0:00:33 > 0:00:36Welcome to Newmarket, in Suffolk.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Queen Boadicea's charioteers used to train their steeds on this heath,
0:00:41 > 0:00:46but today its 3,000 acres are trodden by more graceful animals.
0:00:46 > 0:00:53This is the HQ of British horse racing, home to the national stud, Tattersalls, and the Jockey Club.
0:00:53 > 0:00:58There are more than 2,000 horses in training at Newmarket's 70 stables.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03These are the oldest surviving stables, dating back to 1605.
0:01:03 > 0:01:09From six o'clock in the morning, strings of horses are brought out to exercise on the gallops.
0:01:09 > 0:01:15The sport of kings is a huge industry and most of Newmarket is involved in one way or another.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20James I found that the heath was perfect for hawking and hunting.
0:01:20 > 0:01:27But Charles II, on his twice-yearly visits, set the pattern for today's spring and autumn race meetings.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32He founded the Newmarket Town Plate Race, which is still run.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Charles was a keen rider himself and won the race in 1671 and 1675.
0:01:37 > 0:01:42Racing and betting go together like bread and butter.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Off-course betting now is worth over £5 billion a year.
0:01:46 > 0:01:49The sport of kings got off to a chaotic start.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Only a few horses were involved.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55The races started at any time, anywhere, with no particular finish.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00For the last few furlongs, spectators used to ride alongside.
0:02:00 > 0:02:05Eventually, the races were shortened and handicaps were introduced.
0:02:05 > 0:02:11The organisation and discipline in racing that we know today was the work of the Jockey Club.
0:02:11 > 0:02:17Horses were saddled in a specific place, they carried numbers, jockeys wore different colours
0:02:17 > 0:02:22and spectators could watch the finish from a ready-made stand.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26Today's Antiques Roadshow is being held in the paddock
0:02:26 > 0:02:32behind the grandstand of the Rowley Mile racecourse, and our experts are getting ready for the off.
0:02:32 > 0:02:38- What's that?- It's the Derby scarf that was produced every year on Derby Day.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43They used to hit the streets by 6pm with the Derby winner on it.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45Lester Piggott. It's not signed.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51Well, what wonderful, wonderful legs!
0:02:51 > 0:02:57I don't think I've seen four legs like that on a card table before outside of a museum.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02There's everything there should be on an English card table.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06The double scroll has got this little paper scroll at the top here.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09Then that wonderful shell.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14Then the little drops from this pendulum here.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Then a claw-and-ball foot to die for. THAT'S a claw-and-ball foot!
0:03:19 > 0:03:23There is the sacred pearl of wisdom being held by the dragon's claw
0:03:23 > 0:03:28as you've never seen it before. All the shape in the world!
0:03:28 > 0:03:31I'm sorry, I haven't even said hello.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34Is there a family history with this?
0:03:34 > 0:03:39It was bought by my grandfather, probably in the 1920s or 1930s.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42And then passed to my father and thence to me.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48In the 1920s, this was the sort of furniture that everybody loved.
0:03:48 > 0:03:55This was the original carving that they tried to recreate on so many other plain pieces.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00A plain table later carved will have that shape,
0:04:00 > 0:04:03but the carving is within the outline.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08Here the shell is stuck onto to this wonderful knee.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12To draw that and then create it is something else.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17Normally the two legs at the back are more modest, a bit cheaper.
0:04:17 > 0:04:21It's expensive to carve four legs on one table.
0:04:21 > 0:04:26But it's an occasional piece of furniture - for an occasion.
0:04:26 > 0:04:32This stood at the side looking very grand. You used it for games or for taking tea.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38And it extends, not with things that flap out... This is a concertina action.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42It concertinas out.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45Then, when you open it, like so...
0:04:45 > 0:04:48you've got a centre table.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53If you look at it from here, it's just as beautiful. What a table!
0:04:55 > 0:04:57- The top is original?- Totally.
0:04:57 > 0:05:04This has never been touched. But it's spent most of its life closed, and against the wall, looking grand.
0:05:04 > 0:05:10One of the best bits of furniture I've seen for a long time of this type, this period.
0:05:10 > 0:05:131755-1760, George II,
0:05:13 > 0:05:15maybe early George III.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19In today's market,
0:05:19 > 0:05:24a modest insurance valuation would be £15,000.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28- Really? Yes.- Yes. That's a modest valuation.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33If it turned up in a very good or important sale,
0:05:33 > 0:05:37- I don't know when- I- would want to stop bidding!
0:05:37 > 0:05:40More than that I cannot say.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45After my mother died, I cleared out the safe that she had in her house.
0:05:45 > 0:05:52- I found them, tucked at the back, and she had never, ever mentioned them to me.- Really?- No.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57They are largely enamel. All except one or two are enamel.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02This was the traditional material for making these snuff boxes.
0:06:02 > 0:06:10- Yes.- The enamelled box of the 18th century was the equivalent of today's mobile phone -
0:06:10 > 0:06:13you had to have one.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20It was quite like the Japanese tea ceremony - you had to open the box in a particular way,
0:06:20 > 0:06:25you had to take the snuff out, you had to close it, you put it on here.
0:06:25 > 0:06:29And you were judged very much on how well you did it.
0:06:29 > 0:06:37The majority of these are either South Staffordshire, which was a big centre for making these.
0:06:37 > 0:06:43- Right.- Or Battersea. But there were quite a number of Continental ones.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45The nicest ones...
0:06:45 > 0:06:49This is a very attractive South Staffordshire one
0:06:49 > 0:06:56with this nice emerald green ground, painted with a typical lady, just white on the inside.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59That dates from about 1760.
0:06:59 > 0:07:03- That's worth about £1,000. - Is it? It's nice.
0:07:03 > 0:07:10There's another nice little one here with a beautiful landscape scene in this typical gilt rococo border.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Again, same sort of date.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15And we're looking at around um...
0:07:15 > 0:07:19- £1,500 - £1,800 for that one.- Gosh.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23But the real star is not enamel at all...
0:07:23 > 0:07:28- which is this one. - Right.- Which is German porcelain.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30Now, I can't tell you what factory,
0:07:30 > 0:07:36- and I suspect that anybody that did was probably guessing.- Uh-huh.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41They are difficult to attribute, but it's mid-18th-century German,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45nice landscape scenes all the way round here.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50- But the real joy is the inside.- Yes.
0:07:50 > 0:07:56We've got the most marvellous figure of a girl holding a letter here,
0:07:56 > 0:08:00which says in translation "To my dear Phyllis".
0:08:01 > 0:08:06- So I think this was actually made for somebody called Phyllis.- Right.
0:08:06 > 0:08:12This was the girlfriend, the wife-to-be, and this is a portrait.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16- How lovely!- Nice, isn't it? - That is really nice.
0:08:16 > 0:08:22- Very nice thing.- Thank you. - And that's going to be worth around £2,500 to £3,500.- Gosh. Yeah.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24So it adds up to a very tidy sum.
0:08:27 > 0:08:32It's my father's. It was given to him for a 21st present
0:08:32 > 0:08:40but it originally was my great-grandfather's, and it was used as a doorstop in his house.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44And since then, it's been on our television.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47- I knocked it off when I was a child and bent its ear.- So I see.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51Very expensive and decorative doorstop.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54This was made by PJ Mene,
0:08:54 > 0:09:03who was an animalier, a bronze sculptor, who was in Paris between 1810 and 1871.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06This actually was the horse Ibrahim
0:09:06 > 0:09:12which won the 2,000 Guineas here at Newmarket in 1835.
0:09:12 > 0:09:17This horse became very famous and many of these would've been made.
0:09:17 > 0:09:24He's got a wonky ear, but it's still there. He's had quite a lot of cleaning or rubbing here
0:09:24 > 0:09:27which is not top, top quality.
0:09:27 > 0:09:29- No.- Having said that,
0:09:29 > 0:09:36- PJ Mene is probably the second most sought-after bronze animalier next to Barye.- Yes.
0:09:36 > 0:09:44- And I would imagine if you had to insure it, which you may not have it insured.- No, it's not insured, no.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47- I should insure it for £5,000.- OK.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50- Thank you.- A very nice thing.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53It won't hold the door open any more!
0:09:53 > 0:09:57I'm sure you know that this is based on the famous Landseer paintings...
0:09:57 > 0:10:02- Yes.- Sir Edwin Landseer. ...of a Newfoundland. Are all Newfoundlands this colour?
0:10:02 > 0:10:07- No, they're black and this colour, which is called Landseer. - They're called a Landseer?
0:10:07 > 0:10:14- Yes.- How very appropriate! And this particular dog saved a life and became a sort of national hero.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18As an image, this was reproduced numerous times.
0:10:18 > 0:10:24- Of course, this is not a painting by Landseer but a print of a painting by Landseer.- Oh, yes.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27Although it looks exactly like a painting,
0:10:27 > 0:10:34- it is a print on glass, actually printed in colours.- Yes. - Lithograph print in colours.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39And the only hand colouring that I can see on it, is the tongue and the eyes.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43- Ah, yes.- And they've been coloured from behind slightly...
0:10:43 > 0:10:48- So that's why they stand out more than the rest?- Absolutely.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53- It's printed on a very thin bit of...almost like japanned paper... - Yes.- ..stuck to the glass.
0:10:53 > 0:10:58So it is actually translucent. You can actually see right through it.
0:10:58 > 0:11:03If I put my hand behind, you can see how completely transparent it is.
0:11:03 > 0:11:09And then, they've set it into this extraordinary surround.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13It looks as though it's been made to look like a picture frame.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17And somebody thought it was worthwhile even restoring it.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20This wonderful leaded restoration to it.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22- Yes.- It's a marvellous thing.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27- It looks as though it's 1860s, but that's the date of the print.- Yes.
0:11:27 > 0:11:33By the time it's been printed in colours and set up like this, it might have been the 1860s or '70s.
0:11:33 > 0:11:39- Yes.- It's difficult to be categoric about it. How much did your husband pay for it? Can you remember?- Yes.
0:11:39 > 0:11:46- £25.- £25. And that was 30 or 40 years ago?- Yes.- Well, I think it was a jolly good investment.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49- I mean, it's not worth a fortune. - No.
0:11:49 > 0:11:55But at auction it would make between £600 and £800, maybe even £1,000.
0:11:55 > 0:12:00And if it was set up nicely at the auction and lit so that people can see what a wonderful thing it is,
0:12:00 > 0:12:07it might do more than that. It's the most extraordinary bit of Victorian art that I've seen for a while.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12This is rather like looking into a wonderful pool of water,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17with the walnut figure like the ripples of water underneath this shiny surface of the glass.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21How did you come upon this really rather grand table?
0:12:21 > 0:12:25I purchased it in about...1967
0:12:25 > 0:12:33- for £156 and 10 shillings. - Quite a lot of money in those days. What made you buy it?
0:12:33 > 0:12:38Er, it was being lifted into the window of the shop
0:12:38 > 0:12:45- and I thought, "How wonderful!" And I had £5 in my purse and put a deposit on it.- Fantastic.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50That's a lovely story. It's got this sort of mixture of styles.
0:12:50 > 0:12:54It's got a tremendous flow in the frieze here,
0:12:54 > 0:12:58which is slightly Chinesey, the way it's cut.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03But yet, if you look at the legs, it gives you a feeling of 18th century,
0:13:03 > 0:13:09- of George I period. But the table isn't really pretending to be from that time at all.- No.
0:13:09 > 0:13:11It's much more flamboyant.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15It's actually a classic, if you like, of its type,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17of the 1920s, 1930s.
0:13:17 > 0:13:23- Really?- In a way, it's an antique of the future, it's not quite 100 years old yet.- Yes.
0:13:23 > 0:13:30But it's got tremendous quality. I think you had good judgment to buy it when you did, for what you did.
0:13:30 > 0:13:36- Thank you.- Now I suspect you would be wise to insure it
0:13:36 > 0:13:42- for around £1,000 - £1,200. - Yes.- It doesn't sound like an enormous amount of money,
0:13:42 > 0:13:48but the more you hold on to this, the more people are going to appreciate the quality
0:13:48 > 0:13:55and the very individuality of the style, even though it's calling on other things.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59A whole village of cottages and castles! Where do they live?
0:13:59 > 0:14:02They live in a corner cabinet,
0:14:02 > 0:14:07behind doors so that not too many little hands can pick them up.
0:14:07 > 0:14:13- Because originally they lived on the mantelpiece.- Yes, I'm sure. Mine is already rather cluttered.
0:14:13 > 0:14:19- Well, they are, of course, ornamental objects, but they also have a function.- Yes.
0:14:19 > 0:14:25- They have two functions. I want to know whether you've used them for either or both.- Probably not.
0:14:25 > 0:14:30These very tall towers on the large flat backs
0:14:30 > 0:14:33and on these bone china pieces, these turreted objects,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36they are intended to hold the spills,
0:14:36 > 0:14:40the tapers of light with which you light your pipe from the fire,
0:14:40 > 0:14:42or light the fire itself.
0:14:42 > 0:14:46- Really?- So those are highly functional objects.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50This one...if you put your pocket watch in there, it sits there.
0:14:50 > 0:14:55- Yes.- So it tells the time as well. - Wonderful.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59The rest of these pieces are pastille burners.
0:14:59 > 0:15:04- In the Victorian period, people smoked an awful lot more than they do today.- Right.
0:15:04 > 0:15:10And they leave horrible smells in your drawing room and dining room, so a pastille burner was useful.
0:15:13 > 0:15:20The little ornamental cottage is given a pastille, a little tablet of sweet-smelling incense,
0:15:20 > 0:15:27- which is set afire and put inside there.- Yes.- And the smoke, in this case, drifts out of the windows.
0:15:28 > 0:15:35These were made in the 1840s, a little bit later for some of these, but that's the general period.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41- Right.- Almost all of these are from Staffordshire, but most of them are bone china.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46The average value for a bone china pastille burner is £300 - £400.
0:15:46 > 0:15:52Some of the good ones will be worth more than that, but the earthenware ones, these two big ones,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55will fall in the £20 to £80 region.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00Most of the pieces I'm looking at now seem to be to do with a child.
0:16:00 > 0:16:06This is a little sleeve that would have been sewn onto the corner of a dress.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09It's interesting to me
0:16:09 > 0:16:16- that the pattern of the embroidery could come from as early as 1680, 1700.- Really?- That sort of date.
0:16:16 > 0:16:22This colour, yellow, is something that you don't find later on with modern dyes.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28It's got a lot of green in it, and it's a very difficult colour to reproduce nowadays.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32- You just don't find it.- I love the vibrancy of it.- It's very good.- Yes.
0:16:32 > 0:16:39Somebody had such a good eye, who collected these things, and I wonder whether they were family pieces.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44They came from my wife's family, but we have no idea where they came from.
0:16:44 > 0:16:50I would advise you to go to the Victoria and Albert Museum and show them to the lace expert there.
0:16:50 > 0:16:55I'm not nearly good enough to be able to tell you exactly where these were made, but they're so rare.
0:16:55 > 0:17:01- Really?- It's an exceptional collection.- I had no idea. - Early lace is highly collectable.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06- You could be talking about thousands of pounds for this collection. - Really?
0:17:06 > 0:17:12- I think you do need to go and have it looked at. They'll give you the benefit of their advice.- Thank you.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19One of the questions most asked of us is "How does the furniture arrive at a Roadshow?"
0:17:19 > 0:17:25Well, this is how you do it! I've not had a chair arrive on a little pram before.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28- Certainly not a Chippendale chair. That's what this is.- Is it?
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Certainly from the workshops of,
0:17:30 > 0:17:34as indicated by these curious little scoops
0:17:34 > 0:17:37out of the timber on the frame,
0:17:37 > 0:17:40which allowed Chippendale's own -
0:17:40 > 0:17:46and he claimed I think a patent - clamp when the chair was being made.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51That was a spring clamp which tightened up the joint,
0:17:51 > 0:17:56rather than the traditional outer clamps which everybody else used.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01And as you look at the chair, of course I'm sure that the proportions are going to be wonderful.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06I just want to draw your attention to this little French scroll foot,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10which just lifts the chair, even from a distance.
0:18:10 > 0:18:17And I think we'll find when we turn it over, it's going to be rather wonderful, wonderful proportions.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20And a back leg to die for. Now...
0:18:20 > 0:18:25it's an open-arm chair, 1770 - 1780, that sort of period.
0:18:25 > 0:18:30- Is there any family history to it? - It came from my mother's family.
0:18:30 > 0:18:36- I won't have it done up without... having it looking so over-restored that it would spoil it.- I know.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41It's not a very valuable chair, they turn up from up from time to time.
0:18:41 > 0:18:45For insurance purposes between £4,000 and £5,000 would be ample.
0:18:45 > 0:18:51The thrill of seeing a Chippendale chair on a pram at a Roadshow has made my year!
0:18:51 > 0:18:56My children's pushchair. It's been very useful. That in itself is 45 years old so...
0:18:56 > 0:18:59I'll bring that in my next life.
0:19:02 > 0:19:06"Aldous's mild medicine for the thrush".
0:19:06 > 0:19:12It's actually my brother's. In the late '80s, he knocked down a fireplace and found this behind.
0:19:12 > 0:19:18He just stuck it in his cupboard all that time ago, and just asked me to bring it along here.
0:19:18 > 0:19:23- How absolutely extraordinary! This was made round about 1700.- Really?
0:19:23 > 0:19:27It's made of pottery rather than porcelain.
0:19:27 > 0:19:32It's got a very thick opaque glaze, quite bluish in this case, which is known as Delft,
0:19:32 > 0:19:38named after the Dutch town of Delft. But what's important about this one is the fact that it's inscribed.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43Inscribed Delft pieces are ever so much rarer than ordinary ones.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46It was made as an ointment pot.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52- You'd be certainly looking at £1,500 upwards.- Really that much? - Absolutely, at auction.
0:19:52 > 0:19:57If I'd seen it on a car boot for 20 pence, I wouldn't have picked it up.
0:20:00 > 0:20:04- What's your connection with Russia? - I'm married to a Russian
0:20:04 > 0:20:12- and we have two children who have a dual nationality.- Did all these Russian things come with your wife?
0:20:12 > 0:20:18No. They didn't come with her. These are all items that we have found locally to Ipswich.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23- So they've all been bought in this area?- Yes.- Everything here.
0:20:23 > 0:20:29- Every single item on the table. - Has come from Suffolk. Tell me about this painted wooden panel.
0:20:29 > 0:20:35- We believe it was painted around 1900 in Russia. - The style is right for that.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40Although it is signed, we have not been able to find the artist.
0:20:40 > 0:20:46We believe it's after the Russian artist Surakov, who painted a lot of women in this...
0:20:46 > 0:20:52Yes. If that's the right date, that was the period when there was a fascination in local costume.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58It's the period of Russian ballet, of Laryonov, and other artists who were looking back to folk culture.
0:20:58 > 0:21:04And this would seem to be a reflection of that, Russia in a sense reinventing its past.
0:21:04 > 0:21:10- Is that a fair thing to say? - Yes. It's shows a noble lady in 18th-century costume...- Yes.
0:21:10 > 0:21:13..drinking tea in a refined way.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18It becomes further intriguing because the plate is dated "Bombay 1931".
0:21:18 > 0:21:23Oh, yes, on the back. So how did it get to India?
0:21:23 > 0:21:28Who is Harry? It's inscribed to Harry, and then winds up in an antique shop in Suffolk.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32Well, one could only invent that story!
0:21:32 > 0:21:37Headline - "Des won't ride at Epsom on Monday. Comedian Des O'Connor,
0:21:37 > 0:21:41"who holds a licence to ride as an amateur jockey,
0:21:41 > 0:21:47"had hoped to ride in the Moet et Chandon Silver Magnum next Monday at Epsom,
0:21:47 > 0:21:54"but has been advised by professional jockeys that it was a bit early to take the risk."
0:21:54 > 0:22:00- I knew he rode. There's nothing of him, is there? - No, he's not a heavy chap.
0:22:00 > 0:22:08- Where did you find this?- I bought press photos from...a boot sale would be the nearest description.
0:22:08 > 0:22:15I was looking through and I suddenly thought, "That's a familiar face" and couldn't quite click who it was.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19When I looked over on the reverse, I saw it was Des O'Connor.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22- He looks very determined, doesn't he?- Yes.
0:22:22 > 0:22:28- You know, he and I share a birthday.- Do you really?- He'll always be a year older than me.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32Many of these have direct Revolutionary references.
0:22:32 > 0:22:38Others have a cultural history. This one, for example, again goes back to Russia's past, doesn't it?
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Yes, this shows Grand Prince Dmitri
0:22:41 > 0:22:46accepting the defeat of Prince Mamay of the Golden Horde at the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380,
0:22:46 > 0:22:52- the Russian equivalent of our 1066. - The start of modern history.- Yes.
0:22:52 > 0:22:59- When that was painted there was no certainty that the new culture would succeed.- No. This porcelain...
0:22:59 > 0:23:03They used Imperial blanks that survived from Imperial factories.
0:23:03 > 0:23:10One finds on the back the Revolutionary marks which indicate the date, which indicate the artist.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15This is another example of that, slightly more confusing, I think, subject matter.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19The artist - Shchekotikhina-Pototskaya -
0:23:19 > 0:23:25did two versions of this. One with an old man and one with a new man. We have the old man here,
0:23:25 > 0:23:29which is a call for the old Russia to wake up.
0:23:29 > 0:23:35Of the Russian Revolutionary porcelain, the most desirable ones are the figures,
0:23:35 > 0:23:41because they represent the new Russia, images of the noble worker, particularly the women.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46She has lost her hand, which should be shielding her face...
0:23:46 > 0:23:52and this one is about the famine of the early 1920s, because it's about importing American grain.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56But represents these heroic figures of the new Russia.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02We were looking through the loft, found this book and this happened to fall out.
0:24:02 > 0:24:08And he's filled it in himself. "The village where I live, Ayot St Lawrence, has no public transport.
0:24:08 > 0:24:14"My professional business involves communication with London by road,
0:24:14 > 0:24:20"for the transaction of affairs which result in the import of American dollars." I love that.
0:24:20 > 0:24:25"For this, I must have at my command a large, fast car, as my age is 91."
0:24:25 > 0:24:31That's lovely. And he's signed it, "December 1947. George Bernard Shaw".
0:24:31 > 0:24:37Normally I would say an application for rationed petrol was not very interesting.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40But because it's George Bernard Shaw...
0:24:40 > 0:24:45- That stands out, doesn't it?- That's it. I would value it at £300.
0:24:45 > 0:24:46Fantastic!
0:24:46 > 0:24:53- What do you pay for these sort of things?- The most expensive piece was the bell-ringer plate. It was £230.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56What do you think they're worth?
0:24:56 > 0:25:02- As far as I know, they're worth what we paid for them. They've been bought in the last year.- Recently?
0:25:02 > 0:25:08- Very recently. - These are very desirable, very rare. You've got to think of at least...
0:25:08 > 0:25:12£500, £600 possibly £700 for that one.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16That one is going to be less because of the hand,
0:25:16 > 0:25:22but this is such a famous image, I would have it restored. It's one of the great classics.
0:25:22 > 0:25:27- Perfect, she would be £1,500, £2,000 possibly more.- As much as that?
0:25:27 > 0:25:30This one is probably about...
0:25:30 > 0:25:32£500 to £800.
0:25:32 > 0:25:37This one, which is, I think, the best, regardless of the subject,
0:25:37 > 0:25:40is probably about £2,000.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43I'm glad I'm sat down.
0:25:45 > 0:25:47This is harder for me to value.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51- What did you pay for that? - £65.- Yeah.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55If it IS by the artist you think it might be,
0:25:55 > 0:26:03to a Russian specialist £250 - £300. So you've got an eye, you've got great luck. Long may it continue!
0:26:03 > 0:26:08- Look at this, Michael.- Yes. - It looks a very fine old antique.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13On the one hand it is, but it's not a period piece. It's Spanish.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18And it purports to be something that's 250 years old, because...
0:26:18 > 0:26:19- And it's not?- No.
0:26:19 > 0:26:25It was made in late Victorian time, 1880 - 1890, but purely a reproduction.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29It's an odd size, isn't it? What does that qualify as, then?
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Well, it's a left-hand dagger.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35- Left-hand? - Left-hand, used in the left hand.
0:26:35 > 0:26:40- How do you know it's for the left hand?- They fought with two weapons -
0:26:40 > 0:26:45a sword in the right, a dagger in the left, touch of the Errol Flynns.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- Yes, or Basil Rathbone. - Yes, indeed, yes, yes.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53It looks as if it's had a bit of use. Is that from you or forbears?
0:26:53 > 0:26:59Both. It belonged to my late father-in-law and subsequently my husband.
0:26:59 > 0:27:05We have three sons who do use it occasionally. It comes with a track, which is circular.
0:27:05 > 0:27:09- It is in full working order. - Fantastic. What we're looking at
0:27:09 > 0:27:14is a 440 locomotive. There are two clues to the maker.
0:27:14 > 0:27:18One at the front here, which is a monogram
0:27:18 > 0:27:22- of the initials GBN.- Yes.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26And at the back here...we've got...
0:27:26 > 0:27:30another trademark sign, which is a figure
0:27:30 > 0:27:34and on her shield are those same letters, GBN.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37So on the basis that they may be a good clue,
0:27:37 > 0:27:43it actually means Gebruder Bing of Nuremburg. That's the maker's name.
0:27:43 > 0:27:48One of the most collected of all the German toy manufacturers...
0:27:49 > 0:27:52Sometime between 1902...
0:27:52 > 0:27:54and 1911.
0:27:54 > 0:28:00- I would have said between £800 and £1,200. Thanks very much for bringing it.- Thank you.
0:28:00 > 0:28:06- Hilary, no racecourse is complete without one of these. - I have this sinking feeling!
0:28:06 > 0:28:09Have you ever seen one before?
0:28:09 > 0:28:13What on earth have we got? Oh, very good!
0:28:13 > 0:28:14Votes for women.
0:28:14 > 0:28:20This one shall have a vote! The pretty one has a vote and the ugly one...
0:28:20 > 0:28:26- You don't suppose it's Emily Pankhurst, do you? - The ugly one?- Have a bell, go on.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31- It's badly cracked. - Yes, it's a shame.
0:28:31 > 0:28:35- What a shame! But suffragette things - terribly rare.- Yes.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40- That's lovely.- Is it lovely? - Where is this conversation going?
0:28:40 > 0:28:46I'm very, very suspicious when you arrive with something. Is it lovely? Why?
0:28:46 > 0:28:48YOU said it was lovely. I didn't.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52- But suffragette collectors would pay £100 for that?- I'd have thought so.
0:28:53 > 0:28:58- She needs to go into hospital! - Tell me how you came to have her.
0:28:58 > 0:29:03- Well, I ran a toy shop, didn't I, Clare?- Yes.
0:29:03 > 0:29:09In Devon. And an old lady came one day and said to me would I like to buy her...
0:29:10 > 0:29:15..because she felt she ought to get rid of her before she died,
0:29:15 > 0:29:20and give her a good home. And I said yes. So that was about 1975.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Yes. And did you pay a lot for her?
0:29:23 > 0:29:29I paid her what she asked, which was £100, which I thought was a lot at the time.
0:29:29 > 0:29:35- Yes. There is a pair to this - i.e. they're known as either Hansel or Gretel.- Yes.
0:29:35 > 0:29:41By the manufacturers - Kammer or KAY-MER, with an umlaut on the "a", and Reinhardt.
0:29:41 > 0:29:47- Yes.- A German manufacturers who were operating in Thuringia,
0:29:47 > 0:29:52- which is now the centre of Germany, and was in the East.- Oh, really?
0:29:52 > 0:30:00There were very big porcelain-making factories and doll factories in that part of Germany. Sadly, few remain.
0:30:00 > 0:30:06This is one of the porcelain ones which was registered in 1909
0:30:06 > 0:30:08by Kammer and Reinhardt.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12Oh, really? It's much earlier than I thought.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16I'm going to just show the back of the head to you.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19I'm sure you've seen... It says,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23"114" incised in the porcelain and fired again.
0:30:23 > 0:30:31Now, if you were to call me and say, "I have a K&R114", I would know exactly what it looked like.
0:30:31 > 0:30:38- Yes.- Because it is a mould. They poured molten porcelain into a mould.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43Now, underneath that, it says "49".
0:30:43 > 0:30:45Now, that is the size, 49 cms.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50- Oh, really?- So that tells me pretty well all I want to know.
0:30:50 > 0:30:56I just need to know that she's in good condition. I think someone's kissed the tip of her nose a lot.
0:30:58 > 0:31:02- Yes, so do I, yes. It wasn't me. - It wasn't you?!
0:31:02 > 0:31:07You kept her very well. So, slightly rubbed on the nose...
0:31:07 > 0:31:13- and little tiny bits of white here where little scratches... - Her colour's good, though, isn't it?
0:31:13 > 0:31:18She's got good colour and lovely painted blue eyes.
0:31:18 > 0:31:23Had she glass eyes, she'd be probably worth double.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27- Really? - It's probably because they're rarer.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30And to make her sit she has these...
0:31:30 > 0:31:33very good joints.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37- They're creaking a bit.- Like me!
0:31:37 > 0:31:39I haven't heard you creak.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42Um, nice original dress.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45- Not original shoes.- I made them.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49You made them? Oh, well, very well made!
0:31:49 > 0:31:55- And a lovely little doll, all bisque, which is her baby.- Yes.
0:31:55 > 0:31:57- Sweet little doll.- Yes.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03If she were to go into a doll sale,
0:32:03 > 0:32:08- you would probably get in the region of £3,000 to £3,500 for her.- What?!
0:32:08 > 0:32:13- It's going to her eventually, so... - Aren't you lucky?
0:32:13 > 0:32:16Really, why is she so valuable?
0:32:16 > 0:32:21These Kammer and Reinhardts are extremely valuable.
0:32:21 > 0:32:27- The world record for any doll at auction is a Kammer and Reinhardt.- Really?
0:32:27 > 0:32:30- £188,000.- Golly!
0:32:30 > 0:32:35The stones, as we can see, are held in these little claws,
0:32:35 > 0:32:39and each of them weighs about 1.5 carats, 1.6 carats.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43And they're lovely soft white, brilliant-cut diamonds.
0:32:43 > 0:32:49- In this sunshine here that we've got today, they look fantastic.- They do.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53I think that they were probably mounted in platinum.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57They aren't hallmarked, but I think they are.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Not many Spanish things are hallmarked.
0:33:00 > 0:33:07I think when they were made, around about 1910-1915, a lot of jewellery didn't bear a stamp on it
0:33:07 > 0:33:13- saying 18 carat gold or platinum or whatever it may have been.- Yes, yes.
0:33:13 > 0:33:16But, in today's market,
0:33:16 > 0:33:20drops like this would sell extremely well.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23Do you wear these yourself at all?
0:33:23 > 0:33:29- I only wear twice.- Twice?- I have them in the bank, just in case I lose...
0:33:29 > 0:33:33- What particular occasion did you wear them for?- Showing off.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38Everybody will wear plastic, so I wear the real thing.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43- I should think they looked extremely smart.- Absolutely wonderful.
0:33:43 > 0:33:49Well, knowing how saleable drops like this are, I think that, in an auction,
0:33:49 > 0:33:55- I would expect to get £5,000 at least, maybe £6,000. - That's better.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58You know, my colleagues often rib me
0:33:58 > 0:34:05because, apparently, I say, "This is the best I've ever seen of its type." And maybe they're right.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09But there are occasions when that is absolutely true,
0:34:09 > 0:34:14and this wassail bowl is the best I've seen outside of a museum.
0:34:14 > 0:34:18There's the original lid which is absolutely wonderful.
0:34:18 > 0:34:24Made of lignum vitae, one of the hardest woods that we know of.
0:34:24 > 0:34:31A treadle was fixed to a springy larch, the rope went round the piece of wood, you trod down.
0:34:31 > 0:34:37It spun one way, the spring took the thing back again and it spun the other way
0:34:37 > 0:34:42to create something like that out of a material almost like bronze.
0:34:42 > 0:34:46Is there any family history...?
0:34:46 > 0:34:51Well, it belongs to my wife and she acquired it from her mother.
0:34:51 > 0:34:57- Right.- And I believe it came down to her mother from her mother's side of the family.
0:34:57 > 0:35:04How long it's been in the family we don't know, but, certainly, at least a couple of hundred years.
0:35:04 > 0:35:11It is a wassail bowl, traditionally used between Christmas and Twelfth Night, for making merry, really.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13For drinking huge amounts of wassail.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16A communal cup. It was passed from one to the other.
0:35:16 > 0:35:23It could be 1640, it could be 1660, it's difficult to know which side of the Civil War it was made.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28- Would it have been made in this country...?- This is English made.
0:35:28 > 0:35:32In today's market, this is worth around £10,000.
0:35:32 > 0:35:38Wow! We knew it was valuable because it was old, but we had no idea, because it was wood...
0:35:38 > 0:35:43I know, but the material doesn't reflect its value today.
0:35:43 > 0:35:48Loving cups were very popular in the middle of the 19th century. This was made in Staffordshire.
0:35:48 > 0:35:55The black is printed on as a transfer print and the other colours - pinks, blues and so on -
0:35:55 > 0:36:02- have been touched in later.- Oh, right. That's interesting.- So it's partly printed and partly painted.
0:36:02 > 0:36:08- Um, in the salerooms today, it would fetch in the region of £800.- Really?
0:36:08 > 0:36:13- But what about the horse?- It's certainly not a racehorse.- He's not.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17He's also not from this neck of the woods.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20The material's called pearlware.
0:36:20 > 0:36:26It took over from an earlier material called creamware which was championed by Wedgwood.
0:36:26 > 0:36:31It's called pearlware because it's got a slightly bluey glaze.
0:36:31 > 0:36:37It's gone slightly bluey. They've added some cobalt oxide.
0:36:37 > 0:36:42- This beast is English, but he would have been made in Yorkshire.- Right.
0:36:42 > 0:36:49Almost certainly in Leeds, actually. If you look at him from the front, he's got a terrific expression...
0:36:49 > 0:36:51Are you sure that's not shock horror?
0:36:51 > 0:36:59The way the eyes have been picked out is absolutely charming. They've been moulded in shallow relief.
0:36:59 > 0:37:06For insurance, you need to be thinking around £10,000.
0:37:08 > 0:37:10Bloody hell!
0:37:10 > 0:37:14They're fascinating snapshots of India.
0:37:14 > 0:37:20- Where did you get them? - I bought them off a dustman about 15 years ago.- Off a dustman?
0:37:20 > 0:37:27- Yeah, he come in and said, "I've got some picture cards for you." He thought they were postcards.- Really?
0:37:27 > 0:37:31- What did you pay for them?- £7. - For the lot?- Yes.
0:37:31 > 0:37:38Well, they could easily be mistaken just for postcards, but, in fact,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41each one of these is hand painted on ivory.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44They were done by Indian craftsmen.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47The link with the postcard
0:37:47 > 0:37:50is that they were probably copied from photographs.
0:37:52 > 0:37:57That enables us to date them - the second half of the 19th century.
0:37:57 > 0:38:04- I would say 1860, something like that.- Oh, I'm surprised. I thought they were '20s.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06No, I don't think they are at all.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10And they are quite exceptionally well painted.
0:38:10 > 0:38:15The amount of detailed work on here is quite staggering.
0:38:15 > 0:38:20You know, this is so beautifully drawn,
0:38:20 > 0:38:23all with the single hair of a brush.
0:38:23 > 0:38:31It's minute work. They would have been made for the British. These are not for domestic consumption.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33This is for the Raj,
0:38:33 > 0:38:40for administrators, um, people who were looking after taxes, that sort of thing, in India.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43They were probably...
0:38:43 > 0:38:50When they came to go home, they wanted a souvenir of all the scenes in the local area
0:38:50 > 0:38:55and they would have gone to a local shop which specialised in these.
0:38:55 > 0:38:59- Are they very common? - You do find these little miniatures,
0:38:59 > 0:39:05not infrequently, but they're often nothing like as good quality.
0:39:05 > 0:39:09These are spectacularly finely painted.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14The frames are quite interesting, they're Indian rosewood.
0:39:14 > 0:39:21But, of course, also, the whole concept is really English rather than Indian.
0:39:21 > 0:39:26I think the £7 you paid for them was an extremely good investment.
0:39:26 > 0:39:31- We're looking at somewhere between £2,000 and £3,000 here.- Oh.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35- And rising. - I was thinking more £200 or £300.
0:39:35 > 0:39:41No, I think £2,000 or £3,000 is more realistic. Well done.
0:39:41 > 0:39:49This is the most wonderful, striking image of, probably, an Indian prince.
0:39:49 > 0:39:53Now, tell me something about the painting.
0:39:53 > 0:40:00We don't know very much about it at all. It's been in our family, we think, for about 150 years.
0:40:00 > 0:40:07We think my great-grandfather, in fact, who died in about 1870, purchased it.
0:40:07 > 0:40:12But, apart from that, it's been with our household ever since.
0:40:12 > 0:40:19Just looking at the face, firstly, I think what is rather unusual and to me compelling about it,
0:40:19 > 0:40:25is the way that the eyes look confidently at the artist. There seems to be some connection there.
0:40:25 > 0:40:32Whether it's because they knew each other, or he, being a man of substance, was very confident.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34These crossed and folded arms,
0:40:34 > 0:40:39again, in a way, indicate to me a kind of body language that says,
0:40:39 > 0:40:45"I'm somebody special. I'm not just here to be painted as just an ordinary subject."
0:40:45 > 0:40:52And then the head piece, with this wonderful flash of colour here and then heavy impasto painting here.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57Then we go up into all the other colours and textures
0:40:57 > 0:41:03and finish off in a much more lightly painted way with these feathery ends to the silks.
0:41:03 > 0:41:10They're beautifully expressed and just expertly done.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15This line where the paint has been dragged and pushed is exquisite.
0:41:15 > 0:41:22- We couldn't see that. We had it restored and this was virtually black through tobacco or whatever.- Really?
0:41:22 > 0:41:30- Had it been over a fireplace? - Not in my memory, no. It just hung in the farmhouse hall at home.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35Now, who actually painted it? I don't really know.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39But there is an artist, Francesco Rinaldi,
0:41:39 > 0:41:43who is a Welshman, of Italian extraction.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48And there's a missing portrait of an Indian prince by Zoffany,
0:41:48 > 0:41:53and that would be quite...that would be quite a name to conjure with.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58Unfortunately, for such a wonderful picture there's a great deal of speculation.
0:41:58 > 0:42:05I'd love to be able to answer it spot on, and it's a bit unfair when one comes to consider the price,
0:42:05 > 0:42:09because, unless one knows specifically who it's by,
0:42:09 > 0:42:16- we can't really say how much it's worth. But these pictures are really sought after.- Right.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21And I think, unless we've misjudged it - and I don't think I have -
0:42:21 > 0:42:28then I think we're talking about a figure which might be in the region of £100,000 or even more.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32Wow! Thank you very much indeed.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36It's been a breezy and beautiful day here on the borders of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40We've seen some items to match the breathtaking surroundings.
0:42:40 > 0:42:42From Newmarket, goodbye.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Subtitles by BBC Scotland 2001