Toronto Antiques Roadshow

The Antiques Roadshow is now in its 25th season. We're celebrating

by thinking big.

We've come to the biggest city in the largest country of the English-speaking world - Toronto.

The CN Tower has also just celebrated its silver anniversary.

For 25 years, it's held the record as the tallest,

freestanding structure in the world, it's 553 metres high.

In my language, that's over 1,800 feet.

Thoughtfully, they've put in an elevator, which takes a mere 58 seconds to get to the stratosphere.

And there's a magnificent view

of the shores of Lake Ontario.

Toronto has a population of 4.2 million, from 80 ethnic groups. It's a multicultural mosaic -

fittingly as, in the Huron language, "toronto" means "meeting place".

As elsewhere in North America, aboriginal peoples were the first to settle here.

The earliest-known European visitor was Etienne Brule, in 1615. The French set up a fur-trading post.

By 1793, the British were in charge, they founded the garrison at Fort York,

whose restored buildings are now the oldest in town. York became the city of Toronto in 1834.

Torontonians are proud of their heritage.

Luckily for this programme, they're also keen on "antiquing".

This harbour-front market covers a huge area. I'm told Canadians do love a bargain.

We could be right up their street!

The street, in this case, is Austin Terrace. Our venue is Casa Loma.

It's an extraordinary Gothic castle, built in 1911 for Sir Henry Pellatt,

a Toronto financier and industrialist

who harnessed the hydro-electric power of Niagara Falls.

The mansion took 300 men three years to build and cost over three million Canadian dollars.

Sir Henry's fortunes ran out, and he had to relinquish his dream home which now belongs to the city.

Thanks to the Kiwanis Club and the Garden Club Of Toronto,

our experts are joined by five locals.

We're hoping for original, Canadian treasures.

My mother insisted it was American. She had a friend in Ottowa who owned a soft-drink company

and THEY knew that it was old, and that it predated bottled soda-pop.

Are they made in America, Canada, or are they made...?

-They're made in America.

-Right.

-I haven't seen any company mark.

-It's about 1915-20.

-If I saw this at a British roadshow, I'd think it was a great object, great fun,

but I wouldn't think it was particularly unusual. We don't have that same country-store fascination.

To us, entertaining ephemera - collectible, but not particularly valuable. So what's the story HERE?

This is a very significant item in country-store collecting. I've seen ONE before, in an American auction,

eight or ten years ago. It was 3,000 American. The value now would be 6,000 - 7,000.

-That's £3,000! I don't know about you, but I'm amazed.

-Well, I-I don't know what to say.

Throughout the show, you'll hear valuations in Canadian dollars and/or sterling.

At the time of this recording, there are about 2¼ to £1.

The chair belonged to William Christian. He was born in 1602.

He was called "Illiam Dhone", "Brown William". There's a lot about him in Manx lore.

He was Receiver-General in the time of Cromwell.

-And you KNOW that it's been in the family that long?

-As far as I know.

-In 40-odd years, I've only seen three genuine tables of this sort.

-Really?

-Really.

Gosh.

-We'll have a look, and I'll tell you why this IS genuine.

-Mm-hm.

-Probably not as easy as telling you if it were a fake! It'd be a lot simpler.

-I'm sure.

-The carving...

We have to play bears for a minute. The carving here,

-this is a gioche moulding.

-Yes.

It has this wonderful, simple method of construction,

just drawn by a compass and created with a half-round chisel.

The top, of course, has seen a lot of wear and use, and the dramatic thing about it is, if we turn it...

That's right. ..and we lift it up - and it slides down -

and then it becomes the chair.

Repeating that pattern on the back, here it is.

But you have the signs of wear on the edges. Where you don't touch - more crustiness.

You cannot fake that, cannot create it. Absolutely wonderful to see.

Just exemplary of its type.

-The castors, of course, are not original!

-I know!

-Not Cromwellian!

-I think some Victorian put them on.

-Absolutely.

Otherwise, it's stood the test of time -

and wear and use - VERY well. Just wonderful.

This little old piece of furniture is worth the best part of 30,000.

Wow! Gosh! That IS interesting. I always wondered how much it'd be worth.

Where did it come from?

It was an estate sale of an elderly lady whose family - the father of the family -

was a ship's captain who went to the Orient.

He brought things back. I imagine this was perhaps about the...end of the 1800s.

Because YOU'RE from Japan, you know a little bit more about this, perhaps, than I do.

-I came to Canada three years ago.

-Right.

-When I went to my parents-in-law's house, I saw this.

Of course I knew - this is a piece of Satsuma.

-So when I...

-Hang on! That, actually, is quite impressive!

-An awful lot of Japanese DON'T recognise Satsuma.

-Really?!

-No, no - THIS was made for export, for the West.

-Ah.

-So the Japanese oftentimes don't recognise it.

-Sorry - I interrupted you.

-Antiques Roadshow is very popular in Japan.

-OK, so that's what did it?

-Yes.

-So...why are you here? Has Mother-In-Law given it to you, or...?

-Yes, we shall.

Thank you!

Well, it's a good piece.

This blue ground was introduced by a potter called Kinkozan.

My first thought, when I saw it, was that it WAS Kinkozan. We've got a signature.

I'll take a rest now,

-and ask you to read that.

-Well, this is a family crest - of Shimazu.

-Yup.

-And this is "made by...Kizan".

-Kizan.

So we call that the Satsuma "mon", because it's the mon - the badge - of that family.

We've the other characters going down like that. That's brilliant.

We've got here a hero, I think he is, with an ogre, a devil of some sort. I don't know the story there.

-Do you know what that one might be?

-I think it's about Peach Boy.

-This is Peach Boy?

-I think so.

-It's a very famous folk tale.

-Yes, he had two elderly parents...?

-That's right.

-They didn't have a son, is that right?

-That's right.

-And he came out of a peach stone.

-Mm-hmm.

And then something I've never seen, which I think absolutely wonderful.

We've got an audience,

a typical subject where you would normally expect to see

a lord and his samurai seated round.

But here, they've all been replaced by birds and animals!

It's a marvellous idea. Very satirical.

And brilliantly done! The detailed work in here is superb. It's a glorious piece. Date...

-late 19C, which ties up very well with your...

-Sea captain.

-Sea captain.

Now we come to the price. I would have said this would've made...

£2,000. 4,500 - 6,500.

Wow!

-Surprised?

-£2,000!

-Oh, yes!

-"Thank you, sea captain."

-Oh-h! I can't remember, but I think it was about 125 or something.

-Really?

Yes. But we just thought it was interesting. We didn't know anything about it. Fascinating!

-I know it's an "Indian" quill box, but that's all.

-Well, you are right.

This box, the decoration is made from porcupine quills

that have been individually dyed

and woven into this little wooden box.

-This particular type of box was made in Nova Scotia.

-Oh!

-Not local.

It's quite a bit older than those we see from this part of the world.

-Probably about 1820.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Most we see here are 1920.

What's interesting about these is that most we find, we actually find in England.

They were acquired in the 19C by English tourists and people in the Navy, taken back to England.

A lovely pine bottom with some old inscription. How much did you pay? 4.

The local boxes we see make a couple of hundred dollars at the best of times,

usually 25 - 35.

This box, from this period, you're looking at about £700 - £900, about 1,500 - 2,000.

-Oh, my gosh! I'm absolutely amazed.

-I'm sure you are.

-Great - I'll have it back now!

-I haven't seen such a collection of amber for a LONG time. How did you come by it?

-It's my grandmother's.

And this is only a teeny bit.

She brought it over after the war. She was from Russia, and was living in Lithuania before the...WWII.

-And she managed to get out with it.

-I don't know how she brought 'em.

-As you know, amber is the fossilised resin of fir trees...

-Right.

-And pine.

-..and pine trees. This is an amazing piece.

It was fossilised tens of millions of years ago. We're looking at something incredibly ancient.

These pieces are in their natural form

because, as far back as 2,000 years ago, people were heating this, melting and refining it

and re-forming it.

It was terribly fashionable. Roman ladies would dye their hair to match their amber.

So this is a terrific lump. But the most interesting thing, I think,

-is this necklace.

-It has the bugs...

Yes. A lovely, original colour. So much amber, even today, when you go into a shop and look at new amber,

it's all been reconstituted.

And THIS is completely natural and original.

And...I haven't counted how many of these pieces have bugs in...

-I think pretty well each has one.

-A lot have. Amber that has bugs in,

-that has not been reconstituted - because a lot now find insects and pour it all over.

-I know.

-You see a big fly like this. "Nice housefly you've got."

-It was buzzing a week ago.

These are the real things.

A necklace like this is pretty rare.

-And valuable.

-Mm-hmm?

-So, £2,000 British...

-Oh!

-..or 4,500 Canadian.

-A really outstanding one. Thank you so much for bringing it.

-Thank you!

I have a small toy collection, and I didn't have a teddy bear. I was living in British Columbia,

and a friend wanted to sell her bear. I thought it was wonderful, and bought it, not thinking too much.

-He just looked well-worn and loved.

-He looks as if he's had a life. We can see the original colour.

He would have been this vibrant pink. The thing is not just that he's got this wonderful expression,

-but he's also got a very nice musical movement.

-MUSIC-BOX TINKLING

You squeeze his tummy and out comes this rather lovely melody.

So he's got this sort of double attraction.

-He's quite a valuable little chap. How long ago did you buy him?

-I bought him in about '78 or '79.

-Can you remember...?

-50.

-Jopi musical bears can fetch as much as £1,000...

-Mm-hmm?

-..which is - what? - about 2,200-2,500.

-Oh, really? That's pleasant.

TINKLING CHORDS

It's not often we have a first on the Antiques Roadshow, but this has to be our smallest book ever!

It's minute. And you've brought a microscope so that I can read it.

I can hardly believe it. We come to this enormous country and find the smallest book!

Having looked at it through the microscope, it is the Lord's Prayer in various European languages.

-To the naked eye, it's quite impossible to read.

-It is, yes.

-Impossible to open, too.

-There was a London dealer, Louis Bondi, who wrote a book on miniature books.

He tells a lovely story of cataloguing one of these tiny things. He sneezed.

The book just fell off the table, and his dog, which was under the table, thought it was a fly,

and snapped at it and ate it! He said he followed the dog around for three days, but nothing happened.

So I assume they're totally digestible. Anyway, it's from the 1930s.

It's an incredibly small book. It won't make an awful lot of money,

but 500, 600, that sort of price. A LOVELY thing to be left.

-We've had it for 50-odd years.

-That IS a while.

-We used to go to auction sales.

-Here in Toronto?

-Yes.

Oh! Right! That's interesting, because Stanhope Forbes was married to a woman who was born in Ottowa.

-I didn't know that.

-Elizabeth Ada Forbes. I wonder if it got to Canada because of that connection?

-I have no idea.

-It's interesting - it's a relatively early Forbes,

done within a few years of him establishing a movement in Britain,

based around an impressionistic use of paint, called the Newlyn School.

His interest was in slabs of paint showing reflective light.

The way it's constructed is interesting. You've got quite blank areas with very little going on,

and then just to pick out highlights with broad brush-strokes,

just laid on very thickly and confidently to suggest this light coming in through the window.

It brings the picture almost out of nothing, and if you stand back from it, resolves itself very well.

-You can see it more easily than if you're close.

-Yes. We used to tell stories to our family about the...

the sceptical younger man listening to Grandfather showing him how to do the nets.

-He thought he probably could do a lot better.

-Or he's been telling some tall tales of the sea.

-Maybe that's true!

-Well...

a picture this size by Stanhope Forbes is now worth quite a lot of money in England. Here in Canada,

perhaps it wouldn't do so well.

But in a London sale, this would be worth between £40,000 and £60,000.

-Really?!

-Absolutely.

-We'll have to make a trip to London.

"Grey for the goblins, blue for the elves,

"brown for the little gnomes who live by themselves.

"White for the pixies that dance upon the green,

"but where shall I find me a robe for the queen?"

-Tell me about it.

-Look at the queen.

-Inside. There she is.

-How long have you had it?

-About 30 years - inherited from my parents. It was a wedding gift to them.

They were married in Canada - in Winnipeg in 1928.

-Right.

-It was just something we grew up with. We were three children,

-and we grew up learning to read with the rhyme on the bowl.

-My goodness!

-Very trusting parents and very careful children.

-Not really - it simply sat there.

-We were allowed to touch and handle it.

-Well, I'll check it for damage, cos that could be a problem.

-PURE, MELLOW NOTE RINGS OUT

-No buzzes, no cracks in there!

-You WERE a careful child. What do you know about the pattern.

-I only know it's "fairyland lustre".

-Yes.

-And...Daisy Makeig-Jones, is it...?

-Yes.

-..I believe, is the painter.

And simply what I've read about it. I checked it out with the Wedgwood museum, through photographs.

They certified that it was her - but not having seen the bowl.

Wedgwood is absolutely the factory of manufacture.

There's the Portland vase trademark. These are just pattern numbers.

As you say, the design was by Daisy Makeig-Jones. But one detail I wonder whether you've picked up.

-What's that?

-It's very rare to see a piece of fairyland lustre with her cipher on it.

-But each of these rocks carries "MJ." MJ...

-Oh, really?

MJ - for Makeig-Jones. I have never seen that on a piece of "fairyland".

-Isn't that amazing?

-To a collector of "fairyland" - and there are lots in North America as in England -

-that is a very desirable object. Have you had it valued?

-No.

-Well, if you were to sell this, in today's market it'd fetch £3,000 - £5,000.

-Mm-hmm...pounds?

-Pounds.

-Yes, OK.

-We're talking, what, 7,000 Canadian PLUS.

-Um...yeah.

-Yeah.

Albert Ernest Carrier de Belleuse, 1824-1887.

He was one of the leading academic sculptors of that period.

He won prizes constantly in salons, he was a favourite of Napoleon III,

and he made the transition from the very formal sculpture of the early neoclassical period

to the livelier, informal, intimate sculpture of the later period.

-Interestingly, one of his pupils was Rodin.

-Ah!

-This couldn't be LESS Rodin-like.

-No.

-You see how Rodin, working as a young man in this sort of formula,

-obviously thought, "Oh, time we had a change," and moved the whole thing on.

-This is much more ornate.

Much more elaborate. It has a wonderful flow and swing to it, but in a rather traditional manner.

Carrier lived in England for four years, working for Minton, and designed many ceramic figurines.

-I didn't know that.

-He went back to France,

-he was associated with Sevres... He was a great man of that period.

-And the detail in the drapery...

It's such a wonderful element of detail, as you say. There's a detail at the back,

there's the patterning on the front. And it's this blend of materials.

We think of bronze-and-ivory as of 1930s' Art Deco sculptors.

He was the pioneer. Carrier got the idea going of mixing materials.

It was an attitude of the sculptors of that period, "Let's see what we can do. Let's change the surface.

"Let's bring in ivory and semi-precious materials, enamels." He also used porcelain sometimes.

-The little one is also very nice.

-I love this one.

-I do. It's a seal.

-I haven't seen one that has the different colours of bronze.

-This, again, is the same thing.

The different colours of bronze, different metals, the blend of finishes -

the exploring of the traditions of sculpture in the late 19C.

This is later, but follows on. Two lovely pieces.

This is going to be £6,000 to £8,000 - that is...

12,000 to 16,000.

This one, much less. It's very pretty, it's small. £600 to £800,

-so it's 1,200 to 1,600.

-I've done well, then. I paid 3,000 for this...

-500 for this.

-Canadian?

-Canadian.

-Lovely!

-Thank you very much.

-Waltham made of the order of 25 MILLION watches.

-Oh, gosh!

SOME of the models are worth a lot, but in your case, don't give up the day job just yet.

There was no plan!

They travelled England, knocking on the doors of country houses, "Anyone want a portrait painted?"

It might have cost 20 guineas.

Our Mr John Graham of Claverhouse - if I've pronounced that right - just said yes.

-This, I paid a dollar for.

-A dollar?! That was expensive, wasn't it? A dollar for a cracked pot.

-In a flea market.

-It's worth that.

-It springs open.

-And we see the scene here. Earlier ones make a huge amount more.

I think if it was a bit more suggestive, a bit sexier,

-it would've doubled in value.

-Oh! I know what to look for now.

In the 30 years that I've been in antique silver,

I don't think I've ever seen such an interesting claret jug as this.

So I've got to ask you - where did you get it from?

Well, about 35 years ago we were out downtown, shopping - antiquing, whatever - we went into a store

and we saw this, it caught our eye. We liked it, paid about 200 for it.

-200?

-Yeah. Took it home

and put it in the dining-room cabinet, where it's been ever since.

It's so purely Gothic. It's such a great design -

these wonderful Gothic arches you've got all the way around -

which is purely in the tradition of Pugin,

a great architect of Gothic Revival.

-If you pick it up, even without liquid in it...

-Heavy.

-It weighs a huge amount, doesn't it?

That's because the glass itself is really substantial.

The top is very nicely faceted.

It's essentially quite straightforward in its construction,

but just so elegant, so Victorian.

You couldn't get much more Victorian than this.

But we should look and see if there are some marks on it.

Yup, we've got a set of marks along here.

The maker's mark, EHS...

that's for Edward Stockwell, one of the most innovative silversmiths

of the second half of the 19C.

We've also got a date-letter here, S, which is for 1873.

Stockwell produced some truly wonderful pieces of silver.

Anyway,

200...it's not a bad investment.

Cos I would comfortably put 10,000 on it now, which is about £4,500.

W-Will you check the pulse?

You're kidding...?

If a fan's measured by the distance they'll travel, you're the truest of all. Where have you come from?

-From White Horse in the Yukon Territory.

-It sounds a dramatic place. How far away is it?

-4,000 miles.

-You've come further than I have! How long did it take you?

-It took from 11 o'clock -

-yesterday morning - till 11 o'clock at night.

-Didn't involve sledges?

-No, I didn't come by dog team. By plane.

-Sensible. So what did you bring?

-I brought two pieces of jewellery.

I brought a bracelet and a necklace.

-They were valued at 500 each.

-They'd pay for your trip back.

-Almost!

-Almost!

-..They came from an Ontario farm family that was closing down the farm.

-Oh, yeah?

So I bought them - from a friend's garage. It was what we could afford.

That's all we know. This, we fell in love with and wanted right away.

-That one we took cos it belonged to this one, though at the time it looked nothing like it.

-This one,

-we'd call a D-end table because of the shape.

-Yes.

-It's out of Ontario, I'm sure. It's cherry on the top.

-Ah.

-That's a sap streak, typical of cherry. You often get that little white streak.

-Bird's-eye maple on the front...

-Yes.

..which really gives the table some zap. It makes it special.

The black banding around the edge.

The table is of the Sheraton period,

with these good, strong turnings.

-Probably dates in the 1830 to 1845 period.

-Really?

-I didn't realise it was that early.

-They do go together, this being a drop-leaf...

And this leg swings out, as you know, I'm sure.

It was a banquet table originally, with TWO D-end tables.

Have you used them as a long table?

On one or two occasions, with a big crowd.

It's the same wood, the same leg, it's got the bird's-eye -

definitely a set. It would've hinged and caught onto the end of this.

Stand-alone, this table would retail in a shop in Toronto or Montreal...

-3,500, 4,000, roughly £1,500 - £1,600, perhaps.

-Very good.

Now, this one, because of the swing leg, it is a good dining table. If you lean on it, it won't fall over.

A lot of drop-leafs don't have that support. It would retail in about the same range.

-If you put them together and you had the other D-end...

-I know where it is.

-You should find it.

-As a banquet table, it would be at least 15,000 complete.

-Is that right? Oh, my gosh.

-A wonderful set.

-Hang onto it.

-Thank you!

There's not much I can tell you - a war axe is a war axe.

Here, the dhal has these Islamic inscriptions. all the way around the edge.

It probably says, "Allah the one God, the only God", and repeats.

In the middle we have a devil head,

which often figures in Indo-Persian armour.

The most important thing of all... we have the kulah khud.

This is called camail... and here we have socket plumes

so they can put ostrich feathers in.

And this is the nasal bar, so that when he goes into action...

he drops his nasal bar to protect his nose.

All in all, it's a very nice set...

say, 1750.

-So your father paid about £40 for the whole lot?

-Yes.

-And now, today, for the whole set, £1,500.

-Wow.

-That's something over 3,000.

-That's nice.

Well, what a surprise to find an Austrian picture in the middle of Canada!

-How did it appear in your family?

-About 1951, my parents bought this and The Rehearsal,

and they've been in the family since.

-Were they from Europe?

-My parents were both born in Toronto. Just, one day, it appeared in the house.

-Great.

Let's talk about Hans Zatzka, the artist in question here.

He was best known for his rather over-the-top...

I think the Austrians would call it "gemutlich" - sort of...cosy pictures in this sort of setting.

An allegory of love, I'd have thought, with a sort of Venus, with a Cupid next door.

Look at the detail, look at the flowers! Look at her apron.

All exquisitely painted, for an artist that isn't that well known.

-Have you ever had it valued?

-No, I haven't.

-OK, well...

I think, in Canadian dollars, I would suggest...

15,000 to 20,000, which is about £7,000 to £10,000.

It's a wonderful, honest picture.

Now, to have TWO pictures... Charles Hunt, also a 19C artist.

Very kindly, we have the dates on the label.

1803 - 1877.

Here we have rather a humorous subject matter,

with boys, in this case, up to no good, I would say.

Nothing changes, really, does it?

In the 19C, it was quite... almost shocking to see a subject like this, a trivial subject.

In the 18C, it was only portraits, historical or religious subjects.

The 19C really was painting for a new clientele

that liked subjects of everyday life.

And each figure IS somebody. It really has a nice feel to it.

I think this sort of picture is worth...

-I guess about 20,000 Canadian, again. Wonderful!

-Thank you!

This is pure Irish Belleek of the very finest quality.

-They're made in the very first period.

-That's right.

-1870, 1880?

-About that, yes.

-They're great - beautifully painted and decorated -

and terribly, terribly rare! A pair like that, I suppose...

-oh, £2,000.

-Really?

-Canadian dollars, we're talking - what - 5,000, something like that.

-Isn't that wonderful?

-Terribly rare.

-For

-£10! You were very fortunate. And the tea kettle,

with the handle over the top, this is the same period.

-What did you pay there?

-About 350.

-Canadian?

-Canadian, yes.

-Yes, yes...

Well! You made a good profit on it. You could double the price now.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you so much!

-A love of Old Ireland is in Toronto.

This is the most obviously Scottish because of the...REAL weight of it!

It was designed for Ottowa winters rather than perhaps Toronto ones.

Lots of different tweeds. I think that's absolutely charming.

Perhaps, to the average eye, it may look a little on the dull side,

but I actually like the subtlety of the colours.

-And here we've got other tweeds - sort of Donegal-type tweeds and pinstripes and so on.

-Old suits.

Exactly! These were old jackets, old skirts, old trews

that have been recycled into something that's very workmanlike,

and so honest as a result. Nothing fancy about them - made to be used.

I can quite see - there they were in Scotland, sending their daughter off. All they knew about Canada

-is that it's freezing.

-Exactly.

-So they had to make something to keep their dear girl warm.

-Though a day like today...!

-You don't need it, no.

-As for value,

perhaps 300, so around £100-£150 in sterling.

James Anderson, who owned these things originally, retired in Sutton

-where I live.

-Sutton, Ontario?

-Yes, on Lake Simcoe.

A lot of his descendants still live there. And they gave us some artefacts and some furniture,

-and this jacket.

-I assume you're aware of who Mr Anderson was?

-Yes.

-He was the chief factor of the Hudson's Bay Company in Fort Resolution.

-Yes.

-And he...

-Not just any chief factor.

-No, he was appointed by the Hudson's Bay Company to lead...

-an expedition - he and Mr Stewart - to find what happened to Sir John Franklin.

-Of the Franklin Expedition.

-Yes.

-We have this letter asking Mr Anderson to search for Mr Franklin.

-Yes.

-So Mr Anderson -

not only an important factor in the fur trade, but led an important search,

-looking for the Franklin Expedition, a tragic event in Canadian history.

-It certainly was, yes.

Here we have a letter inscribed on parchment at Anderson's retirement,

stating his honourable service for the company, dated December 1, 1857,

when he retired from Fort Resolution up in the Great Slave Lake area.

That brings us to this object. Dated to the middle of the 19C, it has this wonderful leather fringe,

probably moose hide. Look at the back. This is quite fantastic.

If we can just pull this fringe out of the way...

we have this band of woven porcupine-quillwork decorating the back of the jacket.

Quite fantastic! This alone, with this extraordinary history, would be a fairly important thing,

but all this added together - it's one of the most important objects. I've been doing this 24 years.

-We search for history associated with objects. We almost never get this sort of thing.

-It's exciting.

I'm VERY excited! Beyond monetary value, to have this kind of history kept together is a fantastic thing!

Well, I understand you have a couple of his other things that were too large to be brought?

Yes, we have a beautiful portrait of him and of his daughter and his son.

I almost am hesitant to talk about a monetary value when I'm dealing with this sort of Canadian history.

-I've been told that his retirement letter would be worth £4,500, or 10,000.

-Really?!

-Just for this.

-Oh, my goodness!

-We're not finished.

-Oh, my goodness!

-Here we have a wonderful old travelling mirror.

The mirror's not original, but we have this fantastic inscription, "1831. The ship Dew Drop,"

which he moved around on. This would be worth about 3,500 or £1,500.

Then we get to the piece de resistance, as they say.

This jacket would easily command a value in the neighbourhood of £15,000 to £20,000,

-about 35,000 - 45,000.

-Well...!

-Altogether here,

about £25,000 or 50,000 - 60,000. Just for this. But beyond that, the historical importance,

and the fact that you've kept these things together - bravo. Bravo!

..It's a shell cameo,

made about 1875.

Absolutely gorgeous detail.

The scrolls of the hair on the neck - absolutely fantastic.

And the delicacy of this wing.

People aren't sure if it represents Medusa

because of the snakes in the hair, or Mercury,

the winged messenger of the gods. I'm rather inclined to Mercury -

it's such a beautiful, seraphic face, and Medusa was hideous

and turned you to stone if you looked at her.

The mounting is beautiful quality.

And the snakes represent fidelity and eternity...

because it's an ongoing circle

that is without end.

And inside, there's a portrait of a very handsome young man in what looks like a military uniform.

-I have no idea who it is. I don't know.

-Well, isn't that a shame?

Yes!

Because it's so beautiful and in such wonderful condition,

I'd estimate this at £3,000, which would be about... 6,500 Canadian.

-Well, I have never, ever worn it, but I think it's going to be worn from now on!

-It's really lovely.

-It's super, a little work of art.

-Thank you very much. I'm totally shocked.

..It's a beautiful little Chinese landscape, beautifully pencilled

with huts on a shore.

Turn it round... same on the other side.

A slightly different marine landscape.

Then the rest of the jug is beautifully moulded.

We've got these crisp feathery scrolls running along the edge,

then sea-scrolls forming the rims.

But the best bit of all is that lovely "crab stalk" handle,

a sort of natural, wooden branch.

And, twisting its body round it, this blue snake coming onto the top to bite into the side of the branch.

A gorgeous thing! It's a London factory and it's called Limehouse.

-I had the wrong one.

-Are you pleased with that?

-Yes...

-I had the wrong one. I thought it was Vauxhall.

-You WERE on the right trail.

It was one of the earliest English porcelain factories. It was going around 1746-8,

-darn early for an English porcelain factory!

-Well.

Very lumpy. You can see why it folded. These incompetent cracks and fissures. What did you pay?

-750 Canadian.

-That is, what... £300, £500 sterling?

-Um, about.

-Uh-huh. Have you done well, do you think?

-..I'm sure I have.

-You are.

-If you tell me it's Limehouse, I've done well.

-I'm going to say it's worth between £3,000 and £5,000.

-I'm very pleased.

Which in Canadian is... what, 7,000 - 10,000?

This is needlework and stumpwork of the 17C, post-Restoration period,

so from 1675 - 1685,

with all the colours in the most perfectly-preserved condition

that I've seen on any stumpwork for a long time.

Normally you only find colour like this where it's been in a box.

Yet it's been out long enough for the silver to tarnish. This was silver ribbon. It's gone black.

We know the date, we know what it is - a 17C mirror frame. There would be glass there.

Around it, all the traditional emblems from a school of needlework

and every known stitch. How did you come by it?

We were in New York City in June. The lady we were visiting said her friend was having a yard sale.

So we got in the car and went over. There wasn't too much interesting, but a paper box was sitting there,

and when I opened the box I saw this. I saw the insects first,

the embroidered insects, which really got my heart to thumping.

-And I knew it was very old. I was hoping it was late 1600s, and you said it is.

-Absolutely.

-So...

-You bought it.

-I did, yes.

-Er, can I ask how much? Tell me.

It was 100.

-100.

-Yes.

-How long ago was this?

-This June.

-So there ARE treasures out there.

-My goodness!

This would make somewhere in the region of £6,000, which is about 12,000 Canadian.

-No-o.

-Ye-es.

-No!

-Yes!

-Well, you've made my day!

-You've made mine!

So, pleasant surprises all round. It's been a long and lovely day. And among the huge throng here,

a special thanks to the lady who travelled 4,000 miles from the Yukon to be with us.

Our North American adventure's over. From Casa Loma in Toronto, goodbye.