Carlisle Antiques Roadshow


Carlisle

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Carlisle. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

This week's Roadshow

0:00:320:00:34

finds itself in a place with Celtic and Norse origins,

0:00:340:00:40

which was for 250 years the northern outpost of the Roman Empire,

0:00:400:00:44

before becoming fiercely Scottish and then, finally, English.

0:00:440:00:48

Where am I? Well, that's a question I might well be asking MYSELF soon,

0:00:500:00:53

because we're going on a pub crawl of Cumbria's finest, indeed only, city, Carlisle -

0:00:530:00:59

strictly in the interests of historical research,

0:00:590:01:01

because what happened here in the early part of the 20th century

0:01:010:01:05

changed British drinking and social habits for ever.

0:01:050:01:08

In January 1916, with the country reeling from the impact of war,

0:01:100:01:14

Lloyd George took the extraordinary decision

0:01:140:01:18

to close down almost half the pubs in the Carlisle area, as well as three of the four breweries.

0:01:180:01:23

The rest were brought under state control.

0:01:230:01:26

National security was at stake,

0:01:260:01:28

because of the riotous behaviour of thousands of migrants who came to build and work

0:01:280:01:32

in the largest ammunition factory in the British Empire.

0:01:320:01:35

It was hard and thirsty work

0:01:350:01:38

and at night the workers poured into the pubs of Carlisle with plenty of money and nothing else to do.

0:01:380:01:44

They poured out again blind drunk and caused havoc in the streets.

0:01:440:01:47

All this was seen as a serious threat to the war effort,

0:01:470:01:51

but the nationalisation of the liquor trade soon had the desired effect.

0:01:510:01:55

The government drastically reduced opening hours

0:01:550:01:58

and diluted beer and spirits.

0:01:580:02:01

They commissioned Harry Redfern to redesign Carlisle's state-owned pubs - his fine buildings survive.

0:02:010:02:08

Redfern's establishments were more spacious, more appealing,

0:02:080:02:12

and built to cater for a broader clientele than the dingy "men only" drinking shops which existed before.

0:02:120:02:19

He designed rooms where food could be served

0:02:190:02:22

and introduced leisure areas, all of which meant less concentration on the alcohol.

0:02:220:02:28

It was the start of something big.

0:02:280:02:31

Architects and town planners came to Carlisle to witness the revolution.

0:02:310:02:36

Redfern's model pubs were reproduced throughout Britain.

0:02:360:02:39

By the time the liquor trade in Carlisle

0:02:390:02:43

was finally de-nationalised in 1971,

0:02:430:02:46

the old-style taverns had vanished for ever.

0:02:460:02:49

And now it's opening time at the Sands Leisure Centre

0:02:510:02:54

for another session of the Antiques Roadshow.

0:02:540:02:57

Time, gentlemen - and ladies - please. Can we have your treasures?

0:02:570:03:02

I thought, "Ah, that's a Doulton plaque!" -

0:03:020:03:06

these were made at the start of the 20th century,

0:03:060:03:10

a mixture of transfer printing and hand colouring.

0:03:100:03:13

And then I turned it over and looked at the back.

0:03:140:03:18

And we've got a label -

0:03:190:03:22

always a good sign

0:03:220:03:24

when you've got a framer or gilder's label.

0:03:240:03:28

But it says, "Carvers and gilders, picture makers and restorers, England,

0:03:280:03:34

"bevelled glass and old frames re..." - what does that say?

0:03:340:03:40

-Regilded.

-Regilded.

0:03:400:03:43

But where's the maker? Where's the shop's name?

0:03:430:03:46

-It says nothing.

-No.

-So we started to peel back here

0:03:460:03:50

-and there we suddenly get the original colour of the paper.

-Yeah.

0:03:500:03:54

Now, old paper does fade, but it don't go down that much.

0:03:540:04:00

-I think the frames have been...

-It looks as if it's been sprayed...

-Artificially aged, without a doubt.

0:04:010:04:07

And what we've got inside...

0:04:070:04:10

-absolutely white, pristine piece of earthenware with no Doulton maker's mark on it.

-Rubbish.

0:04:100:04:16

Well... Now, OK, you say "rubbish". Where did you buy it?

0:04:160:04:22

-In the local auction rooms.

-And did you like it?

-I loved it.

0:04:220:04:26

-I like the blue and white.

-And what did you pay for it?

-£43.

0:04:260:04:31

£43 is absolutely fine.

0:04:310:04:33

One has to be careful, because these appear all over the country.

0:04:330:04:38

We see them on every Roadshow - somebody's got a similar one.

0:04:380:04:42

But if you paid £43 for it - it's a decorative object, you like it,

0:04:420:04:46

hang it on the wall, no problem, but it isn't Doulton.

0:04:460:04:50

-Oh, well... It nearly fooled you, didn't it?

-It did - nearly did, yes.

0:04:500:04:54

Are they yours or...?

0:04:550:04:58

No, they were left to my sister from a friend in the family and...

0:04:580:05:03

And is this a passion of yours?

0:05:030:05:05

No, we... None of the family smoke at all, so...

0:05:050:05:09

Well, if we think about the history of tobacco,

0:05:100:05:14

it wasn't just men who started to use it, it was men, women and children

0:05:140:05:18

and they called it tobacco drinking, which is extraordinary, isn't it?

0:05:180:05:23

And it wasn't just in England that the pipes were being made.

0:05:230:05:26

We've got several examples here, in fact, of, um...French pipes

0:05:260:05:31

and the typical French pipe was known as a Jacob.

0:05:310:05:35

-And here you can see there's the letter JA...

-Yes.

0:05:350:05:39

..COB on here, and these were known as Jacob pipes.

0:05:390:05:43

And they very often had a wooden stem that was slotted in.

0:05:430:05:48

This one, as you can see, has been painted, which is quite fun,

0:05:480:05:52

but there's also something written

0:05:520:05:55

across the top of his turban, and it says "je suis le vrai Jacob",

0:05:550:06:00

which is, "I am the real, the true Jacob",

0:06:010:06:06

because the pipes were so popular, loads of people started to copy them.

0:06:060:06:10

And here's another Jacob pipe.

0:06:100:06:13

This one is in very bright condition because it hasn't been smoked.

0:06:130:06:16

As they get smoked, so the tars...

0:06:160:06:19

-They change colours.

-And this one caught my eye, too.

0:06:190:06:23

This relates to the storming of Sebastopol, in the Crimean War.

0:06:230:06:28

So that... I mean, Sebastopol was relieved, I think, in 1855 or - yes, about 1855,

0:06:280:06:35

-so we can date that one quite precisely.

-Right!

0:06:350:06:38

-You're getting interested in pipes now!

-Yes.

0:06:380:06:41

Do you think you might start collecting? The more you look at them, the more you see.

0:06:410:06:46

This is quite an interesting one.

0:06:460:06:49

-This is by a company called John Pollock of Manchester.

-Oh, right.

0:06:490:06:53

They started in the middle of the 19th century and I think they only went out of business in the 1990s.

0:06:530:07:00

The company had a very long and illustrious history of pipe making.

0:07:020:07:06

And the DD

0:07:060:07:08

stands for Dirty Dick,

0:07:080:07:11

whoever Dirty Dick was. That's a Dirty Dick pipe.

0:07:110:07:14

These are all basically 19th century, apart from those earlier ones,

0:07:160:07:21

and the ones that are moulded here,

0:07:210:07:24

they have a value, depending on the subject,

0:07:240:07:28

of between £50, £60, perhaps £80.

0:07:280:07:31

Very few of them would be over the £100 mark.

0:07:310:07:35

But this particular one is the cream of the collection.

0:07:350:07:38

It's a little monkey and he's dressed in what looks like a bellboy outfit.

0:07:380:07:44

And he was probably made in the late 19th century,

0:07:440:07:49

-made of salt-glazed - you knew that...

-Yes.

-..salt-glazed ceramic,

0:07:490:07:53

probably from Chesterfield, where there were four or five factories producing this salt-glazed ware.

0:07:530:07:59

And, although it's a pipe, it's almost immaterial

0:07:590:08:03

because whenever a salt-glazed miniature comes up for sale,

0:08:030:08:07

there's an enormous amount of interest in it and it would be worth

0:08:070:08:11

-something between about £400-£600.

-Good heavens! Thanking you.

0:08:110:08:15

OK.

0:08:150:08:17

-Pretty, aren't they?

-Very delicate.

0:08:170:08:20

I've been frightened to wear it - I don't know how strong it is.

0:08:200:08:23

-It IS very delicate, because it's made from mesh work...

-Yes.

0:08:230:08:28

..and tiny little panels and sections and little itsy-bitsy flowers.

0:08:280:08:32

-It isn't what I would call robust.

-No, I didn't think it was!

0:08:320:08:36

-It's made of white gold.

-Oh, is it?

-Yeah. And if we have a look here,

0:08:360:08:42

there's a little sort of maker's stamp there.

0:08:420:08:46

And a little stamp for white gold.

0:08:470:08:50

Usually, when you get little carved flower sections,

0:08:500:08:54

they come from somewhere like Germany or possibly Austria.

0:08:540:08:58

I think that's where it came from.

0:08:580:09:00

-Oh, it's not English, then?

-I don't think so, no.

0:09:000:09:03

-The little stamp on the back there suggests it's probably Austrian, Vienna maybe.

-Oh, that's interesting.

0:09:030:09:10

There's a little carved flower head in the middle

0:09:110:09:14

-with a carnelian.

-Yes, but I didn't know what the others were.

0:09:140:09:19

-Lapis lazuli.

-Ah!

-The mixture of the blue against the brown works well.

0:09:190:09:24

And tiny diamonds in between

0:09:240:09:27

in these twin, lozenge-like settings.

0:09:270:09:30

-It's very fussy.

-Mm, it is.

-But it works very well.

0:09:300:09:34

And then the additional facility of being able to... Look.

0:09:350:09:40

Oh, how clever.

0:09:400:09:43

So if you've got a slightly larger wrist you can adapt it, rather like a wristwatch strap, I suppose.

0:09:430:09:50

Yes, it's a bit like a watch strap.

0:09:500:09:52

Now, tell me a bit more about this one.

0:09:520:09:55

I inherited that from my favourite aunt - I think it was her mother's.

0:09:550:10:00

-I think this is made in around about 1900-1902.

-Right.

0:10:000:10:04

Lovely diamonds set throughout and mounted up in silver settings.

0:10:040:10:09

And then in typically... You see, you have a diamond three-stone loop.

0:10:090:10:14

-Does that come off?

-Yes.

-How do you do it?

0:10:140:10:17

You simply pull that...

0:10:170:10:20

like that.

0:10:200:10:21

Then, at the bottom of this

0:10:210:10:24

fully flexible, swag-like drop,

0:10:240:10:28

you have a beautiful, smooth,

0:10:280:10:31

teardrop-shaped natural pearl.

0:10:310:10:34

So it's a really nice piece, it's well made,

0:10:340:10:38

and whoever mounted the diamonds has found a good quality pearl

0:10:380:10:42

that balances up the frame.

0:10:420:10:45

Different periods, different styles,

0:10:450:10:48

but both in their own way very commercial.

0:10:480:10:51

I think that the Continental mesh work bracelet

0:10:510:10:56

ought to make £800

0:10:560:10:58

-and I think insurance - probably around £1,500 for it.

-Right.

0:10:580:11:04

But because this is so jam-packed with diamonds, it has this lovely pearl and is in such good condition,

0:11:040:11:11

-in auction, that would probably make around £2,500.

-Oh, my goodness.

0:11:110:11:17

-Which of you was responsible for putting this together?

-I am, really.

0:11:170:11:22

-And what inspired you to go in for this?

-Just the colour of it.

0:11:220:11:27

Everybody refers to it as cranberry and that's a sort of fictional word,

0:11:270:11:32

because generally a lot of it is actually - and has been for many centuries -

0:11:320:11:38

called ruby glass.

0:11:380:11:41

The Germans discovered how to make this in the late 17th century.

0:11:410:11:46

That one is very nice, of course,

0:11:460:11:49

because it's got the spiral in it, and it gives a variation of colour.

0:11:490:11:54

I can remember when they were £10 or £15

0:11:540:11:58

but I suppose they're now up to £70-100 each one.

0:11:580:12:02

Now this says...

0:12:020:12:04

Is that £15 or £75?

0:12:040:12:07

It's actually £75. £75.

0:12:070:12:10

-And where do you think that comes from?

-I don't know.

0:12:100:12:14

Well, I'm not sure whether it comes from Bristol or from Sunderland.

0:12:140:12:19

In both areas, they made glass of this colour.

0:12:190:12:23

-But I think that's a full price.

-Yes. I think so.

0:12:230:12:26

-I thought they might have seen you coming, but I don't think that's possible.

-No, no.

0:12:260:12:32

And, technically, this is wonderful.

0:12:340:12:36

You've got a layer of clear glass in the middle

0:12:360:12:40

and then white inside and red on the outside,

0:12:400:12:44

which by the time you've overlaid it on the white, looks like pink.

0:12:440:12:48

Again, probably from the Stourbridge area

0:12:480:12:52

and dating from 1880, 1890.

0:12:520:12:56

That's a very unusual piece.

0:12:560:12:59

-I hope you'll go on and find lots more.

-Yes. Thank you very much.

0:12:590:13:05

This is a fabulous model of the Royal George. Who made it?

0:13:050:13:09

Well, as far as I can gather, my great-great-grandfather, that was my grandfather's grandad.

0:13:090:13:16

-Your great-great-great-grandfather?

-Uh-huh.

0:13:160:13:18

-And was he a sailor?

-No, he was a coal miner.

0:13:180:13:22

We were a coal-mining family. Nothing to do with ships.

0:13:220:13:26

My grandfather was pretty good with his hands, with wood,

0:13:260:13:29

so probably he inherited it from his father and his grandfather.

0:13:290:13:33

Not only is it extraordinarily rare to get an original photograph with the maker,

0:13:330:13:37

but look - the stand alone is beautifully constructed, isn't it?

0:13:370:13:42

-It's been re-rigged as well.

-And polished.

0:13:420:13:46

-And I love the figurehead nearer you.

-It's beautiful.

0:13:460:13:51

The standing rigging was to hold the mast up and the running rigging was for putting the sails up and down.

0:13:510:13:56

The rigging was supposed to be on the lines of 1790-1810, I believe.

0:13:560:14:00

There were many boats named the Royal George during the Georgian period.

0:14:000:14:05

They were ships of the line.

0:14:050:14:08

This is quite small in comparison to some of the actual models called the Royal George,

0:14:080:14:14

but even so, exceptionally fine, and the photograph adds so much to its desirability to a collector.

0:14:140:14:21

It's not worth a great deal because it has been restored, but certainly, at auction, about £1,000 to £1,500.

0:14:230:14:30

It was a present from my brother. He was in Germany doing his national service.

0:14:320:14:37

Well, these cameras were made in Germany

0:14:370:14:40

in the 1950s and '60s - the time your brother was out there -

0:14:400:14:44

-so he would have probably bought it new.

-Oh, yes.

0:14:440:14:47

It's a Petie camera and this model is known as the Vanity model, for obvious reasons -

0:14:470:14:53

it's not just a camera,

0:14:530:14:56

it's a powder compact and vanity case.

0:14:560:14:59

And then, on the top, this one pulls out and it's for lipstick.

0:14:590:15:03

And the camera comes out of the top, like that.

0:15:030:15:07

Was it difficult putting the film in?

0:15:070:15:09

-Was it fiddly?

-Not really.

-And what sort of photographs did it take?

0:15:090:15:14

-Um, about two inches square!

-So you almost needed a magnifying glass to look at them!

0:15:140:15:21

-Any idea as to its value?

-No.

0:15:230:15:26

-No.

-It's just it was precious to me because it was a present.

-Mm.

0:15:260:15:32

Well, it's not particularly old - about 50-60 years old -

0:15:320:15:35

but if this came up at auction you'd probably get perhaps £400-600 for it.

0:15:350:15:40

Oh, very good.

0:15:400:15:43

-It's for a cheese?

-It's a sort of gondola-shaped cheese coaster.

0:15:440:15:49

It's printed with THE classic, early-19C blue-and-white design -

0:15:490:15:54

the willow pattern.

0:15:540:15:56

Staffordshire potters produced willow patterns on all shapes and sizes.

0:15:560:16:01

This is a particularly eccentric one.

0:16:010:16:03

When it came to putting a print like that on the inside of a curved shape,

0:16:030:16:08

they would take an existing print that may not have been intended for this particular artefact -

0:16:080:16:16

the print has been stretched so that they could re-adapt an existing print

0:16:160:16:21

onto a new shape. It's a jolly nice thing.

0:16:210:16:25

Well, this was probably made circa 1810, 1820.

0:16:250:16:28

It's rare and, to a blue-and-white collector, I think probably worth...

0:16:280:16:34

-in the region of £700 to £1,000.

-Oh, smashing. Yeah.

0:16:340:16:39

-It's a very, very classy object.

-Thank you.

0:16:390:16:44

There's a pub in Carlisle called the Malt Shovel

0:16:440:16:47

and here is the very object - a malt shovel and, presumably, a malt fork.

0:16:470:16:52

-How did you come across these?

-I have a pub on the outskirts of Carlisle and, when we bought it,

0:16:520:16:59

the estate manager at the time came across these and gave them to us.

0:16:590:17:03

It was long before your time that Lloyd George nationalised the pubs,

0:17:040:17:09

but do any of your older customers talk about it?

0:17:090:17:13

-One or two of the very older chaps.

-What do they say?

0:17:130:17:16

That the beer wasn't all that good!

0:17:160:17:19

My grandfather got it from Robinson in Ilkley and it's been in the family ever since.

0:17:210:17:26

Robinsons - as you know - are a prominent Ilkley maker.

0:17:260:17:30

They specialised in this kind of furniture.

0:17:300:17:33

It is a cross between furniture and engineering, really.

0:17:330:17:37

In Robinson's catalogue, this is an invalid couch - absolutely ingenious.

0:17:370:17:43

The back here raises up. If you could turn that wheel...

0:17:430:17:48

Look at that.

0:17:480:17:50

And what I really like is the gearing

0:17:500:17:53

because it's so nicely geared that you can be lying on this couch and adjust it yourself, can't you?

0:17:530:18:00

And the same thing happens down here - here's the wheel

0:18:000:18:03

and this piece also is raised on the gearing.

0:18:030:18:07

The other ingenious thing is the suspension system -

0:18:070:18:11

this is a continuous coil of wire zigzagging right the way down and it's really rather comfortable.

0:18:110:18:17

Very much so.

0:18:170:18:19

-It looks like it should be plugged into the mains!

-It could even be a sun bed, couldn't it?

0:18:190:18:26

Um, presumably you must have a mattress for it?

0:18:260:18:29

Yes. It's the original one.

0:18:290:18:32

It's horse hair, but it is in need of repair.

0:18:320:18:36

-A great thing. Now, have you any idea how much it's worth?

-No idea at all.

-You've not got it insured?

-No.

0:18:370:18:43

Well, if you were to buy one of these - and they'd be difficult to find -

0:18:430:18:48

-you'd need to be paying somewhere around £2,500.

-Good grief!

0:18:480:18:53

-Is that more than you thought?

-That'll please my wife.

0:18:530:18:57

Well, they were a gift from my father's cousins

0:18:570:19:01

and um, this is for grapes, so they said.

0:19:010:19:05

-Right.

-And the spoons... Now, they're made of a special metal, I think.

0:19:060:19:11

-This is the information you were given?

-Yes, that's all,

0:19:110:19:15

-but they must be a lot of years old.

-That's true.

0:19:150:19:19

Let's have a look at these first.

0:19:190:19:22

-These are NOT for grapes.

-Oh.

-These are actually for sugar.

0:19:220:19:27

-Oh, yes.

-These are sugar nippers

0:19:270:19:30

and when you get into...about 1730, these really start to develop.

0:19:300:19:34

Oh, yes.

0:19:340:19:36

Then these dominate right through until about 1770, when sugar tongs -

0:19:360:19:41

as we tend to think of them - really came into their own.

0:19:410:19:45

They're marked, in fact, just there, just next to the grips.

0:19:450:19:51

It's a partnership, in fact - London goldsmiths called Faux and Love.

0:19:510:19:57

Now, I'm intrigued with these,

0:19:570:19:59

that they suggested that they were some special metal other than silver.

0:19:590:20:04

Because they ARE actually silver.

0:20:040:20:07

-They are? Oh.

-The marks - and this may be what threw them -

0:20:070:20:11

the marks are very difficult to read, and just two.

0:20:110:20:16

Most people expect to see four, or perhaps five, marks

0:20:160:20:20

-on a piece of silver.

-Mm-hm.

0:20:200:20:22

But at this period - again, around the 1760s -

0:20:220:20:26

they only put a maker's mark and we've got the maker's mark there.

0:20:260:20:33

That's actually WF - William Fearn -

0:20:330:20:36

a very important spoon maker.

0:20:360:20:39

That's the standard mark next to it.

0:20:390:20:42

We've got the little lion passant. But they're very difficult to read.

0:20:420:20:47

So... These, in this sort of condition,

0:20:470:20:51

I would expect to see them on sale for perhaps £120-150.

0:20:510:20:55

-Really?

-That sort of price. And this, a lovely set of six -

0:20:560:21:00

again, one would expect to be paying the best part of £100 for those.

0:21:000:21:04

-If not a bit more.

-Uh-huh.

-Um, so that's a very nice little group.

0:21:040:21:09

Thank you very much for telling me about them.

0:21:090:21:13

My husband's grandfather started off as a ship's captain in Manchester

0:21:130:21:17

and eventually became a ship owner.

0:21:170:21:22

And when my mother-in-law recently died,

0:21:220:21:26

my husband, who's a keen sailor, said he would like all the boats in the house - there were quite a few.

0:21:260:21:34

The most important aspect of this very decorative object is the ship,

0:21:340:21:39

and it's done in quite good detail.

0:21:390:21:41

What I particularly like, though, is the background,

0:21:410:21:45

with the houses, the palm trees, the church.

0:21:450:21:50

The bottle itself - it's got some marks on the bottom here.

0:21:500:21:55

If we have a look, we can just make out

0:21:560:22:00

-"Co, Limited."

-Well, I think it's "& Co, Limited".

0:22:000:22:04

-So that would indicate that it is a British bottle.

-Yes.

0:22:040:22:09

It was always a lovely thought that the sailors themselves made this - I don't think actually sailors did.

0:22:090:22:15

Not all of them, by any means, and I think they were often sold as souvenirs

0:22:150:22:21

in ports and harbours all around the world.

0:22:210:22:25

So what we have is a very nice ship in bottle, good size, good condition,

0:22:250:22:30

with this very pretty and evocative background.

0:22:300:22:33

It's an object which collectors would in fact be willing to pay

0:22:330:22:38

probably £300 for, so it's worth looking after.

0:22:380:22:42

-Thank you very much for bringing it.

-Thank you.

0:22:430:22:46

I have to admit that this vase is not the sort of thing

0:22:460:22:50

I would love to have at home.

0:22:500:22:53

-No, neither do I. I hate it.

-You hate it?

-I hate it.

0:22:530:22:57

How did you come by this monstrous object, then?

0:22:570:23:00

Well, we were emptying my mother-in-law's house and she had got it from HER mother.

0:23:000:23:07

My husband said we should keep it, and I said no, but he won.

0:23:070:23:12

-Normally, these come in pairs... You've got a pair?

-Yes.

0:23:130:23:18

Now, I have to defend it, because actually this is a masterpiece -

0:23:200:23:24

a sort of technical virtuosity.

0:23:240:23:27

They've done amazing things with this pot.

0:23:270:23:30

It was made in Germany in about 1880 in a place called Mettlach.

0:23:300:23:35

And they specialised

0:23:350:23:37

in producing these vases in a sort of historical style.

0:23:370:23:42

They were trying to make them look sort of Renaissance, but they failed,

0:23:420:23:47

because they put elements together that never happened together before.

0:23:470:23:53

But, as a result, you get incised decoration here

0:23:530:23:56

with inlaid colour,

0:23:560:23:59

and you get rococo decoration done with layers of grey stoneware slip

0:23:590:24:05

and then the handles are done in a sort of maiolica technique,

0:24:050:24:10

all covered with tin glaze.

0:24:100:24:13

This is obviously the heroine offering the hero

0:24:130:24:17

a glass of something

0:24:170:24:20

and on the other side, another scene from German legend,

0:24:200:24:24

a sort of Viking with a winged helmet.

0:24:240:24:28

I don't know what this chap - oh, it's a chapess, it's a lady.

0:24:280:24:32

-I think it's a lady.

-A lady with a horse.

0:24:320:24:36

Oh, I think one has to say

0:24:360:24:38

-that this pot wins en enormous number of prizes for effort.

-Right.

0:24:380:24:44

But I would agree with you, at the same time,

0:24:440:24:48

that it isn't everybody's cup of tea, but there are people who like this sort of thing.

0:24:480:24:54

-Really?

-And somebody might well pay you

0:24:540:24:56

between £1,000 and £1,500 for the pair.

0:24:560:24:58

Well, I only wanted to... I was proving a point to my husband.

0:25:020:25:06

I said they were worth nothing and if that was the point, they were going in the bin.

0:25:060:25:13

-Well, I wouldn't do that because, of their kind, they're extremely good.

-Thank you.

0:25:130:25:18

-A strange round box with skulls on - do you know what it's for?

-No idea.

0:25:180:25:25

Well, it's a simple snuff box. It looks as though it's been carved.

0:25:250:25:29

But in fact it couldn't have been carved with that much detail -

0:25:290:25:35

you can just see these numbers on the skulls, and the little circles.

0:25:350:25:38

-It's actually been moulded.

-Ah.

0:25:380:25:41

Rather like an early form of plastic,

0:25:410:25:43

-but plastic wasn't around in the 1850s or 1860s when this was made.

-I see.

0:25:430:25:48

So the actual technique interests me,

0:25:480:25:50

but also what interests me is it says along here,

0:25:500:25:55

"the cranium du Docteur Gall".

0:25:550:25:58

Dr Gall was the person in the late 18th century who came up with the idea of phrenology,

0:25:580:26:01

-that your characteristics were to be found by prodding around on your skull.

-Yes.

0:26:010:26:07

-Various parts of your skull related to parts of your personality.

-I see.

0:26:070:26:13

-Where did you get it from?

-Well, my father left it to me

0:26:130:26:15

and he got it from his great-aunt...

0:26:150:26:20

roughly 50 years ago.

0:26:200:26:23

-See, the lining here is tortoiseshell.

-Mm.

0:26:250:26:28

And, again, back on the outside,

0:26:280:26:31

three images of the skull and the various numbers.

0:26:310:26:35

And then if you look at the bottom of the case,

0:26:350:26:38

here are the numbers with the various characteristics.

0:26:380:26:42

So if you look at number 24 it says "l'amour",

0:26:420:26:46

so that's where all your love tendencies came.

0:26:460:26:49

-You could actually see where that was on your skull.

-Oh, I see. I had absolutely no idea at all.

0:26:490:26:55

I think he was born around 1750 and died around about 1828,

0:26:550:26:59

-but phrenology items were made up to the end of the 19th century.

-Yes.

0:26:590:27:04

This has a dual interest.

0:27:040:27:07

-Not only would a snuff box collector like it, but also somebody interested in phrenology.

-Yes, I see.

0:27:070:27:13

A lot of doctors collect phrenology.

0:27:130:27:15

-I would see this at auction somewhere in the region of £600-800.

-Oh.

0:27:150:27:20

It's a very nice piece.

0:27:200:27:22

There's a wrist watch - let's have a look.

0:27:240:27:28

You have to look very carefully at old wrist watches to make sure the movement

0:27:280:27:34

isn't by someone like Rolex, which will push the value right up.

0:27:340:27:38

If not, sadly, they're worth very little. ..What else have we got?

0:27:380:27:43

A thimble there... What's this?

0:27:440:27:46

Where did you get this?

0:27:510:27:53

It's just as I inherited the box, just a mixture of bits and pieces.

0:27:530:27:59

-I didn't think it had any value...

-Did you think the mount might have been gold?

-No, no.

0:27:590:28:05

-It is.

-Is it?

-And did you think the stones might have been...? You thought they were paste.

-Paste, yes.

0:28:050:28:12

They're real stones.

0:28:120:28:14

All these are real gems - topaz here at the bottom, wings here.

0:28:140:28:18

They're all foiled to enhance their colour

0:28:180:28:22

and they did this quite frequently round about the late Regency period,

0:28:220:28:27

-so it probably goes back to round about late Regency times.

-Amazing.

0:28:270:28:32

-1825, maybe, at the very latest.

-Really?

-Yes.

0:28:320:28:36

-That one, in the box of costume pieces, is worth about £400-500.

-£400-500?

-Mm.

0:28:360:28:42

-It's been in that box for the last two years.

-Is it going to keep on living in there?

-No.

0:28:420:28:48

Well, there she is, churning away at her butter,

0:28:490:28:53

as she's done year after year, poor thing. Now, is she yours?

0:28:530:28:57

It belonged to my husband's grandmother.

0:28:570:29:01

-Oh, right.

-Who died about 20 years ago. She was a lovely little lady.

0:29:010:29:05

She had some treasures and this was one of them.

0:29:050:29:08

-And this was something that you knew as a child?

-Yes.

0:29:080:29:12

This used to stand on the dresser in the kitchen.

0:29:130:29:17

And when I went to dinner with her,

0:29:170:29:20

-I asked for it to be brought down.

-And you'd be allowed to wind the handle.

0:29:200:29:26

Here we've got a little china doll, glazed china doll,

0:29:260:29:31

dressed in this printed cotton which looks as if it's probably faded a bit

0:29:310:29:35

but the kitchen itself is made out of paper and cardboard

0:29:350:29:39

with these rather sweet little accessories

0:29:390:29:43

which are labelled "dairy" and so on.

0:29:430:29:45

And the little doll herself would probably date

0:29:450:29:48

-from the 1860s, 1870s - she COULD be as early as that.

-Oh, right.

0:29:480:29:55

It doesn't mean to say that this was made at the time,

0:29:550:29:59

but I don't see any reason why it couldn't have been made in perhaps the 1870s or 1880s.

0:29:590:30:05

So it's a lovely evocative scene of a time gone by.

0:30:050:30:09

I would have thought, in auction, we'd be talking about £300.

0:30:090:30:14

It's a lovely object and one which...

0:30:140:30:17

-Well, you obviously do treasure it.

-I love it.

0:30:170:30:21

-1774.

-Mm.

-That was before they were nationalised.

-Yes. Yes it was.

0:30:210:30:26

-And was it any different running it one way or the other?

-I wasn't in it before, so...

0:30:260:30:31

There was a lot of rules under the state management system.

0:30:310:30:36

One man could not buy another man a drink, women were not allowed in pubs, and lots of rules like that.

0:30:360:30:43

-No treating?

-No treating - wouldn't go down too well these days.

0:30:430:30:48

These things aren't always considered to be that politically correct now.

0:30:480:30:52

But it does have a value

0:30:520:30:56

-and I suspect at auction it would make about £300 or £400.

-Not bad.

0:30:560:31:00

-These are all empties, aren't they?

-Yes.

0:31:000:31:04

Now, we have full bottles. What's the story of these?

0:31:040:31:09

Well, these are produced by Carlisle & District State Control - that one's got the address

0:31:090:31:14

19 Castle St, Carlisle, which is about 800 metres away from here.

0:31:140:31:18

It was Demerara rum produced by the State Control,

0:31:180:31:22

which came about in about 1917, I think, and then was disbanded

0:31:220:31:27

in about 1970.

0:31:270:31:29

I believe it was one of the few nationalised industries

0:31:290:31:32

that made a regular profit, about £500,000 each year.

0:31:320:31:36

That one, and the bottle of whisky, belonged to me mum. She worked for Carlisle State Control.

0:31:360:31:41

I presume your mother would have tasted the contents - was it good stuff?

0:31:410:31:46

She was a teetotaller, actually. She didn't like drink at all.

0:31:460:31:51

She sold many bottles and pints of it, but she would never drink.

0:31:510:31:56

I was related to a Small...

0:31:570:32:00

It's inscribed "James Small At Ye" - there we have the sign of the ship -

0:32:010:32:07

"bound for" - this is the interesting bit -

0:32:070:32:09

"bound for Virginia."

0:32:090:32:12

-"At St Neots."

-Yes.

0:32:130:32:16

And then the date, 1730.

0:32:170:32:19

There is a curious thing straight away.

0:32:190:32:23

1730, we're into the reign of George II - is that right?

0:32:230:32:26

-I couldn't tell you.

-He would have been three years on the throne then.

0:32:260:32:31

But what have we got here? We've got the impression

0:32:310:32:35

of the Customs and Excise mark for William III - he died in 1702.

0:32:350:32:40

So there's 28 years between the last official use of this mark -

0:32:400:32:44

-this should have a George II inscription.

-Yes.

0:32:440:32:48

It's a humble pottery and they were simply using old marks, they couldn't be bothered to get new ones cut.

0:32:480:32:54

Because this inscription is genuine, 1730 is the date

0:32:540:33:00

and this is the mark that would have been put on a tankard

0:33:000:33:04

made for James Small, who would have drunk regularly at the sign of the ship.

0:33:040:33:09

-Ah.

-And pub signs are always showing things much older than the present.

0:33:090:33:14

-So, do you not think that he actually did travel?

-I don't know.

0:33:140:33:19

Only you can establish that by going through the Small side of your family

0:33:190:33:24

because, to make an inscription "bound to Virginia"

0:33:240:33:28

suggests very strongly that's what he was going to do.

0:33:280:33:32

Maybe he didn't like it, maybe he came back.

0:33:320:33:36

The material is salt-glazed stone ware. It could have been made in a number of factories.

0:33:360:33:42

There were factories in Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire,

0:33:420:33:47

but it could also have been from London.

0:33:470:33:50

It's more likely to have been local to where this Ship pub is - is there a Ship at St Neots?

0:33:500:33:57

-It would be interesting to find out.

-I wouldn't know.

0:33:570:34:00

So you've got tons of history

0:34:000:34:03

-for you to carry on researching here.

-Yes.

-And is it going to go down the family line?

0:34:030:34:08

Better had do!

0:34:080:34:10

Because pottery usually goes down the female line, so you're in business, I hope.

0:34:100:34:15

-Well, it comes from my father's side of the family.

-OK.

0:34:150:34:19

-So, you would certainly have to insure for between £3,000 and £5,000.

-Really?

-God!

0:34:190:34:25

Because the big thing is Virginia.

0:34:250:34:28

-Yes.

-You only need an eccentric, but rich, collector of English ceramics

0:34:280:34:33

in the States - preferably in Virginia - to say,

0:34:330:34:38

"Gee, that's a real swell tankard," you know.

0:34:380:34:41

And it is!

0:34:410:34:44

My initial reaction looking at this, is one of horror, because of the top.

0:34:440:34:49

-Sure.

-Let's open this out and we'll see the top in its full ghastliness.

0:34:490:34:54

-Yes. I believe the top to be later than the underneath.

-I think you're absolutely right -

0:34:540:35:01

the colour is quite extraordinary in the surface.

0:35:010:35:05

It just looks utterly false.

0:35:050:35:08

Most people call this a credence table. Is that how you know it?

0:35:080:35:12

It was known in the family as the zebra table - why, I do not know. But I believe it's a credence table.

0:35:120:35:18

Most unusually, we've got two cupboard doors in the frieze here.

0:35:180:35:23

Can we get that one open?

0:35:230:35:25

And these are hinged on metal pins which are still in situ

0:35:250:35:29

and on the edge of each door we can see where the tongue of the lock engaged.

0:35:290:35:35

So my guess is that we had a single lock in the centre - here is the escutcheon -

0:35:350:35:41

-and the same lock engaged both doors.

-Yes.

0:35:410:35:45

And then below we've got

0:35:450:35:48

this marvellous ribbed, or gadrooned, leg

0:35:480:35:51

coming down to this rather unusual cross stretcher.

0:35:510:35:55

Most tables of this type

0:35:550:35:57

have a stretcher round the periphery but this is most unusual.

0:35:570:36:01

It's got a repaired but substantially original joint.

0:36:010:36:05

-And the colour is great.

-What age do you reckon it to be?

0:36:050:36:11

-I was going to ask YOU that.

-We've always reckoned it to be Jacobean,

0:36:110:36:16

early Jacobean, but that again...

0:36:160:36:18

Possibly earlier. This style of ribbed decoration

0:36:180:36:22

on these doors, the gadrooning on the turned legs, these are all consistent

0:36:220:36:28

with a late Elizabethan or Jacobean date,

0:36:280:36:31

-so any time from about 1580...

-Really?

0:36:310:36:35

-Possibly as late as 1640 but my guess is around 1600.

-Yes.

0:36:350:36:39

And it's all there, really. It's a marvellous base.

0:36:390:36:43

I suppose you MIGHT be able to buy this

0:36:450:36:49

in its present condition, with this later top,

0:36:490:36:53

for...between £2,500 and £3,500.

0:36:530:36:57

-But with an original top, something like this would be worth in excess of £15,000.

-Yeah?

0:36:570:37:03

Never thought of putting a clock in a bucket.

0:37:030:37:06

It was a way of bringing it down.

0:37:060:37:09

This is a beautiful electro-mechanical clock.

0:37:090:37:12

It LOOKS like a conventional skeleton clock,

0:37:120:37:15

but the electrical part is winding the mechanical part.

0:37:150:37:19

Instead of having a main spring in the normal way,

0:37:190:37:24

it's got a very small main spring

0:37:240:37:26

-and then uses an electric motor to rewind it.

-Yes.

-The advantage of that

0:37:260:37:30

is that the spring is rewound quite frequently.

0:37:300:37:34

When it's rewound, it maintains a more constant force.

0:37:340:37:37

-Now, it's got a maker's name on it, called...

-Harwood.

-Yes...

0:37:370:37:42

who I don't know. Can you help me?

0:37:420:37:44

-He was my great-uncle.

-That's a good start.

-Yes.

0:37:440:37:48

-Do you know when he made this one?

-No idea.

0:37:480:37:52

I knew him when I was about ten years old

0:37:520:37:55

and I wasn't interested in what he did. Now I would have been.

0:37:550:38:01

-He died just before the war.

-Yes.

0:38:010:38:03

-Died before the war.

-Before the Second World War.

0:38:030:38:07

OK, I'm wiring this thing up...

0:38:070:38:10

Is it going?

0:38:100:38:12

-What it's theoretically supposed to do...

-It DID do.

0:38:120:38:16

-It lights up...

-It lights up.

-..as it winds up.

0:38:160:38:20

-Now watch the light.

-It SHOULD come on.

0:38:200:38:23

And the escape is working...

0:38:240:38:27

There's a light but we have no light.

0:38:270:38:29

Most likely find the bulb's gone or something.

0:38:290:38:32

It's worth taking a little time to look at the quality of the mechanism.

0:38:320:38:37

It's a pierced fretwork -

0:38:370:38:39

conventional skeleton clock practice, which was to pierce out the frame -

0:38:390:38:44

but you can see that it's been spotted or knurled

0:38:440:38:48

all over the plates.

0:38:480:38:50

It's actually done with a small scraper.

0:38:500:38:54

Now, the screws have all been blued.

0:38:550:38:58

-They've all been highly polished and then blued over.

-Yes.

0:38:580:39:03

And the pillars are beautiful.

0:39:030:39:06

They've been polished, circulared and lacquered,

0:39:060:39:09

and the whole base has this machining pattern or scraping pattern.

0:39:090:39:14

It is stunning. It's a sophisticated and complicated clock.

0:39:140:39:18

He was very able. Some of the clocks he made were absolutely beautiful.

0:39:180:39:23

-Have you got it insured?

-Our son has because it's really his.

0:39:230:39:28

-He should have it insured for £5,000.

-Five?

0:39:280:39:31

I don't think he's got it insured for that.

0:39:310:39:35

The connection is the Hudson Scotts branch of the Metal Box Company where I worked from 1968.

0:39:350:39:41

We had our own artists' studio,

0:39:410:39:43

and these pictures were part of it.

0:39:430:39:46

We'd pick the designs off paintings

0:39:460:39:48

-and transport them onto tins.

-So these belonged to your company?

-Absolutely.

0:39:480:39:54

When they closed the studio down in '69, the paintings were offered to the staff.

0:39:540:40:01

-How wonderful. And you purchased these?

-I liked these two.

0:40:010:40:05

And others. I can't remember what happened to them.

0:40:050:40:09

-Have you liked looking at the paintings?

-Yeah, I really like that one.

-Because of the dogs?

0:40:090:40:15

-Yes.

-Yes, this has a more serious subject,

0:40:150:40:19

and it's decorative in colour but it's...it's rather poignant.

0:40:190:40:24

The painting at the top is signed by Arthur Wardle,

0:40:240:40:28

a very well-known animal painter.

0:40:280:40:30

I think it's a particularly good group of dogs,

0:40:300:40:35

and you've got the guns and the pheasants.

0:40:350:40:38

I think anybody would be enchanted by the sympathetic studies of the dogs.

0:40:380:40:44

The way that the broken-down fence and the landscape is painted

0:40:440:40:48

is beautifully observed and rendered.

0:40:480:40:50

-How much did you pay?

-We'd to give...

-This one.

-Well, it was BOTH of them

0:40:500:40:56

because they came as a job lot.

0:40:560:40:58

We had to give a donation to the Sports and Social Club and I think both of them cost me nearly a pound.

0:40:580:41:05

-Gosh. And that didn't surprise you at the time?

-No.

0:41:050:41:08

How incredible.

0:41:080:41:10

This watercolour...

0:41:100:41:13

it's signed here

0:41:130:41:15

Septimus Scott, and he worked at the beginning of the 20th century.

0:41:150:41:21

In this, what appears to be a rather cheery scene,

0:41:210:41:25

we have these soldiers going off to war,

0:41:250:41:27

and the young boy waving happily.

0:41:270:41:30

And we have to really consider the relationship

0:41:300:41:34

between him and the older gentleman.

0:41:340:41:37

I believe that this must be his grandfather

0:41:370:41:41

and that this boy's father probably would be going off to war.

0:41:410:41:45

He could be waving him goodbye.

0:41:450:41:48

So it's a much more thought-provoking painting

0:41:480:41:52

-and its value would be probably in the region of £2,000 to £2,500.

-Good heavens.

0:41:520:41:58

This wonderful painting of the dogs

0:41:580:42:00

should be valued between £10,000 and £15,000

0:42:000:42:04

and should be insured for as much as £20,000.

0:42:040:42:08

-That one?

-Yes.

-Good heavens!

0:42:080:42:11

Earlier, Lars Tharp was looking at an 18th-century stoneware tankard

0:42:110:42:16

which seemed to be linked to a Ship Inn at St Neots and he wondered if such a place existed.

0:42:160:42:22

Well, there is no Ship Inn at St Neots, but there WAS,

0:42:220:42:26

from the early 17th century until well into the 20th century.

0:42:260:42:30

If you think our theme of public houses has become an obsession,

0:42:300:42:35

all I can say is, to the people of Cumbria, your very good health

0:42:350:42:39

and from Carlisle, goodbye.

0:42:390:42:42

Subtitles by BBC

0:42:580:43:02

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS