0:00:33 > 0:00:38"Living down there was like living in a bean pod.
0:00:38 > 0:00:43"Our horizon of woods was the limit of our world.
0:00:43 > 0:00:49"The trees moved in the wind with a dry roaring that seemed a natural utterance of the landscape."
0:00:49 > 0:00:56Lines from Cider With Rosie - Laurie Lee's account of childhood in a small Cotswold village in the 1920s.
0:00:56 > 0:01:01He wrote, "The villagers themselves had three ways of living -
0:01:01 > 0:01:07"working for the squire, or on the farms, or down in the cloth mills at Stroud."
0:01:07 > 0:01:13And many of the old mill buildings are still here. The evidence is all around that,
0:01:13 > 0:01:18for 400 years, Stroud was a leading player in the woollen trade.
0:01:18 > 0:01:25The river which supplied the requisite power was the Frome. At one time, 200 mills lined its banks
0:01:25 > 0:01:30and it's said the water of the Frome changed colour according to the cloth being dyed.
0:01:30 > 0:01:32Often it ran red -
0:01:32 > 0:01:38the mills produced the Stroudwater scarlet, worn by our soldiers in the American War of Independence.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Napoleon met the Redcoats at Waterloo.
0:01:41 > 0:01:47The colour is echoed in the uniforms of the guardsmen outside Buckingham Palace.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50This picture from the late 18C
0:01:50 > 0:01:55shows the bright red cloth drying in the sun, on tenterhooks.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59So THAT'S where that phrase came from!
0:01:59 > 0:02:02The atmosphere in Stanley Mill is quite suspenseful.
0:02:02 > 0:02:08It's five storeys high and back in 1840, it echoed to the clatter of 100 hand looms.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13It's still working, but stopped producing cloth in the late 1980s.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17These days, the machines burst into life only on special occasions.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24This is a carding machine, that was used to remove the nap from cloth.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27In 1830, this inspired local worker Edwin Budding
0:02:27 > 0:02:34to invent what became the joy and the bane of the lives of homeowners - the lawn mower.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39Stroud was also part of the Cotswolds Arts and Crafts Movement.
0:02:39 > 0:02:41The stained glass windows at Selsley
0:02:41 > 0:02:48were one of the first commissions for William Morris and Company in 1862.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52The aim was to create a band of colour around the church.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57There are windows here by Rossetti, Burne-Jones and Morris himself.
0:03:04 > 0:03:09But today, the brushes are put down and the lawn mowers fall silent,
0:03:09 > 0:03:13as people wend their way to the Stratford Park Leisure Centre.
0:03:13 > 0:03:19There are a few reasons why I'm interested in this bureau.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21It's of a type we see all the time.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26And it dates from...
0:03:26 > 0:03:31- it dates from the 1790s as a piece of furniture.- Right.
0:03:31 > 0:03:38- And the decoration dates from the 1860s to 1870s, that sort of thing. - Yes, I thought that might be...
0:03:38 > 0:03:44And it was when there was a revival of the age of Classicism, and a renaissance, if you like,
0:03:44 > 0:03:49of heavily carved furniture of the Carolean and Jacobean periods.
0:03:49 > 0:03:55And you go into various streets in London - Wardour Street, perhaps, or Berwick Street
0:03:55 > 0:03:57and you would find shops
0:03:57 > 0:04:03- where there were pieces of early furniture which you could take home and make into something else.- Ah!
0:04:03 > 0:04:09They knocked together Elizabethan beds and made cabinets out of them, and things like that.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13At the same time, there was a vogue for flat carving on plain furniture
0:04:13 > 0:04:16to bring it up into fashion.
0:04:16 > 0:04:22We call it, probably rather dismissively, "the vicar's carving class" type furniture.
0:04:22 > 0:04:23I like that!
0:04:23 > 0:04:29Just as there were needlework classes, there were carving and painting and music classes.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34This is an object which was subjected to the vicar's carving class.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39"Daddy, what can I practise on?" "Use the old bureau up in the attic."
0:04:39 > 0:04:45So you have a perfectly good, plain piece of furniture, and let loose upon it with every design there was,
0:04:45 > 0:04:51some young person carved this out of sheer love. "Look what I've done!" They'd have been thrilled with it.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55That's the story of it. The nice thing about it is...
0:04:55 > 0:04:57I'll pull the loper out...
0:04:59 > 0:05:03And there inside is the original interior.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07The plainness of the whole interior, which would have looked like so...
0:05:07 > 0:05:13And around here, nice black line... which is fairly typical of the period 1790 to 1810.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17- Oh.- These are the original handles. They're lovely.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20And so nice to see.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24- Ironic they did that to the outside of it!- Yes.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28It's got the original feet and of its type, it's a cracking good example.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32I mean, it's wonderful! There is a market value to it.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- It would be £1,500 to £2,000. - Would it?- Absolutely.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41What a lovely family of game birds! I suppose they're quails.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- Do you...?- Yes, they are quails.
0:05:44 > 0:05:47They're in the cornfield - hence the sheaf of corn.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50It's the mother and father quail and the tiny babies.
0:05:50 > 0:05:55Some are hiding under the mother and one's got on top of her back.
0:05:55 > 0:06:02- They're gorgeous little things. Have you had them a long time?- They were left to my wife over 15 years ago.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06They're marked underneath the base with the Meissen crossed-swords mark.
0:06:06 > 0:06:13- Yes.- This wonderful crossed-swords mark there, with the shape numbers and the particular form of the quail,
0:06:13 > 0:06:18of the birds, and the crossed-swords mark, puts it in date about mid-19C.
0:06:18 > 0:06:25They're not terribly early in Meissen terms, but they're absolutely, staggeringly beautiful.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29They're some of the nicest Meissen groups that I've seen.
0:06:29 > 0:06:34Wonderful! We must be looking at something worth around about £4,000.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Is that a surprise?
0:06:39 > 0:06:45- Shocked?- Well, I've seen people shocked on the Roadshow before - I know what it feels like now!
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Now, Samuel Lysons was a local man.
0:06:49 > 0:06:55His father was vicar of Rodmarton and Cherington, which is not so far from here.
0:06:55 > 0:07:01He was a very clever young man. He was sent off to work for a lawyer in Bath
0:07:01 > 0:07:07and he was later called up to the Middle Temple in London. But he had one abiding passion -
0:07:07 > 0:07:09Roman antiquities.
0:07:09 > 0:07:16This is An Account Of The Roman Antiquities Discovered At Woodchester In The County Of Gloucester.
0:07:16 > 0:07:19Now, before we go on with the book, you've got to tell me
0:07:19 > 0:07:21why it's in this terrible state.
0:07:21 > 0:07:24Well, apparently, it was in a chest
0:07:24 > 0:07:29in the house of a friend of mine and she put some flowers...
0:07:29 > 0:07:33And the bowl leaked into the chest and she didn't realise.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37That's absolutely terrible, because it is the most magnificent book.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40He was introduced to George III.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44He actually dedicates this to "George III, King of Britain".
0:07:44 > 0:07:46This really is a magnificent work.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48One of the plates I really love
0:07:48 > 0:07:53is this little picture of him - he draws a picture of himself
0:07:53 > 0:07:58working outside Woodchester Church and the site of the famous mosaics.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04And the scale of this book - there are 40 plates in it - is just amazing.
0:08:04 > 0:08:10This plate here, which is not an aquatint... It is, in fact, a soft-ground etching.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12A magnificent plate.
0:08:12 > 0:08:17This goes on right the way through. Another magnificent plate here.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20The church again, the River Severn...
0:08:21 > 0:08:24And this is the view of Woodchester
0:08:24 > 0:08:30from Selsley Hill. How he's done it is actually laid this out so that the sunlight
0:08:30 > 0:08:34seems to concentrate exactly where your eye is supposed to be.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37everywhere else is slightly dark,
0:08:37 > 0:08:41but that's where it's supposed to be. It is the most magnificent thing.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44Forty plates...
0:08:44 > 0:08:49and the date of this is 1797, and these had only been found...
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Roman remains, some of the largest in the UK -
0:08:52 > 0:08:55were actually found the year before.
0:08:55 > 0:08:58Forty plates which he actually drew himself
0:08:58 > 0:09:06and then engraved himself. So all this work is absolutely everything to do with him. Quite extraordinary.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10And this is probably the most famous plate in the book.
0:09:10 > 0:09:17It is the picture of the Orpheus pavement here, completely restored.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19He's obviously restored it,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21because I don't think it's quite like that.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24It's in need of tender loving care.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28The paper that all this is on is incredibly strong
0:09:28 > 0:09:32and so can be washed, but it'd cost an awful lot of money to put right.
0:09:32 > 0:09:36I would have thought that, without the stains,
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- um...a fine copy would make £1,000 to £1,500.- Mmm.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44This copy, with the stains, I suspect, would be more...
0:09:44 > 0:09:51It'd cost too much to put it right. So, unfortunately, it looks like this copy is what we call a "breaker" -
0:09:51 > 0:09:57you'd take out those wonderful plates and clean them and hang them on somebody's wall.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02What a fascinating Arts and Crafts beaker! Tell me about it.
0:10:02 > 0:10:08It belonged, I believe, to Janet Ashbee. It was made by Richard Ashbee, who was her husband,
0:10:08 > 0:10:13for her at some time. Once, when my wife was visiting Janet,
0:10:13 > 0:10:20Janet got up, took that down, gave it to her and said, "Take great care of it - it's yours."
0:10:20 > 0:10:25Gosh, what a wonderful provenance! Ashbee, of course...
0:10:25 > 0:10:29putting Morris's ideas into effect in the metalwork.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32- Yes.- Silver, copper work and so on.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37In the Arts and Crafts Movement, there was this great ethos
0:10:37 > 0:10:42- that things had to be made using traditional craft methods.- Yes.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45So you've got this very subtle planishing
0:10:45 > 0:10:49in the surface. The decoration inside is fascinating.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51Down at the bottom there...
0:10:51 > 0:10:56I'm led to believe the decoration is showing the ash and the bee.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01- Yes!- Connected with the name.- Ashbee did a lot of the designs.- Yes.
0:11:01 > 0:11:08- Which were then made by the craftsmen in the guild.- Yes.- This idea of the small group working together!
0:11:08 > 0:11:15But to actually have in your hands something where there is this history that it was made by Ashbee,
0:11:15 > 0:11:20I think is magical. It's a very difficult thing to put a value on.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22I've never seen one like this before.
0:11:22 > 0:11:26I would have thought we'd be looking at...
0:11:26 > 0:11:31maybe £500...and if the right people were there...
0:11:31 > 0:11:34- Yeah.- Knowing that provenance...
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Um...I could see it going well above that.
0:11:40 > 0:11:45My feeling is this could be by John Pearson, who's very popular just now.
0:11:45 > 0:11:52At one time, he worked with the Guild of Handicrafts that were based in London at the end of the 19C,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and moved to Chipping Campden in the Cotswolds in 1902.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59- What's very nice is the detail in the scales.- Yes.
0:11:59 > 0:12:03It has been cleaned, but not over-cleaned.
0:12:03 > 0:12:09- And I would have thought, price-wise, probably around about the £800 mark. - Thank you. I shall keep it.- Good.
0:12:11 > 0:12:13Pretty amazing!
0:12:13 > 0:12:17It says, "Made in Hungary". I think that probably says it all.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22It's likely to be 1930 or between the wars with that mark on it.
0:12:22 > 0:12:24It's in a bit of a state, I'm afraid.
0:12:24 > 0:12:31I think I wore my first copy out, had to buy another, and now I've even got it on CD.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35So it's one of those albums that stays with you.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38- But in this case, I think it's a fiver.- Yes.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43Tell me...whose is this?
0:12:43 > 0:12:48It's my grandad's. He was flying a Lancaster in the Second World War.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50Is he on this photograph?
0:12:50 > 0:12:54- Yes, that's him there with the hat on.- Right. Right.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58- What happened to him? - He was flying over France
0:12:58 > 0:13:04when he got shot and he had to bail out because it was going to crash.
0:13:04 > 0:13:07Ah, right. It's here -
0:13:07 > 0:13:10"Engines feathered, bombs going,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13"port outer feathered, bailed out."
0:13:13 > 0:13:17- Yeah.- Landed in France... So, then what happened to him?
0:13:17 > 0:13:22He was saved by the Resistance and he got moved to Switzerland,
0:13:22 > 0:13:28- where he met up with his friends. - He was lucky, wasn't he?
0:13:28 > 0:13:32- Yeah.- My goodness! Pilots' log books are usually £250,
0:13:32 > 0:13:40but I feel that there's so much activity in here, plus the fact of a fascinating story
0:13:40 > 0:13:44that we might even be able to double that if it was ever on the market.
0:13:44 > 0:13:49There are two institutions in Britain that look after war memorials.
0:13:49 > 0:13:57- One is The National Inventory of War Memorials.- They've seen it.- Fine. So it is listed in their database.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01- The other is The Friends of War Memorials.- Oh.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07- They're very much involved in the re-siting and the re-dedication of panels that have become detached.- Ah.
0:14:07 > 0:14:14- So contact them. They have a conservation service who will advise you what to do about display.- Yeah.
0:14:14 > 0:14:22Because it is not a conventional decorative object. The families of those involved are still in the area,
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and one has to treat it with reverence.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31Things like this are completely uncollectable. They have a meaning far beyond collection.
0:14:31 > 0:14:37They are very important objects to those involved and one must say these have no commercial value.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41As you can see, they're all little signal flags,
0:14:41 > 0:14:47set with different gemstones - rubies, diamonds and sapphires.
0:14:48 > 0:14:55And there are one or two other rubies there... And these are probably tourmalines and citrines.
0:14:55 > 0:15:00Very prettily made, and each of these is a letter - a signal flag letter.
0:15:00 > 0:15:05They're engraved on the back. It spells "remembrance", doesn't it?
0:15:05 > 0:15:07It does.
0:15:07 > 0:15:14These were terribly popular around 1900 and were often made by a firm called Benzie in Cowes,
0:15:14 > 0:15:18so this probably was a present from a rather wealthy yacht owner
0:15:18 > 0:15:20to his wife or lady love.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23You should insure this - you'll be surprised -
0:15:23 > 0:15:28- for about £2,500.- As much as that?! - Yes. Yes.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33Living with this display cabinet must be a bit like living in the country -
0:15:33 > 0:15:39it's absolutely full of floral and foliate and field detail, isn't it?
0:15:39 > 0:15:41It is, yes.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44- Is that how you think of it?- Yes.
0:15:44 > 0:15:51And I always did live in the country. Um...I remember it as a little girl
0:15:51 > 0:15:58with my parents. When they passed away, it came to me. So, we lived in the country.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03It's full of the most beautiful little things. I used to gaze in it.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05What really takes my eye
0:16:05 > 0:16:09is all the marquetry detail you have here in lots of different woods,
0:16:09 > 0:16:12particularly the cow parsley decoration,
0:16:12 > 0:16:17echoed in the carved detail underneath, which is so delightful.
0:16:17 > 0:16:23Even in the legs, you get the sense of the organic, of stems, of growth.
0:16:23 > 0:16:26But what I also noticed
0:16:26 > 0:16:29is this little signature into the marquetry,
0:16:29 > 0:16:31with the magical name of Galle.
0:16:31 > 0:16:37He loved the country and liked to turn his furniture into organic objects.
0:16:37 > 0:16:41If you follow the legs up, and go up and up,
0:16:41 > 0:16:46you can see he continued the theme all the way round - delightful.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51Galle is one of THE names of French Art Nouveau.
0:16:51 > 0:16:59He was working at the end of the 19C. In fact, he died in 1904, so he just went into the 20C.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02If you look at the carving in the gallery,
0:17:02 > 0:17:06- it doesn't have a great deal of detail in it.- Right.
0:17:06 > 0:17:13And this is somewhat indicative of the more... commercial pieces that he made,
0:17:13 > 0:17:18so there's a mixture between the high quality exhibition pieces and this.
0:17:18 > 0:17:24This is still extremely attractive - people love this kind of decorative object. The sale value...
0:17:24 > 0:17:27- might well be around £3,000. - Really? Oh!
0:17:27 > 0:17:32I don't know if it is a studio piece in the manner of Burne-Jones
0:17:32 > 0:17:34or if it is by the master's hand.
0:17:34 > 0:17:40It is a conundrum. If you know about Burne-Jones and the studio and the studio process...
0:17:40 > 0:17:47Burne-Jones was a very popular artist - he couldn't supply the demand at certain times in his life,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51and so very early on when he worked with William Morris,
0:17:51 > 0:17:55he employed a studio assistant in the 1860s.
0:17:55 > 0:18:02This was the pattern of his career. And the way it would work was that Burne-Jones drew all the time.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06His nervous tic, if you like, was drawing.
0:18:06 > 0:18:11When he worked on a picture, he'd draw not only a series of drawings,
0:18:11 > 0:18:17but maybe a finished drawing for the picture, and the studio assistant would take a canvas and block it in.
0:18:17 > 0:18:22They blocked it in in monochrome colours. The interesting thing is
0:18:22 > 0:18:26precisely these colours - these sepia browns,
0:18:26 > 0:18:30and then a touch of green in the bodies, etc.
0:18:30 > 0:18:36This is not the canvas that was originally worked on - the canvas was much larger.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Off the top of my head, this is for the Perseus series -
0:18:40 > 0:18:43one of the great series Burne-Jones did -
0:18:43 > 0:18:45- and it's Perseus going off...- Yes.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51- ..to cut off the Gorgon's head. - I think this is the Medusa...- Yes.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- That's Perseus. - And she's lost her head, as we say.
0:18:54 > 0:19:00What is this strange animal on this stand worth? It's a slight anomaly.
0:19:00 > 0:19:04- Here you're buying a little piece of Burne-Jones.- Yes.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08Arguably the best artist in Britain in the second half of the 19C.
0:19:08 > 0:19:15- A very good Burne-Jones is worth over a million.- Yes.- A good studio piece is worth under £100,000.- Yes.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20But this is a fragment of a studio piece, which isn't awfully good,
0:19:20 > 0:19:24although it's part of Burne-Jones. So, I think...
0:19:24 > 0:19:31- perhaps around £10,000 - that sort of value. £10,000 or £15,000.- Yes. - It's unlikely to make any more.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35- You've got more at home? - I've got 200 or 300 dolls,
0:19:35 > 0:19:39400 Pelham puppets, doll's houses, rocking horses...
0:19:39 > 0:19:42It's a bit of a disease when you get to that!
0:19:42 > 0:19:48- Terrible disease!- Is there a cure? - No!- When the money runs out, isn't it?- Yes!
0:19:48 > 0:19:50What will I do with them at the end?
0:19:50 > 0:19:54Well, let's start with this little one.
0:19:54 > 0:19:56She's very sweet.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00She was made in the Thuringia area of southern Germany
0:20:00 > 0:20:05and she would be dating from... the first half of the 19th century.
0:20:05 > 0:20:11- Wow, she's really old! - She's really old. She's the oldest one you've got here.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14She's in her original costume,
0:20:14 > 0:20:18but the real surprise and, in fact, the thrill, comes underneath,
0:20:18 > 0:20:24because what looks like a peacock's tail turns her from being a normal wooden doll -
0:20:24 > 0:20:29which is exciting enough as it is - into a fortune-telling doll.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33- I didn't know.- No?- I only bought it because I saw the paper skirt
0:20:33 > 0:20:38- and thought, "I haven't got a doll with a paper skirt - I'll have that one".- Good.
0:20:38 > 0:20:44Let's have our fortune told... Here we go. There's a nice green one...
0:20:44 > 0:20:46It says, "In Cupid's charms
0:20:46 > 0:20:50- "you are safely bound".- Sounds fun!
0:20:50 > 0:20:55So she's lovely. I mean, she is a valuable,
0:20:55 > 0:20:59as well as being a handsome doll. I would have thought...
0:20:59 > 0:21:02if she hadn't had the fortune-telling aspect,
0:21:02 > 0:21:07- she would have been in the £400 bracket.- Right.
0:21:07 > 0:21:13- Because she has that, it'll be double or even triple, so something between about £800 and £1,200 for her.- Gosh!
0:21:13 > 0:21:15A real poppet.
0:21:15 > 0:21:17And this little one...
0:21:17 > 0:21:21couldn't be more different - from a completely different era.
0:21:21 > 0:21:27You've got this curved limb body, which means he can sit up nicely.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31- Yes.- And then, at the back of the head,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34we've got the FS & Co - Franz Schmidt...
0:21:34 > 0:21:37- Yes.- And the number 1272.
0:21:37 > 0:21:45Franz Schmidt... His porcelain factory was also based in Thuringia - the same area as the wooden doll,
0:21:45 > 0:21:50but it was really in the early part of the 20th century
0:21:50 > 0:21:54that dolls started to be modelled much more on real-life children
0:21:54 > 0:21:58- than on idealised representations of children.- Yes. Yes.
0:21:58 > 0:22:03He isn't as valuable as the first one, although he is nicely painted,
0:22:03 > 0:22:05and by a slightly unusual maker.
0:22:05 > 0:22:10- I'd put him in the sort of £400 area. - Really? Gosh!
0:22:10 > 0:22:12This one is tortoiseshell.
0:22:12 > 0:22:18- We call it that - it's not tortoiseshell, of course.- No.- It's turtle shell.- Turtle shell, yes.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20And it's cut when it's malleable.
0:22:20 > 0:22:27You remember those old 78 gramophone records you used to have, those black discs - I think they're vinyl?
0:22:27 > 0:22:33- Yes.- Now, if you put them in water, you could bend it any shape - fruit bowls...- Vases and such, yes.- Yes.
0:22:33 > 0:22:40Turtle shell reacts the same way to heat, and so is flattened and then can be cut in thin slivers of veneer.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44- Yes.- And depending on what colour you put underneath it,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47accordingly the colour changes, as it's translucent.
0:22:47 > 0:22:54If you put red, yellow, it will show through varying shades of density. This is a plain cream background.
0:22:54 > 0:22:55This is its natural colour.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58There is actually the perfect colour.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02Only one little cover. The other's disappeared.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05- I've seen it somewhere. - You've got it somewhere?
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Good. And today, between £1,800 to £2,200
0:23:09 > 0:23:15for insurance purposes - that's how much you'd have to pay to replace it.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19- Thank you!- Extraordinary.- Yes!- The prices of these have gone up and up.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22And so to a slightly earlier one here,
0:23:22 > 0:23:27which is delightful. This is ivory with tortoiseshell.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30A silver escutcheon on the front and its original key.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36And...well, those are replacements, actually.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40I thought it was too good to be true that there were two of them!
0:23:40 > 0:23:46Yes, the original ones have gone. Not to worry - that matters not at all.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51It's still a delightful little caddy. Today, between £2,500 and £3,000.
0:23:51 > 0:23:56- Delightful. That's about 1780, 1790, that sort of date, yes.- Yes.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00So you've got early 19th century, late 18th century.
0:24:00 > 0:24:02- Right.- And this one...
0:24:02 > 0:24:07which is absolutely wonderful, is the earliest of all three.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09This was made in India.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11Um...
0:24:11 > 0:24:14Difficult to be precise, but between 1750...
0:24:14 > 0:24:17and 1770.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20That sort of period. The mount here
0:24:20 > 0:24:23is most definitely English.
0:24:23 > 0:24:28Those particular designs went out of fashion by the 1770s.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31And this is inlay.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34And the wood is cut out
0:24:34 > 0:24:38and a piece of ivory cut to fit in.
0:24:38 > 0:24:42This is individually placed little pieces of ivory.
0:24:42 > 0:24:46- They're tiny. - Oh, it's amazing work, amazing work.
0:24:46 > 0:24:52And then further etched on the surface to give it even more life and realism.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57Then blacked in with ink to show the engraved lines.
0:24:57 > 0:25:01You see that, curiously, it's a stationery box.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05At one time there were two divisions, across from there to there.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07That is absolutely wonderful.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12The timber is, I'm quite certain, either rosewood or coromandel.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14If you wanted to replace this...
0:25:17 > 0:25:22..it would cost you certainly in excess of £10,000.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25This is a very interesting sword.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29- It's called a mandau.- Mandau.
0:25:29 > 0:25:34- Uh-huh. And it's a Borneo headhunter's sword.- Good heavens!
0:25:34 > 0:25:39- Has it been used in anger?- Well, this on the end here is human hair.
0:25:41 > 0:25:47- So the signs are it possibly could have been.- What a horrible thought. How old is it?
0:25:47 > 0:25:50I would think about mid-19th century.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55- Is this ALL human hair?- Yes.- They weren't hunting blondes, were they?
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Well, I suppose it's a grey-haired man, that.
0:25:59 > 0:26:01Wow! And what's it worth?
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Around £250, as near as I can say.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08- Pretty...but nasty.- Yeah.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13I have to say I have never seen a chatelaine like this before.
0:26:13 > 0:26:19Until I saw this one, I didn't know that such a chatelaine existed.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23You've got Mother and Father there, the next generation across here,
0:26:23 > 0:26:27and then again, coming down, it looks as though they're grading it
0:26:27 > 0:26:34in sort of age of the family, and, of course, these huge Victorian families that they had.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39And so complete! All the contents you've got here - the scissors,
0:26:39 > 0:26:41the pencil... What's this one?
0:26:42 > 0:26:45Oh, it's a penknife.
0:26:45 > 0:26:46Then...
0:26:46 > 0:26:52Oh, pincushion - so, with the velvet, you push your pins down into that.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56As she's moving round the house, she needs to take a few notes,
0:26:56 > 0:27:03so not only has she got the pencil, but she's got a little aide-memoire there with those ivory tablets.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Now, there should be... Let's see.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Let's just get that open. Yes, there we are. There should be a thimble,
0:27:10 > 0:27:12and there it is.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17- She was definitely well-equipped with this little chatelaine!- Yes.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21I would have thought we're talking about at least £1,500, if not £2,000.
0:27:21 > 0:27:27And if it went way beyond that, you know, it just would not surprise me.
0:27:27 > 0:27:34Since I took early retirement, I've taken to going to local auctions and I just fell in love with that pot.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39I loved the shape, I loved the decoration and the colours.
0:27:39 > 0:27:44- You know it's Wedgwood?- Yes. - It's a jolly nice Wedgwood teapot.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Very unusual sort, of a colour that's called Rosso Antico -
0:27:49 > 0:27:55- meant to look like ancient Etruscan pottery.- Right.- The red and the black colours.- Yes.
0:27:55 > 0:27:59Almost looking like Greek or Etruscan ceramics.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04- Yes.- Which Wedgwood was very firmly into when this was made,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06which was around about...
0:28:06 > 0:28:081790, 1795,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11so it's 200 years plus.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14- Right.- It's very unusual. The unusual decoration...
0:28:14 > 0:28:18- It's probably got a little bit dirtied or stained.- Mmm.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22- Have you had a wash of it? - I washed it very gently.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27- It has a whiteness on the surface. - There's a white bloom on it.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31But the pot itself is in splendid condition. I like it very much.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33And you paid £200...?
0:28:33 > 0:28:37- Yes, just over - about £220. - Very brave.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41- Do you want to know what the value is now?- I would be pleased to know.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43A rare piece.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48I think probably we're pushing towards, and perhaps above...
0:28:48 > 0:28:50- £2,000.- Good lord!
0:28:50 > 0:28:55This watercolour transports us off to the Middle East, to the desert here.
0:28:55 > 0:28:57It's a desert scene,
0:28:57 > 0:29:00with Bedouin, I suppose they are.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02- Yes.- Bedouin tribesmen.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06It's by JA Benwell, 1862.
0:29:06 > 0:29:09Now, that's Joseph Austin Benwell.
0:29:09 > 0:29:14He's not a very well-known artist but he did travel in the Middle East
0:29:14 > 0:29:17and he travelled in India in the 1860s.
0:29:17 > 0:29:23- This actually was a wedding present to us in 1938.- I see.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26Prices for these pictures are very strong.
0:29:26 > 0:29:30The value of this now
0:29:30 > 0:29:33- is about £6,000 to £8,000. - Cor, love a duck!
0:29:33 > 0:29:40A lot of the Roadshow is about what might have been. I've got a little story I can weave on that level.
0:29:40 > 0:29:45Um...this, I think, is a device for keeping your cloak round your neck.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49On it, in Arabic, there is an inscription. How good's your Arabic?
0:29:49 > 0:29:52It looks like "John Lewis"!
0:29:52 > 0:30:00- What it says is "Bernard Shaw". - Really?- Why should there be a cloak clip with "Bernard Shaw" in Arabic?
0:30:00 > 0:30:04He was on holiday in Egypt and a man came up and said,
0:30:04 > 0:30:07"I can make this for tuppence."
0:30:07 > 0:30:12There was apparently a close friendship between Bernard Shaw and TE Lawrence - Lawrence of Arabia.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16Now, is it therefore possible that Lawrence
0:30:16 > 0:30:20had made this for Shaw as a little jokey present, saying,
0:30:20 > 0:30:27"Bernard, I've got you a present - here is your name in Arabic on a stud."
0:30:27 > 0:30:31- It makes sense.- A wonderful idea if it could be proven.- And if it could?
0:30:31 > 0:30:37We'd be talking thousands of pounds, because it's such an item to tie the two together.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43It's lovely looking at this - it's a work of art
0:30:43 > 0:30:48- you can wear.- It certainly is, yes. - Is that what attracted you to it?
0:30:48 > 0:30:55- I think so. Anything that's got stitch on is my hobby. I just adore embroidery.- You're a stitcher?- Yes.
0:30:55 > 0:30:59Yes, I am, and I teach embroidery too, so it's a joint hobby of mine.
0:30:59 > 0:31:03Right, well what we're looking at here is a Chinese robe.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06- Yes.- It's got a lot going on,
0:31:06 > 0:31:10as far as the various emblems and what they mean.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14This dragon, for instance, here -
0:31:14 > 0:31:17- emblematic of the emperor.- Yes.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21We've got... On your side, we've got the phoenix,
0:31:21 > 0:31:27emblematic of the empress. And the Buddhist pearl here -
0:31:27 > 0:31:30the pearl of wisdom.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Flaming pearl, really.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34Other emblems - we've got the bat...
0:31:34 > 0:31:39One of the five bats, perhaps, known as wu fu.
0:31:39 > 0:31:46So you've got lots of different, very auspicious emblems and characters on here,
0:31:46 > 0:31:53which would mean when you wore it, you'd be shrouded with good luck and so on. And look at the front here.
0:31:53 > 0:31:58You can see how dirty this bit is. This has been replaced, and also...
0:31:58 > 0:32:03the sleeves have been replaced. The sleeves obviously got very grubby
0:32:03 > 0:32:06and, at some point, they've been added on.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09I would put it at around 1900.
0:32:09 > 0:32:16- Perhaps five years either way. I wouldn't put it back much further than that.- No, no.
0:32:16 > 0:32:20As for value... Condition's not great with these additions,
0:32:20 > 0:32:27although they're old additions. I would have put it around £800 to perhaps £1,000.
0:32:27 > 0:32:30- Really very nice.- Lovely.
0:32:30 > 0:32:35- But THIS is a completely different category.- This is my favourite.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37It is just wonderful!
0:32:37 > 0:32:43A wedding kimono, but not one of the under layers, because there are seven different layers
0:32:43 > 0:32:47- for a wedding kimono in Japan. - Yes, and this is the very top one -
0:32:47 > 0:32:52one that is put on after the obi is put on, which goes round the waist.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56And it looks so fantastic when it's worn.
0:32:56 > 0:33:02This would have been the work, unlike the Chinese robe, of several specialists -
0:33:02 > 0:33:07one who specialised in the dyeing process and so on. As for date,
0:33:07 > 0:33:10I'd put this at perhaps 1920, 1930.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13And I would have thought that,
0:33:13 > 0:33:15in today's terms,
0:33:15 > 0:33:18we'd be talking about perhaps
0:33:18 > 0:33:21£1,500, £2,000, that sort of figure.
0:33:21 > 0:33:25- Do you have these pieces on display? - No, they're in a box.
0:33:25 > 0:33:28So you haven't seen them before?
0:33:28 > 0:33:31It's the first time I remember seeing them.
0:33:31 > 0:33:36They're lovely things. Beautiful flower painting. Hand-painted -
0:33:36 > 0:33:41not a transfer print. Do you know where they were made or what period?
0:33:41 > 0:33:46Not really. I'm not a china person, but I imagine they may be English.
0:33:46 > 0:33:49But when? I have no idea, really.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53Yes, they are English. They were made at the Worcester factory.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56- Oh, right. - So that's...that's exciting.
0:33:56 > 0:34:02- This is Worcestershire?- Worcester. Worcester factory in Worcestershire.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06- They were made about 1765.- Crikey! - So...
0:34:06 > 0:34:09235 years old and in pristine,
0:34:09 > 0:34:15- virtually pristine condition - absolutely jewel-like enamel painting.- Yes.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17They could have been made yesterday.
0:34:17 > 0:34:23- One could forgive anyone for thinking they were modern.- Yeah.- But they're absolutely beautifully made.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27Look at the delicate way this twig handle has been made, and the leaves.
0:34:27 > 0:34:29A giveaway to date
0:34:29 > 0:34:35- is this beautiful green. A very Georgian colour, pea green. - What, on the leaves?- Yes.
0:34:35 > 0:34:37Wonderful Georgian colour.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41If we have a look at the basket, also centrally painted with flowers...
0:34:41 > 0:34:45It's made in a most interesting way.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48The porcelain, when it's first made,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51when the potter is making it,
0:34:51 > 0:34:54in the green state before it's fired,
0:34:54 > 0:34:59he uses a knife to cut out all these shapes, all by hand.
0:34:59 > 0:35:05They must have lost many pieces and never got them into the kiln, so it's quite an expensive process.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08Have you thought about values at all?
0:35:08 > 0:35:12Well, I really don't know and I have no idea of, really, of value,
0:35:12 > 0:35:17but a guess would be a couple of hundred quid for each item.
0:35:17 > 0:35:20- I've got another stand and basket. - One more stand.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23- A pair of stands and a pair of baskets.- Yes.
0:35:23 > 0:35:26- Are they both in this condition?- Yes.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31All right. Well, we've got tiny little bits of damage on both pieces,
0:35:31 > 0:35:34but an insurance value
0:35:34 > 0:35:38for two stands and two baskets...
0:35:39 > 0:35:42- ..would be £12,000.- Good God!
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Incredible!
0:35:44 > 0:35:49Well, do you know, in 24 years, I think I haven't actually had
0:35:49 > 0:35:56a cushion mirror on this programme? It's called that simply because it looks like a cushion.
0:35:56 > 0:36:03It was, I know, in my grandfather's home and he died in 1927 and it passed to an aunt.
0:36:03 > 0:36:08She was a spinster schoolmistress and most of her things came to me.
0:36:08 > 0:36:15She always referred to it as the Jacobean mirror, but it wouldn't go that far, would it?
0:36:15 > 0:36:22"Jacobean" was used 50 years ago as almost a generic term for anything of the 17C. So Carolean or Jacobean.
0:36:22 > 0:36:28Jacobean describes the first half of the century, before the Civil War, and Carolean afterwards.
0:36:28 > 0:36:33- Yes.- We didn't have this type of mirror in the first half of the 17C.
0:36:33 > 0:36:36It would come from 1685 to 1700.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40Um...and it's made beautifully on pine
0:36:40 > 0:36:45with these lovely oyster-patterned pieces of laburnum.
0:36:45 > 0:36:51- Yes.- And laburnum is cut like a French loaf. You cut it across at 45 degrees,
0:36:51 > 0:36:56- It makes ovals - "oysters" - then it's applied in geometric form all the way round.- Yes.
0:36:56 > 0:37:01And then this cross-banded moulding is applied.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06And that's what looks a bit fragile. But, really, that will never move.
0:37:06 > 0:37:12That little bit of warping, twisting occurred probably within the first 20 years of its life
0:37:12 > 0:37:15- and it's been like that for ever. - Yes.
0:37:15 > 0:37:17The nice thing about it is...
0:37:17 > 0:37:20is on the back here.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24You can see there are two slots
0:37:24 > 0:37:27which flank that central little hook.
0:37:27 > 0:37:33And that little hook is made and fixed on a piece of iron - fixed on with old, hand-made clout nails.
0:37:33 > 0:37:38- Is it really?- Yes. Those nails have been on there since the 1690s.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42I mean, I think that's wonderful! And the slots in the back
0:37:42 > 0:37:46were for two tongues which slotted in,
0:37:46 > 0:37:53and it had a cresting rail on the top, which would have probably been finely carved and pierced.
0:37:53 > 0:37:57- I've only seen two or three with the original cresting rails.- Really?
0:37:57 > 0:38:00They always got lost in moves.
0:38:00 > 0:38:02Now, it's got a new plate in it...
0:38:02 > 0:38:06- Um...I don't know - did you do that? - No.
0:38:06 > 0:38:12It's a pity they didn't keep the old one, because that would have added a bit to the value, but there it is.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16- A lovely example of a very rare type of mirror.- Thank you very much.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19It's lovely, just lovely, and the colour is good
0:38:19 > 0:38:25and it should be just as it is. Enjoy it. I would suggest insuring it
0:38:25 > 0:38:27for about £6,000.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30Good heavens!
0:38:32 > 0:38:35It belonged to my grandfather-in-law.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37He was an academic chemist.
0:38:37 > 0:38:43He was a professor at Aberystwyth University. We believe he acquired it in the 1930s.
0:38:43 > 0:38:50You probably heard at the time of the millennium about John Harrison, the discoverer of longitude.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53There were TV programmes and books...
0:38:53 > 0:38:57I'll try and explain briefly what happened after Harrison.
0:38:57 > 0:39:02This instrument - which is a marine chronometer - is signed by Barraud
0:39:02 > 0:39:04of Cornhill in London.
0:39:04 > 0:39:09Harrison won first prize, and it took him a lot of time to get the money.
0:39:09 > 0:39:11There remained some extra prizes
0:39:11 > 0:39:16and a man called Thomas Mudge, an extremely good watchmaker in the 18C,
0:39:16 > 0:39:21set about trying to win that prize, and he made a timekeeper - Mudge's No 1.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26At the same time, the Board of Longitude changed the rules a bit.
0:39:26 > 0:39:32They said, "We don't want one instrument - we want two." So he set about making a pair of instruments.
0:39:32 > 0:39:37He got a little money from the Board, but he never got the second prize.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41He died in 1794, and he had a son called Thomas Mudge.
0:39:41 > 0:39:46- Oh.- He took umbrage that his dad hadn't been properly recompensed,
0:39:46 > 0:39:52and formed a small factory to make timekeepers on the principles of his father.
0:39:52 > 0:39:56They started making instruments, but they were very complicated
0:39:56 > 0:40:00and they were never really completed. So what we actually have here
0:40:00 > 0:40:06is the remains of an instrument that was never completed, in the style of Thomas Mudge's invention.
0:40:06 > 0:40:10So let me run through with you what is Mudge and what is Barraud.
0:40:10 > 0:40:16First of all, as I've said, the dial and the wonderful silver work -
0:40:16 > 0:40:19applied silver work, the enamel dials -
0:40:19 > 0:40:24follow the design of Thomas Mudge. The difference is, the numerals
0:40:24 > 0:40:31are actually not Roman and Arabic - Roman for the hours and Arabic for the minutes - but Arabic and Arabic.
0:40:31 > 0:40:37That was a peculiarity of Barraud's work. He seemed to like Arabic numerals, which were NOT the fashion.
0:40:37 > 0:40:44And we can date this instrument from its number to approximately 1801 to 1803. OK?
0:40:44 > 0:40:50Inside, you'll see how wonderfully delicate the wheel work is. It's like a spider - beautifully fine,
0:40:50 > 0:40:53very, very high number of pinions.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57And another feature which is straight out of Mudge's original invention
0:40:57 > 0:41:00is Mudge's standing barrel system,
0:41:00 > 0:41:05which he's got here with a ratchet set-up click and a fusee chain there.
0:41:05 > 0:41:11- So all those bits were from the original Mudge copies made by the son.- Yeah.
0:41:11 > 0:41:15Now, what is interesting about this particular instrument...
0:41:15 > 0:41:20there are possibly up to 20 known surviving instruments of this type -
0:41:20 > 0:41:26half-completed cases, dials, unfinished plates, movements with other escapements, all sorts.
0:41:26 > 0:41:28But only one other
0:41:28 > 0:41:35that is known - certainly that I know of - that has got its original fitted inner box,
0:41:35 > 0:41:38- the inner protecting box.- Right.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42Which has, by the way, the most fantastic detail.
0:41:43 > 0:41:46- You've got the original key.- Mmm.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50I was musing on this key, wondering what it's for.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53It's called a crank key. It's got an ivory handle.
0:41:53 > 0:41:57But why this funny end? And then I realised
0:41:57 > 0:42:03that this simple clip lock here... You put the key in the keyhole, turn it...
0:42:03 > 0:42:08- and you're actually locking that so it won't open.- Oh, OK.
0:42:08 > 0:42:14Once these instruments were set up and went to sea, they must never be touched. They can be wound,
0:42:14 > 0:42:19but the hands must never be touched, so they were locked in the boxes.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24So this would have gone in the box.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28It's got a nice slot to locate it... Locked in the box.
0:42:28 > 0:42:33The captain had a key which doubled for both. Then, through the back,
0:42:33 > 0:42:36you had access through both cases to wind it.
0:42:36 > 0:42:41So only the captain would have that key AND the key to the outer box.
0:42:41 > 0:42:46So, with all the differences and complications and the rest of it...
0:42:46 > 0:42:48Is it thirty...?
0:42:48 > 0:42:52I think...
0:42:52 > 0:42:55I'd say £30,000 to £50,000.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59- £30,000 to £50,000?! - £30,000 to £50,000.
0:42:59 > 0:43:02Good heavens! What?!
0:43:02 > 0:43:04Wow!
0:43:04 > 0:43:09Like the cloth laid out in the sun at Stroud's old woollen mills,
0:43:09 > 0:43:15we've been on tenterhooks to see what the day would hold. We're well and truly off the hook,
0:43:15 > 0:43:21because it's been as interesting and as busy a Roadshow as any expert can wish for. So, many thanks all round.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Until next time, goodbye.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd