Royal Holloway 1 Antiques Roadshow

The River Thames is dotted with historic landmarks.

18 miles from London is perhaps the most important.

We're in the borough of Egham and Runnymede.

It was in this meadow, as every schoolchild knows,

that on June 15th, 1215, the seeds of modern democracy were sown.

At a meeting between King John and a group of barons whose possessions

and patience were taxed to the limit,

the royal seal was put to the charter which became a symbol of civil liberty and freedom.

In time, the Magna Carta went far beyond limiting royal authority -

it became the foundation for the constitutions and legal systems of countries such as India and the US.

This elegant memorial was erected by a grateful American Bar Association.

President John F Kennedy included principles from the Magna Carta in his inaugural speech -

"We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe,

"in order to assure the survival and success of liberty".

A less far-reaching event, but historical nevertheless -

happened on Priest Hill - the last duel fought in Britain.

It was pistols at dawn for two Frenchmen, who for some reason came here

to settle political differences.

It was a fight to the death.

-GUNSHOT

-The man who lost, Frederic Cournet, is buried in Egham churchyard.

His end must have come as a great surprise to him - he had on him a return train ticket to London.

Egham also boasts one of the most breathtakingly extravagant examples of Victorian architecture.

Royal Holloway - built by Thomas Holloway, who made his fortune selling ointments and pills.

Holloway was keen to spend his money to perpetuate his name and to give something back to society,

particularly - at his wife's suggestion - to female society, who, she said, suffered most.

So he built his college for women.

Today, Royal Holloway is part of the University of London and an honoured seat of learning.

Next week we'll learn more about the building and its namesake.

Meanwhile, it's the setting for today's Roadshow.

-Tell me where you got it from.

-It's been in the family for a generation

-and, about 30 years ago, my father gave it me as a wedding present.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Delightful. What do you think it's made of?

-I don't know.

-I thought that maybe it is ceramic.

-Ceramic?

-Ceramic, yes.

Well, you're quite close, really.

-This is actually made of hundreds of thousands of tiny little pieces of glass.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Unbelievable!

-It's micromosaic.

If we look carefully, the size of the pieces of glass varies tremendously.

Here you've got really quite big bits

and in her hair, tiny, tiny, tiny little bits.

-And these are called filati.

-Filati.

This technique was revived in Rome at the beginning of the 18th century,

where they took long, thin strands of glass

and cut them into little pieces and then glued them together,

-making up a picture.

-Amazing.

-Micromosaic. Very beautifully done.

And the colour? I mean, how did they manage to do the colouring?

It was the colour in the glass.

-And the delight of a sort of ceramic item is that, as the years go by, it doesn't fade.

-Yes.

It may get dirty on the surface, but you can clean that. And you retain the brilliant colours.

A delightful image - a pretty classical lady.

-Yes.

-Holding a garland of flowers.

Thoroughly attractive. The very early originals dated from Roman times.

Then it was a technique which was lost,

and, as I say, revived in Rome at the beginning of the 18th century and continued into the 20th century.

One of the ways you can find out what the age is likely to be,

is to have a squint at the back.

-May I remove the back cover?

-Yes.

-See what...

So the back board is just cheaply made of timber.

And... Ah-ha! This is where the secret gets revealed.

That back plate is made of metal -

japanned iron.

The japanning is flaking off.

If we turn it over, you can see that the outer border

of this back plate, the metal,

comes all the way round the outside.

A typical 19th-century technique.

-It gives you an idea as to how those hundreds of thousands of pieces of glass are held in place.

-Yes!

There's adhesive underneath each piece and then the surface is finished so it's completely flat.

-Amazing.

-A beautiful object.

-It is.

For insurance purposes, you should probably cover it for about £12,000.

Unbelievable! I didn't know...

-Miscellaneous for both of them.

-Thank you...

It belonged to my father-in-law, who was always interested in guns.

-First and foremost, the lock is on the wrong side.

-Oh!

You see, this pistol... All the locks are on the right-hand side.

-Oh.

-When a man fires it, then the lock is slightly to the right, not in front of him.

-I see.

-If a man fired this with the right hand,

he might get injured through the sparks or whatever. OK?

-I see.

-So it seems to have been made for a left-handed man.

-Oh, right!

-Which is most unusual.

-Really?

-Yes, most unusual.

The cock itself is what they call a dog lock -

because when it's cocked, that little fellow goes in there and makes it safe.

-So that when the flash pan is closed, it can't misfire.

-Mm-hm.

-Now, the whole shape of this tells me that it's Scandinavian.

-Oh, really?

-That's interesting.

-And I would think that it's Danish.

-Oh.

-The pistol is a holster pistol, to be used in a holster.

-Mm-hm.

Could be 1790, a little after 1800.

But as it's Scandinavian...

-in demand, left-hand lock - most unusual...

-Yes.

This, if it came into auction today,

-I would think it would fetch in the region of £1,500 to £2,000.

-Good heavens!

My family had plantations in Jamaica, Barbados, British Guyana and Surinam...

And my husband, not to be outdone, searched around HIS family, cousins and all...

and he outdid me with this beautiful, beautiful shield

of all his family

that went out to the West Indies after the Battle of Worcester.

They fled after the battle, having changed sides several times.

-This is in the 17th century...

-Yes.

..when most of the Jamaican plantocracy started.

One of George Needham's grandsons, this fellow here...

And this was obviously collected around his lifetime.

-The...the whole thing?

-The whole thing, with relatives going back through the generations.

-So it's an assembly of miniatures that was assembled right at the end of the 18th century.

-That's right.

-Just when Jamaica and all the other West Indies were teetering towards abolition of the slave trade.

-Right.

-Delightful - it represents a very interesting period.

-Yes.

To put a name to all of these miniature-painters would take some time, but I can identify three -

Gervase Spencer, at the top... This is Charles Jagger...

and Daniels of Bath and Plymouth.

Those are, if you like, the three best recognisable miniatures.

Looking at it commercially, there are a few things to take account of.

-Sometimes if people are slightly less than picturesque...

-Yes, she's a bit hook-nosed.

-That's reflected in value. Likewise if they are very handsome.

-Yes.

And it's a West Indies-related group,

so it would have interest for a number of quite wealthy West Indians.

-They all had plantations.

-Yeah. For present-day collectors,

we have to take account of the West Indies link and I'm going to say...

we should be thinking, in terms of insurance value...

around £20,000, £25,000.

Yes... That's, uh...very good.

-How long did they take you to collect?

-About five or six years.

-30 years ago?

-Yes, about 30 years ago.

-And you've never bought a piece since?

-Er... No, I haven't.

-Why is that?

-I took on a mortgage.

-But you still like it?

-Yes.

The thing about the Doulton factory is that everything is different.

The individual artists assembled there from 1871,

doing their OWN thing alongside the drainpipes, the bottles - all the standard stoneware production.

Girls and boys from art school - suddenly free to decorate pottery in a new way.

-This presumably is Hannah Barlow?

-Yes. With the rabbits.

It's not marked but it looks a bit like her, probably her early period. Her early pieces aren't marked.

This is right at the beginning of the Doulton story - 1871, 1872...

This is the first style. Minimal... Blue not very effectively put in. Straightforward, unsophisticated...

And a very basic mark on the bottom - just "Doulton".

No artist. This is where it starts.

It's a very interesting piece because we are at the beginning.

I like that one for the same reason, although it's much later.

-About a hundred I think I paid for it. But I just love...

-Not cheap at the time.

-No.

This is an artist called Louisa J Davis.

I haven't seen her doing this sort of Hannah Barlow-type work, normally it's much more colourful. 1877.

But harking back to that early style. Similarly, that piece. To me, I suppose...

-George Tinworth.

-Lovely.

-With his very clear monogram.

-He was the only one, I think, that used...

-Who signed on the body, yes.

And you've got these blues and purples and greens... It has this wonderful turbulent life.

Partly coming from the Rococo, partly from Art Nouveau, partly from William Morris... Different sources.

-And to me that's the high point. And yet it's still drawn with very, very great freedom.

-Yes, yes.

-I'm less excited by Florence Barlow.

-Yes.

-I know people rate her work highly.

To me, the way the birds are painted - although it's very much her thing - is slightly sort of ponderous.

Very much part of the aesthetic tradition of that period.

The General Gordon one's interesting.

They did do commemorative pieces and we forget that.

Dying at Khartoum in 1884 - a real national hero.

His death was marked by the Queen, by so many people...

-And Doulton jumped on the band wagon.

-Yes.

-What did you pay? £100... Less for most pieces?

-I didn't pay over £100 for anything, I don't think.

-Let's start with that. He's such a good artist, he's so popular... £800 to £1,000.

-Eh...

-Too much?

-Not too much, but...

-Surprising.

The Barlow...

-300 or 400.

-Oh, really?

-If that wasn't cracked - again, high hundreds.

-Yes.

-I would think you're looking at at least £5,000 for the lot.

-Really?

My husband was a great collector.

You know, boxes... Everything.

-But

-I

-was not, until he brought this home.

I wondered about this - I couldn't think what wood it could be.

A conundrum. Very decorative outside

with these brass strap hinges

and a little pietra dura plaque, which is possibly English or maybe brought from the Continent -

because it's extremely decorative with delicate little jasmine flowers set into the wood.

Very dynamic, very strongly figured.

But when you look closely, you find that it is actually grained.

This black decoration is PAINTED on to make it look like walnut.

Very lively walnut! But in fact I've been looking quite closely at what is underneath.

It looks like a figured beech. Beech was often used for grained and painted furniture.

-Of course.

-To look like walnut.

-Right.

-Fascinating sort of trompe l'oeil effect.

-Right.

But it doesn't detract in any way from the quality of the box itself.

The style, I think, suggests a date of about 1860.

I'm going to open the lid

and immediately the contents become clear. It's a games compendium.

But the freshness of the inside...!

Absolutely stunning.

Beautiful, isn't it?

-A chess set and a cribbage board, I think...

-That's right, yes.

And dice and these extraordinary little scoring devices of some sort.

-And yet this little hand moves round.

-My husband was a great games man.

-He played a lot of chess, backgammon... Shall I show you that?

-So there's backgammon included?

It should come out. It should drop out... There we go. Right.

So you've got chess here, right?

-Beautiful. Looks like coromandel wood.

-That's right.

-And bone or ivory set into that.

-Ivory maybe.

-The colours...!

And then you've got backgammon.

The fresh colours are what really strike me.

Tulip wood, I would say.

Orange tulip wood, coromandel and ivory... Spectacular.

And inside here - this to me looks like satin birch. Pale, yellowy...

-Which is the English equivalent, if you like, of satin wood.

-That's right.

Then you've got this little button in the back which you press...

to open a secret drawer of dice...

Isn't that wonderful? And the little throwing pots.

-And dominoes...

-And the old cards... They were never marked.

-No.

With symbols but no numbers. This belonged to your husband?

-It did, yes.

-And how did he get it?

-Well, he was a great racing man. He travelled all over England

to all the different race courses, and always brought something back!

He brought this back at some point,

but I don't know where he got it.

Well, to collectors of games, you're certainly looking at...£1,000-£1,500.

-Really? Really...

-A lovely thing, in beautifully fresh condition.

-Yes. Amazing...

Amazing...

What a splendid pot! With a liner... Made by Minton, of course. Majolica.

We see a lot of majolica,

-but this is unusual with these... pigeons at the base.

-Pigeons, yes.

Wonderful, aren't they?

-How did you come by it?

-It was an elderly lady we knew - used to keep an eye on us sometimes.

And in her will she said that I could have one item of her bits and pieces.

-And I'd always admired this one, so that was it.

-You chose it?

-Yes.

-I've always liked it.

-It's jolly good.

-Such things have risen enormously in value.

-Really?

-Highly collectable.

I think the value is somewhere about £4,000.

-You're joking! Four...?

-A very, very nice gift to take.

-It was, yes!

Thank you very much! Thank you!

It's very short. Nice silver top... See the hallmark? Have we got a name?

-Enrico Caruso... I don't believe it!

-It is.

London, 1904...

And some little musical notes! How amazing!

-Where did you get it?

-We were clearing a house for some elderly relatives. It was in the hall stand.

Completely black, no visible silver...

and my son noticed this writing here, cleaned it up, and that's what we found.

-Talk about a genie rubbing the lamp!

-Absolutely.

-What a nice surprise!

-That explains why it's so short!

-He was very short.

-A very short man.

-I would think getting on for £1,000.

-Really?!

I have here a Bible...

-Well!

-..which I found 30 years ago in a hedge.

-In a hedge?

I TRIED to bet someone the other day

that the first book that I saw at a Roadshow would be Brown's Self Interpreting Bible.

Although it's a fantastic object, it's one of the most commonly found Bibles at the Roadshow.

it's an absolutely wonderful thing

with these great metal clasps and beautiful illustrations, but it was produced in huge quantities.

And actually it's quite appropriate to have it here in Holloway College

because it's it's all part of this big Victorian ideal of trying to educate people,

and impart knowledge to a much wider population,

and the Reverend Brown produced this Bible which was intended to be easier to understand

with marginal notes and footnotes...

-to help you to understand the meaning of the text.

-How old is it?

The couple were married in 1880 and I imagine that it was a wedding present to them, so it was brand-new in 1880.

These kinds of chromolithographs, these colour pictures, are typically late 19th-century,

so it was probably an expensive wedding present.

It's worth just a few pounds. Thank you very much for bringing it in.

-I wish someone had taken me up on my bet!

-Many thanks.

A watch in a rosewood box usually means it's something quite interesting and indeed this is.

We can tell who the maker is

without even opening the watch - it's marked Albert Potter and Company.

He was an interesting man because he was American. Although there were some very good American watchmakers,

they were not known for making individual technical pieces,

and Albert Potter, who dates to something like 1836 to 1908,

was one of the few American makers who's known for individual watches

unlike, say, Waltham and Elgin, who made very good watches,

but not the individual craftsmanship.

It's a strange thing for somebody to have. Can I ask where you...?

-AMERICAN ACCENT:

-Family. My husband's family.

"Cousin Henry" collected it and so we've had it many years.

You see the stunning quality -

myershall plates, beautiful quality balance wheel... AND a pivoted detent escapement -

these were the final answer, really, to chronometers at sea,

but they made very high precision pocket watches

with the same escapement, and this is one of them.

They are SO rare that it's difficult to know how much it would fetch.

Have you got a figure in mind?

Well, it was valued about 11 years ago, for...£15,000.

It hasn't changed, surprisingly, that much. I would say now it should definitely be 20.

Wonderful.

-I rescued them from a dustbin.

-You didn't!

I did, yes! I studied at an art school.

And when I was working at a studio that did painting for costumes and films,

they were throwing them out, so I said, "May I have them, please?" I've had them for 40-odd years.

This is by Roger Furze - a superb draughtsman.

For Lady Hadley in Woman Hater. Edith Evans.

Wonderful! It's... For me, it's a drawing in itself with the watercolour on top.

It's obviously meant to be exactly how they were going to clothe her -

what she had to wear underneath...

And her sable... Wonderful. It even looks like her.

And it's only meant to be for the costume!

This is another well-known costume designer called Berkley Sutcliffe. Moira Lister...

-We don't know what this was for?

-I think Sweetest and Lowest.

-I love the pinched-in waist.

Wonderful. I think this fashion ought to come back, don't you?

It's very much a fashion of the '40s, isn't it?

Very much, very much. And beautifully executed.

Very fragile, so... Amazing they didn't scrunch it up!

-I'm glad they didn't.

-Yes, so am I!

-This is a splendid one, look at this.

-This is for Hermione Gingold.

Hermione Gingold, holding what is meant to be a Venetian mask.

Look at the eyelashes - aren't they wonderful?

Again by Berkeley Sutcliffe - Sweetest and Lowest.

Moira Lister and Hermione Gingold in the same production.

-Absolutely wonderful.

-Again, very decorative.

-Very decorative.

And I think, in a way, the value lies in that.

The Roger Furze was almost more collectable than any of the others. So the Roger Furze one...

We're talking about maybe £200.

This one, as it's Hermione Gingold,

there's a great following of her

and collectors will probably pay somewhere around 100, 150, possibly 200.

But you've got a huge collection!

So if you really work it out on an average of 100 to 250,

-I think you must have probably £5,000 worth there.

-Probably, yes. Thank you.

-I've got a lot more, actually, at home.

-HAVE you?

-Yes.

-Oh, my goodness!

-But this one is, I think, one of the nicest.

-I think so too. Wonderful.

-How did you come by these?

-Handed down from my great-grandfather.

-Your great-grandfather.

-Yes.

-From the First World War, I think.

-They're nicknamed Bradburys,

-as they were signed by John Bradbury. Not individually, of course.

-OK.

-But the print was signed.

John Bradbury was the first Permanent Secretary to the Treasury.

He was Permanent Secretary of the Treasury in 1914 when war was declared.

And they suddenly decided... Till that time the coinage was gold coins.

And they suddenly realised that they couldn't keep on using gold,

so they had to produce notes quickly, pound notes and ten shilling notes, as emergency money.

They look like this - cheap -

because they were printed on stamp paper.

They were printed by the people who printed postage stamps.

These notes have the same watermarks as the stamps of the period.

They are quite rare now.

-This one is not in good condition.

-OK.

-If you came to sell it, in this condition, you're still looking at...

-something well over £100, £150.

-Ohh! Yeah!

-The ten shilling note is not quite as rare.

-OK.

Four million of those were issued and this one is probably worth

in this condition, £80 to £150.

-So don't play Monopoly with them!

-Thank you!

-Lovely story.

-One piece of jewellery?

-That's it.

-There was a pair, originally.

-Yes. Made for a theatre?

-I think so.

A rubber base cast face and hands.

-1960s, do you think?

-I've no idea.

-Judging by the fabric, by the look.

Could be 1950s. Certainly post-war.

-Great fun. You'll never see another!

-No!

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you!

As far as I understand, that was brought back by my great-grandfather from Japan

-at the turn of the century, as a wedding present.

-Do we know the date?

-Well, he married in 1898 and he died in 1912.

-So somewhere in-between. Is this transfer printed?

I'd always thought so.

Let's see. The hut...

Everything on there is done by hand.

It's a completely hand-painted scene.

If you look... Every single little line in here is painted by hand.

Even more miraculously, the whole blue ground, these flowers...

every single little blob has been put on there by hand

and then all the gold has been put in by hand.

Each is a little landscape in its own right

and then this beautiful little bird.

If this were a transfer print, you'd just go slap-bang, and that was it.

THIS would take two or three hours to paint and you've got the complete service! Not least the teapot!

-It would have been very expensive when it was new.

-Mm-hm.

Now, normally, an eggshell porcelain Japanese service

-of, say, six settings is worth no more than £60.

-Mm-hm.

but because it's hand-painted,

I'm going to stick a nought on the end and say £500 to £800.

-I was offered 40 quid for it four years ago!

-Oh, dear, oh, dear!

This is a very typical North Country or even Scottish feature - this type of oval fan or shell medallion.

The colour...! A wonderful contrast

between the original interior colour

and the colour here where it's been in the sun for a hundred years or so!

I like that patination. The original colour is too bright nowadays.

Where did you get this furniture?

It was made by my grandfather, who, when he married, was listed as a chairmaker,

a cabinet maker and journeyman.

They are part of a set, and, er...

He was born in 1865, married when he was 22, and, uh...

they had three children - the youngest was my father, John Lambey.

-Lambey?

-Yes.

-I must confess I don't know of any cabinet maker...

-Have you ever found anything about him at all?

-No, we've got absolutely no data on him at all.

But I'm told that the town where he was born and worked, Lochwinnoch, in Renfrewshire,

was a centre of the trade - a lot of cabinet makers worked there.

Very much so. The west side of Glasgow generally...

-A lot of workshops. Sweat shops, some of them.

-I'll BET they were.

-Second half of the 19th century.

So, when was this made? I mean, stylistically, looking at it...

-The way he's put this together, and the table, smacks more of 1890.

-Oh, well, yes...

-He'd only be about 30, so that's a likely date.

-In his prime.

-Yes.

I think people forget... These wonderful mahogany planks...

-The actual physical work - it was hard work.

-I imagine so.

-No machines.

They were working probably ten hours a day in Glasgow at that time. Six days a week, certainly.

-The apprentice came on a Sunday to sweep up... Your grandfather had a hard life.

-I imagine so.

-This sort of thing he'd do by hand?

-Well, that's turned on a machine.

If he could afford it, he probably bought things like this baluster turning-in and the handles.

-Sure. Yes.

-Bought that from a shop in London or Glasgow.

That could be Arts and Crafts of around 1860 or '70.

But the marquetry is very individual, as is this ogee shape.

So within this ogee, you've got this unusual marquetry

-and I think this is a device he's come up with himself.

-I see.

It does look to me that he's made it for his own use. It's not commercial furniture. It's very individualistic.

-I think he made it for the proportions of his own house.

-Yes.

What a nice suite of furniture.

-I can only really value what I see here, but you've got more.

-Of course, yes.

-But a piece like this, I can see this in a shop at about £3,000.

-I see.

A good table, very useful size...

-Possibly a bit less, but £2,500 up to £3,000.

-I see.

-So we've got between £5,000 and £6,000 here.

Well, the furniture's going to my daughter, my older daughter.

-I'm sure she'll never sell it...

-But she should insure it.

More importantly, she should contact museums or St Andrews University, where they research these people,

-to see if Mr Lambey is recorded anywhere.

-Thank you.

-I'm told that you know this place better than anyone here.

-Could be.

-Why's that?

-I was the butler here.

I came in 1936.

And, uh...I retired in 1977.

-What have you brought?

-A painting. One of Mr Carey's - the curator employed by Tom Holloway.

And it was given to me on my retirement by Dr Busbridge.

-So when was this done?

-Oh, I should think that must have been done pre-war, I should imagine.

-This is as it was then, is it?

-Yeah.

That was the south terrace.

When they had a garden party for 1,500 people, the band of the lifeguards used to play along there.

Tea was served all round, and it took us a week to wash up.

1,500 people.

-The gardener would go mad today - these people on his grass!

-Yes!

-THEY LAUGH

Can I see what you've brought?

-This necklace.

-Let's have a look. Now, what's the story behind that?

I only know that it came here from the Far East in the First World War.

Far East. Someone travelled to China?

Somebody mentioned Burma.

-Burma?

-Yeah.

-Well, that surprises me.

Looking at the style of the gold and the ring at the back, the bolt ring -

it's got some little marks on that secondary ring

-that tell me that it's French.

-Oh!

So someone may have been travelling out there and bought it out there. But it's definitely a French piece.

And I would date that to, what, around about, say, 1900.

And this is a wonderfully large and strong-looking lump of turquoise.

I mean, look at the depth of it.

Mounted in gold in this rather pretty scallop-type setting.

-Yes...

-These are all real pearls.

-Right.

-And then all these are high-carat gold settings and links

and then the chain is blue enamel - it's not actually turquoise.

-Oh, right.

-So it's a really rather well-made piece.

-Very desirable. Turquoise is such a pretty, feminine-looking stone.

-It's my birth stone.

-Is it?

-Yes.

I would suggest, in auction, we're looking at £800 to £1,000 today.

-I'm surprised! Lovely.

-Thanks for bringing it. An excellent piece.

You're welcome.

That's a face you wouldn't want to meet on a dark night!

And his lady companion over here doesn't really fare much better!

You sure...? Oh, yes, she IS a lady.

-The material is stoneware.

-Stoneware.

One's always tempted to pick one up and look for marks.

There should be a mark...

and I'm sorry to say there isn't one.

Nor on that one.

But I really don't need to see the signature because, um...

if you know anything about the Martin Brothers and their stoneware that was made in Southall in London

at the end of the Victorian age,

these shout, "I was made by the Martin Brothers."

They're from a series of figures known as imp musicians.

And I suppose the other term that's often given to them is grotesques.

There's quite a healthy demand for Martinware,

not just in this country

but in the last 20 years or so, the Americans have become very interested in the work of the Martin Brothers.

These two characters weigh in at

-about £1,500 for the pair.

-Oh, really...?

-And had they been signed - nearer £2,000 so...

-Really?

That's very interesting. Thank you.

If you came on the bus, can I recommend you go home in a taxi?

It came through the family to my mother

-and I've had it for about 40 years.

-What you've got here is...

very good quality marine painting.

It's a beautiful handling of paint.

-It's painted on panel, in oil.

-Yeah.

-And what is also nice...

is that you can see the artist's brushstrokes

in the impasto here - in the thicker paint.

The way the whole light falls on it

makes me feel it's by a good artist.

And from a stylistic point of view, it's definitely a Dutch painter of the 19th century.

Down here there is a signature. I think it's an artist called Schotel.

-He was working in the second half of the 19th century and his work is quite sought-after.

-Mm.

I suppose that if this picture were in an auction,

-it would make somewhere between £1,500 and £2,500.

-Mm!

-So you perhaps should be insuring it for £3,000.

-Jolly good.

It's always been in my mother's family. They were blacksmiths

-at a village called Much Hadham in Hertfordshire.

-Ah!

And it's believed that these notches

were for the all different children

-who were pulled in it when they were small.

-Wonderful! Much Hadham...

-I've traced it to an exhibition that was in one of the auction houses in London.

-Oh, right!

-In 1988.

-Yes.

-The description said it was made for the grandfather of the present owner, who'd be your mother's cousin.

-Right.

-Made in 1851 by the wheelwright of Much Hadham.

-Oh, right!

-So we must have the right one.

-Yes.

-Beautifully made and obviously a professional maker, not home-made.

-Oh, right.

A wheelwright's the head of his profession.

It's got painting - red and yellow faded lines round the wheels...

They'd like that, the children.

Yes. And the wheels themselves are works of art

-because although they're wood underneath, there's a steel rim on the outside.

-Oh, right.

-Even the steering wheel, which feels a bit...slack.

-Feels wobbly.

It is a little bit loose, this nail.

But it's lasted a long time, and should go on lasting.

-Nothing I need to have done?

-I don't think so.

Children must have had great fun. They'd have put a little cushion in.

Two at a time with the well for their feet

-and these elbow rests, which I love.

-Are they?

-I thought it was just decoration.

-No, no. I can just imagine them saying "Faster, faster!"

-What are these metal things?

-I think...

-For a canopy?

-A canopy with four uprights - to protect them from the sun.

-Yes.

-Um, you have never had it valued for insurance or...?

-No, I haven't.

It is a wonderful early tumbrel, as they call it, a cart.

I should insure it for at least £2,000.

But I guessed £100!

To get one rare Delft plate is quite something. To get a pair...!

I'm gobsmacked. Where have they come from?

Well, they came from my grandfather. I don't know any further history.

What we have here are Delft plates made to commemorate the battle in 1746 of Culloden.

We have "Duke William for Ever" and the date 1746.

Duke William, the son of George II, was the leader of the English

against the Scottish clans who'd risen up...

Well, for the English, a glorious defeat -

but for the Scottish, quite a terrible event, wasn't it?

They're quite unusual plates.

Not many were made to commemorate that event.

The Delftware industry was starting to go into decline by the 1740s -

porcelain from China was replacing it.

But the advantage of Delft is that it can be painted and fired very quickly

so you can do an instant commemorative of an event.

So the Duke of Cumberland could then be commemorated on plates that would go on sale straight away.

But not many commemorative plates were done of this event -

on the whole this is one of the earliest you get of military commemoratives made of Delft.

The material is covered with a thick glaze and chips really quite easily - I see you've got a few chips.

I guess they've been there a long time, but really extremely few.

This one - no actual cracks... They look astonishing, condition-wise.

The painting very well done.

It's not easy to paint pictures on Delft because you're painting on to basically unfired glaze, wet glaze.

It's like painting on blotting paper.

You can't rub out and start again - you have to quickly paint the design.

And that gives them a spontaneity which is really rather charming.

They are extremely rare

and to find an unrecorded pair of plates is really something.

They're worth quite a bit of money.

I'm thinking in terms of... One plate alone to a Delft and military history collector

£10,000.

-Goodness me!

-That's ONE! Here you've got twice as much.

£20,000 for... two extraordinary plates.

-Goodness me!

-Er...

-Wow...!

-Thank you!

I wonder what Mr Holloway would have thought of our invasion

of his hallowed premises. I hope he would have been pleased,

because we're coming back next week for another Roadshow

and for a look at he buildings and the man behind this whole astonishing enterprise.

Until then, from Royal Holloway, goodbye.

Subtitles by Anne Morgan BBC - 2001