was a top-notch shop.- A boy's delight?- A boy's Aladdin's Cave.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07- Oh, yes.- So that's where the pocket money went.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10It did, yes, and that again - I can't tell you how much it was,
0:30:10 > 0:30:15but that would be quite expensive, at the time, relatively speaking.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19- Of course. A lot of work went into this.- Yeah.
0:30:19 > 0:30:25- They were good flyers but, sadly, they were so fragile. - Flimsy - indeed!
0:30:25 > 0:30:32- They didn't stand many crashes, I'd have thought.- No. Those wheels are actually replacements.
0:30:32 > 0:30:37- Oh, it had a bit of a heavy landing? - The first set did smash.- Oh, dear.
0:30:37 > 0:30:44- Very fragile.- Some FROG aircraft are more desirable than others.- Quite. - The Hawker Hart and the Hawker Hind
0:30:44 > 0:30:47- are particularly desirable.- Oh, yes.
0:30:47 > 0:30:52But there are collectors for all, particularly in this good condition.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56- Yes.- This, we're talking about £300, £400.- Right, thank you.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00- And another reasonable investment! - Yes, quite.
0:31:00 > 0:31:05- How many pairs of shoes have you got?- Only about 20.- But all old?
0:31:05 > 0:31:10- Good morning.- No, just...- Excuse me interrupting.- Aren't they fabulous?
0:31:10 > 0:31:15- These are lovely.- Look at these... Well, not emeralds, emerald-like.
0:31:15 > 0:31:19- A most wonderful thing! - Are they dancing shoes?
0:31:19 > 0:31:25- They COULD be. Do you dance in them? - No, it might ruin them. - Yes, the stresses would be on them.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30- I wear them at home if we've friends round.- I think it's evening shoes.
0:31:30 > 0:31:36Because the combination of greens and golds and sparkly elements you'd need to see in artificial light,
0:31:36 > 0:31:44- glittering in the evening.- Did you buy these yourself?- I got them in a sale. It says "Saks of 5th Avenue".
0:31:44 > 0:31:52And I imagined they'd danced across the Atlantic on a ship. Someone went to New York and got them.
0:31:52 > 0:31:59- They're 1950s, we've established. - Yes.- You can imagine them on the Normandy or on the Queen Elizabeth -
0:31:59 > 0:32:06- the band playing.- Absolutely.- I can imagine them on a film set. They look as if they've been in a movie -
0:32:06 > 0:32:14the Red Shoes, only the wrong colour. A bit like the Wizard of Oz shoes. They've that look about them.
0:32:14 > 0:32:21- Real showbiz.- Yes. You can't see any stitching on the ribbon.- They're beautifully made. Value's difficult.
0:32:21 > 0:32:28- You paid £12... You wear and enjoy them.- Yes.- Classic shoes in this condition would be £50, £80, £100 -
0:32:28 > 0:32:33to the right collector. But they're not going to want you to wear them.
0:32:33 > 0:32:40- No. I'd rather wear them.- May as well enjoy them.- Can you get them in a 9? - You might.- Would they suit you?
0:32:40 > 0:32:44- You never know. At home, of course. - In privacy.
0:32:44 > 0:32:51- He's fairly crude, isn't he? - Oh, yes.- There is no question that he's a mechanical man, a robot.
0:32:51 > 0:32:58- We've got on the side, here, a little bit of writing which says "Robot 'Lilliput' ".- Lilliput, yeah.
0:32:58 > 0:33:02The same on the back.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05And then on the side here,
0:33:05 > 0:33:13where the key is - if we lift that up - we can see that there's a little trademark here. Yes.
0:33:16 > 0:33:21- That's right, yes.- The remarkable thing is that he's a robot at all.
0:33:21 > 0:33:26- We associate "robot" with sci-fi, with space travel and so on.- Yes.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30Of course, in the late '30s, early '40s there WAS no space travel.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34- The first Sputnik was what, 1957? - Yes.- So...
0:33:34 > 0:33:39- We had not put anything into space. - No.- There were influences though.
0:33:39 > 0:33:44- Yes.- For instance, if you think back to Charlie Chaplin's film...
0:33:44 > 0:33:51- Metropolis, the Fritz Lang film, the poster of that was very futuristic. - Yes.- It had mechanical people
0:33:51 > 0:33:53that could look like robots.
0:33:53 > 0:34:00What we're looking at here, in fact, is the first ever commercially-produced robot.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04- Does he work?- Very much so. - Ooh, give him a go.- Shall I?
0:34:04 > 0:34:08Let's get him to strut his stuff!
0:34:08 > 0:34:10LOUD RATCHETING
0:34:10 > 0:34:17- Sounds very strong, the motor! - Yes, he is.- There's a start-stop control on the back there...
0:34:17 > 0:34:20So we'll give that...
0:34:26 > 0:34:34Now, how did he fit in with the rest of your toys? Because he must have looked like, you know, an invader!
0:34:34 > 0:34:39I suppose, in those days... Boys had soldiers, forts, things like that.
0:34:39 > 0:34:44- Yes.- And to build up a fort out of, say, dominoes
0:34:44 > 0:34:50and put soldiers inside, then have this fellow charge the dominoes,
0:34:50 > 0:34:58- which would collapse and knock the soldiers over - that was great. - So he was the secret weapon?- Yes.
0:34:58 > 0:35:03- He was the secret weapon, yes, quite! - He was made in Japan. The Japanese,
0:35:03 > 0:35:10at that time, in the 1920s and '30s, had an infant toy industry,
0:35:10 > 0:35:17which produced fairly idiosyncratic toys, but usually with very good quality lithography on the tin,
0:35:17 > 0:35:23which this has. I wish I could tell you who the trademark represents.
0:35:23 > 0:35:30There is a lot of research, now, going into early Japanese makers, but I can't tell you who that is.
0:35:30 > 0:35:37- Oh. No.- What I can tell you is that he is a great rarity.- Yes?- And I have to ask you where the box is.
0:35:37 > 0:35:44- I'm afraid I can't tell you. It... - We're surrounded by beautifully boxed toys. Where is it?
0:35:44 > 0:35:50- No, sorry, I don't know.- Right. It's gone into the ether.- Into the ether.
0:35:50 > 0:35:56This is a valuable piece. In a specialised auction - it'd have to be to attract international buyers -
0:35:56 > 0:36:00we'd be talking about between £1,500 and £2,000.
0:36:00 > 0:36:08- Oh!- Which is...- Right. Very good! - Now I'm going to make you feel sick as a parrot.- Yes.
0:36:08 > 0:36:15- Because had you got that box... - The box.- One in a box, a couple of years back, sold for £4,500.
0:36:15 > 0:36:21- That box...- Ah, yes, quite.- Could have made the difference of £2,000.
0:36:21 > 0:36:27- Mmm, yes.- Go and have another look in the loft, see if it's there. - I will, but I don't think it is.
0:36:27 > 0:36:33- Thank you for sharing your childhood memories with us, lovely!- Thank you!
0:36:33 > 0:36:40- We were given it as a wedding present 17 years ago by an old lady, a friend of the family.- This is great fun!
0:36:40 > 0:36:45- It is.- Because what it does is to break up...
0:36:45 > 0:36:51You can have a go as well - I'm not going to have all the pleasure of this.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53..into...
0:36:53 > 0:36:57a complete dinner set.
0:36:57 > 0:37:02- And it's such a clever idea that you can go on...!- That's right.
0:37:02 > 0:37:09- Is it a nightmare to get together again?- It is, yes. All the parts are actually numbered discreetly.
0:37:09 > 0:37:15Oh, they are? We've got on here the mark, Villeroy and Boch - very well-known makers,
0:37:15 > 0:37:21founded in the 19th C, still going, still making good-quality wares.
0:37:22 > 0:37:29The market actually loves the really well-designed pieces from the '50s and '60s.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32They're moving up.
0:37:32 > 0:37:39I've been collecting '50s things for a long time. I think they've great potential. And moving into the '70s,
0:37:39 > 0:37:44I'm sure that is to come. But THIS one is already there.
0:37:44 > 0:37:50You'll find this regularly in the major auction houses in their modern design catalogues,
0:37:50 > 0:37:57A really nice thing. It was a very good wedding present, probably the best wedding present you had.
0:37:57 > 0:38:04- We've never used it, by the way. - Well, it is an "object". It doesn't need to be used. Hang onto it,
0:38:04 > 0:38:11- cos it's going to do THAT in price. Now, we're looking around £300 to £500.- Really?
0:38:11 > 0:38:18Believe it or not, I help at church choir jumble sales, and while we were clearing up at the end, last autumn,
0:38:18 > 0:38:26a mucky old envelope was going to get thrown out and one of these bits fell out so I rescued it, took it home,
0:38:26 > 0:38:32and was just gobsmacked when I opened all these envelopes and another and another...
0:38:32 > 0:38:35- All in little envelopes...- So these are the individual envelopes?- Yes.
0:38:35 > 0:38:42- And each had what, four or five or six pieces in?- There's an inventory of what there is in each packet.
0:38:42 > 0:38:47- This is a list of the jewellery itself.- Uh-huh.- And... Oh, I see.
0:38:47 > 0:38:55It's got package numbers, and then in each package you find each of these little bits of pendants.
0:38:55 > 0:39:00- Isn't it splendid?- It's absolutely exquisite.- Isn't it amazing?- Yes.
0:39:00 > 0:39:08- Because it's all craft jewellery, really.- Oh.- And it was moving away to that "Aesthetics" taste
0:39:08 > 0:39:15that was very popular in this country, particularly from around about 1900 to 1910.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20Looking at all these, it's difficult to say who actually made them,
0:39:20 > 0:39:24- but I think it is a workshop group. - Oh.- Made by one person,
0:39:24 > 0:39:32because they're very, very similar in design, and they are all brightly coloured enamel-work.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37You can see here... You know the old saying "Blue and green, never seen".
0:39:37 > 0:39:41This shows how beautiful blue and green can be together.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46All these translucent colours. The trouble is the condition.
0:39:46 > 0:39:54So many of these individual pieces are chipped, and once that happens there's nothing you can do about it.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Once it goes, it goes. You've got two peacocks,
0:39:58 > 0:40:04one with a Mississippi pearl drop suspended off the bottom - these very long, blister pearls -
0:40:04 > 0:40:09Mississippi pearls. This is a piece of Ruskin style pottery, here.
0:40:09 > 0:40:15- All these enamel plaques, the backs of them are quite crude.- Yes.
0:40:15 > 0:40:23- The counter-colour on the back, you see, is not as pretty as the work on the front.- Mmm.- I'd like to sit down
0:40:23 > 0:40:30and work out which sections go together, so we could make up formal necklaces, bracelets and pendants.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34Now we move on to the one I really like,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37this is...this necklace.
0:40:37 > 0:40:45- What was your immediate reaction? Did you think it was rather different?- It looked enamelled too.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48I assumed it was a bought setting.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53- I thought it rather cheap and tawdry, myself!- Well, the style of setting -
0:40:53 > 0:40:59a gold frame like that with scrolls - IS very much of the period 1900, 1910.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04But the reason I like this is this very, very...
0:41:04 > 0:41:06almost like a GHOSTLY picture
0:41:06 > 0:41:11of a girl with long, red tresses. Very Pre-Raphaelite looking.
0:41:11 > 0:41:16- Yes.- Very much like Rossetti. She's mounted up in a gold frame
0:41:16 > 0:41:20with a very pretty, small amethyst drop at the bottom.
0:41:20 > 0:41:25Then again these little blister/Mississippi pearls.
0:41:25 > 0:41:30And then you've got these enamel discs - very much the trademark.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35You'll see all these discs have got the same kind of colours, really.
0:41:35 > 0:41:41I don't know who this is by, but it's very much the manner of Cromar Watt, who used to make jewellery
0:41:41 > 0:41:46in this very fine, wistful look - with these discs.
0:41:46 > 0:41:54The next question is how do you put a value on such a wide-ranging group of pieces? It's quite difficult
0:41:54 > 0:42:00because, until we start to make it up, it's difficult to see what we've got.
0:42:00 > 0:42:07My feeling is this, that I think if you were to mount these peacocks by themselves, on chains,
0:42:07 > 0:42:14they're so decorative and so collectable, they themselves would probably be worth £250 per pendant,
0:42:14 > 0:42:20maybe even £300. That means that if you think about all the rest of them
0:42:20 > 0:42:23made up into mounted-up jewellery,
0:42:23 > 0:42:28you could be talking about - I don't know - £1,000, £1,500.
0:42:28 > 0:42:34But this one, with the enamel face of this girl,
0:42:34 > 0:42:36this nymph in this dreamy setting,
0:42:36 > 0:42:39I think that's lovely!
0:42:39 > 0:42:44I think that, by itself, would make in the region of £700 to £800.
0:42:44 > 0:42:52So from a situation where a jumble sale package... Where a pendant sort of accidentally falls out...
0:42:52 > 0:42:57- Yes.- I think we must be talking in the region of £2,000, here.
0:42:57 > 0:43:02I think our choirmaster is going to be quite pleasantly surprised!
0:43:02 > 0:43:06We've done a bit of time travel today.
0:43:06 > 0:43:13Among the elegant reminders of the past there's been a strong showing from the 20 C - the cherished toys
0:43:13 > 0:43:21and wireless sets, antiques of the future. It was good to see ironstone sculptures from the hills of Eston,
0:43:21 > 0:43:26where we started. From Eston Sports Academy, until next week, goodbye.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Subtitles by E Kane BBC Scotland - 2001