Clitheroe Antiques Roadshow

According to one description,

this venue is half in Lancashire and half in Fairyland.

In fact, we're in Clitheroe, in the beautiful Ribble Valley,

where men are men, women are women, and rocks are limestone,

which is perfect for preserving old fossils.

One miracle that sprang from here

was TV, film and radio entertainer, Jimmy Clitheroe - The Clitheroe Kid.

This cafe preserves the image of the Kid, who, at 4'3",

could hardly reach the microphone

for his BBC shows in the '50s and '60s.

-RECORDING: What are you doing?

-Spring cleaning, ma'am.

-What? At the end of August?

-I'm a slow worker.

-LAUGHTER

'Oh, I loved him. I once met him.'

He used to have a hotel, I think,

near Blackpool, cos he offered me a job if I wanted to work for him.

He holds the record for the most appearances at Blackpool in a summer show.

He'd have six chips. If you gave him seven, he'd get upset.

I didn't know him. I knew his aunts.

This cement quarry is as big as the town itself.

You could say it's one of the most established museums in the world.

It was around here that local fossil hunter, Stanley Westhead,

found two exciting new species that were actually 350 million years old.

Here's some of his famous crinoids.

If you look closely, you can see an original Jimmy Clitheroe script

in amazingly good condition.

Just down the road is what is known, in geological and educational terms, as the "Elementary Period".

A pupil at Stonyhurst College in 1868

was a certain Arthur Conan Doyle.

A contemporary of young Arthur's was a boy named Patrick Sherlock,

and there were two brothers named, wait for it, Moriarty.

Doyle complained that local hounds kept him awake at night,

and, interestingly, the college is a dead ringer

for the fictional Baskerville Hall.

'But we mustn't get overexcited

'or we'll have to call Dr Watson.

'So, off to Rowfield Leisure Centre,

-'to test our experts' powers of deduction.'

-A nice Minton vase.

-You bought most of this on the Internet?

-Yes.

-How?

Er, searching on the web for Satsuma Oriental pottery,

finding them listed on various auction sites, and placing a bid.

How long have you been doing it?

-About 18 months.

-And you've managed to put together

a very interesting sample of Satsuma ware.

-How do you know that what you see is what you'll get?

-Well, you don't.

I've always been a gambler, so you do take a slight chance.

But most sellers photograph their wares well.

You get an indication from that how good something is.

Have you had any unpleasant surprises when the box that you've bid for...?

-When it arrives through the post...?

-Yes.

-I mean, a ceramics nightmare?

-Have you had unpleasant surprises?

-Only one or two over the years.

-A couple of damages, but I've had my money back.

-Really?

-Yes.

That's amazing! What world area are we talking about?

Where have they all come from?

Well, they've come from New Zealand, Australia and Florida, New York...

Those are mostly the places they've come from.

-Do you have any favourite pieces?

-This box is my very favourite.

-The other's a close second.

-Yeah.

I always like things that I find attractive.

This particular piece was listed...

I felt that the scene on the top

was particularly fine, and although there was damage on one of the feet,

-I felt it was worth taking a chance.

-How much did you pay?

-With the restoration - £650.

If there is a common theme... Obviously, it's all Satsuma ware.

It obviously all dates to the 1890-1920 period.

-You seem to be good at buying pieces with well-painted human figures.

-Yes.

-This is my favourite.

-I love that as well.

-When did you buy this?

About, um, four or five months ago.

-And where did it come from?

-That came from Florida as well.

The thing that's nice about this is it's got these very thick enamels.

In particular, this very thick blue,

with thick red and raised gilding.

You can actually feel the coils of this dragon

as he goes in and out of these beautiful blue clouds.

His head is somewhere here. I love it. I think it's great.

An incense burner... There he is.

An auspicious dragon with the top beautifully pierced.

If we turn him upside down,

-there's the signature, fortunately intact, with the Satsuma mon.

-Yes.

-Tell me again, you paid...?

-1,100, with the shipping.

-1,100.

Well, it's these slightly earlier, circa-1880 pieces of Satsuma,

these thick blue enamels which I personally prefer,

and which tend to be more expensive in the marketplace

-than run-of-the-mill Satsuma.

-Yes.

-This is worth a bit more than you paid for it, if you put it up for auction.

-Yes.

You could get £1,500-£2,500 for it at auction.

The name I want you to look for when browsing the Internet - it'll be the great trophy of all -

-will be the magical name of Yabu Meizan.

-Yes.

-One day, you will open that packet and see a Yabu Meizan signature.

-Yes.

-Then we're talking thousands of pounds.

-Yes.

-So, not bad for 18 months. Well done.

-Thank you.

-A pair of whatnots. Curious word, isn't it?

-It is.

-Do you know the origins of it?

-Um, actually, no.

-No.

-I mean, really, they are etagere.

-Yes.

Um, stages, platforms, and were developed

in the latter part of the 18th century from France.

Then, during the 19th century,

they became multi-formed with columns in every shape and size,

particularly by the 1860s, 1870s.

In the 1880s they started to get very much more elegant.

A renaissance of classical style

came in and superb quality whatnots developed, like this.

I think the name came from someone asking, "Where shall I put this?"

They'd say, "Put it on the whatnot."

-And the name stuck.

-Yes.

-I can think of no other reason.

Now, this very style is typical

of the makers of the 1870s, 1880s - the top quality -

Crace and Son, Holland and Son, and, of course, Gillows.

And they followed this line of ebony and a strong contrasting timber.

Then you'll see here, outside this, framing it,

is this strong black ebony colour,

and then this beaded edge, which actually sparkles.

The note of quality is the amount of it there is round all the edges.

Another piece of quality are two drawers in each.

Usually one in the base or the top, but one each end is pretty good.

And nice to see the original little knobs with their carved wood fascia.

When we open the drawer, there you are - Gillow & Co.

The magic name. The magic name.

If you pull them together, there are just slight differences in the pattern.

There you have a plain groove or a reed.

Here, you have a little heart shape at the top.

-There's a slight difference in the size of the feet.

-Yes.

So, not quite a matched pair.

Gillows had innumerable differences, slight differences in their patterns.

It really, to all intents and purposes, matters not.

Now, any maker's name on a piece of furniture adds to the value -

the historical and monetary value.

In this case, of course - Gillows -

probably the greatest increase in any name on a piece of furniture,

certainly of the 19th century.

-Have you had these a long time?

-No, we've had them for three years.

-Really?

-Yes. We saw them in an antique shop.

We thought they looked neat and well-proportioned,

then realised they were Gillow.

We thought they were attractive.

Oh, they're charming. They're as good as you'll see.

If we take this little piece here.

That would cost today

in the region of probably £4,500 to £5,000,

without the name on.

With the Gillows name - double...at £9,000.

A pair, even a matched pair,

would be certainly £22,000.

-Gosh.

-They are so desirable. They're so fashionable.

-These are ideal pieces of furniture.

-Wow! That's amazing.

You bought extremely well.

I saw it in an antique shop two years ago and went in each Saturday

thinking whether to buy him or not,

and then one Saturday I went in and he said, "He's no longer for sale."

Anyway, he reappeared six weeks ago, so I bought it immediately.

You bought her thinking she was...? What was she described as?

-We think it's a Steiff.

-Right.

-About 70 years old, I was told, and that's all I know.

-Right, OK.

-She is... Do you know what she's made out of?

-No.

-What is she made out of?

She's covered in a material called mohair, which is this furry material,

and you can feel she's quite hard. Any ideas what might...?

-Straw?

-It's a sort of straw, but made out of wood.

It's like wood straw. It's thicker than wood wool.

That's what she's stuffed with,

which gives her a very firm solid feel to her.

Let's look at this button, which is what everybody looks for,

and in the ear there there's this very nice nickel-plated button saying Steiff.

What I particularly like about Steiff elephants is it goes back to the history of Steiff.

When Margaret Steiff started business in 1877, the first thing she made was a little elephant pin cushion.

So... Although they're perhaps best known for their teddy bears,

the elephant is very important in the history of Steiff.

The buttons changed over the years, and are a good indication for dating.

This particular style of button didn't come in until about 1952.

-Oh, right.

-And was used from then for about 25 years up until about 1977.

The other thing that would indicate it's a later date is the wheels,

and these are solid wheels which are painted.

The earlier Steiff animals that you pulled along

had cast-iron wheels which were usually spoked.

So that's another good way of checking the date.

She's in nice condition and she's got this, um, pull.

-Does she make a noise?

-Indeed.

LOW GROAN Well, was that you(?)

-Was that you or the elephant(?)

-I blame the elephant.

-It's rude.

-Perhaps the person who made the box inside...

-Had a sense of humour.

Or didn't know what an elephant sounded like, but very good to have something to blame perhaps.

-So, now we need to talk about the price, because you paid...?

-I paid £650.

Well, I don't think you've got a bargain.

-No.

-But you probably paid the right shop price.

-An auction price would be less. The thing is you bought it as something you liked.

-That's right.

-Maybe by the time Charlotte's as ancient as we are...

-She'll benefit?

-She'll benefit.

-Well, thanks for bringing it in.

-Thank you.

My father was a watchmaker and jeweller, and he bought it off somebody about 40 years ago.

It's always been a prize possession,

and when my dad passed away, I inherited it and I think it's wonderful.

I quite agree. It is absolutely stunning. Do you know who made it?

-I think it's Liberty.

-It is, indeed, and we've got

the mark of Liberty & Co just there,

but, beyond that, do you know who designed it?

Um, I can't actually remember. I have had a look in my Liberty book at home.

-It's not Archibald Knox, is it?

-It is.

-Oh, is it? Oh, right.

-It is Archibald Knox and this...

-Oh!

-..makes it important.

-Does it?

-Yes.

It's a wonderful piece of Knox ware.

In fact, we've got there the Cymric mark,

which you get with the early Liberty silver and particularly designed by Archibald Knox.

But this design, with the circular foot,

almost like a doughnut, really,

but with the four plants growing up supporting the bowl, it works so beautifully.

Of course, these are marvellous stylised plants and Archibald Knox was so important to Art Nouveau.

He is internationally important.

-Do you know the date of it?

-Um, is it 19...? Early 20th century?

You're absolutely... It is...

-Actually, it's the last year of the 19th century. It is 1900.

-Oh, right.

What's lovely at this period - the use of these cabochon stones.

But an absolutely stunning piece of Knox ware,

and, of course, Knox is highly sought after.

I would say, at auction, you'd have to reckon

an estimate probably of about £6,000 to £7,000.

-Right, OK.

-And insure for probably £10,000-£12,000.

-Right, I was thinking about £800, something like that.

-I'll give you that for it at this instant!

-(Oh, my God!)

-No, I don't think you should take £800.

-So £6,000 or £7,000 is what I'd say.

-Right, OK.

-I assume the ball comes out, rolls round, and I catch it.

-Catch it in the basket.

-Right.

-You take your prize if it goes...

-Put the money in, then. Let's have a go.

-OK.

..Right, here it comes.

-..Yes, I've won!

-You've got it.

-Where is my prize?

-I haven't got tickets to put in the tube.

-Right.

-This is a penny arcade machine.

-Yes.

-It's actually quite a rare machine.

-Is it? Oh.

-This is called The Clown.

There's a little plate there, you can see, with a licence number which says The Clown.

In fact, it's a very early machine. It was made in around about 1910.

-Oh?

-It has a lot of early features.

-It's velvet lined and has these little gilt spandrels, which are very Victorian-Edwardian.

-Yeah.

-So, how do you come to have this?

-Well, it was rescued from a bonfire.

-Right.

-And, er, my son helped me, and we took it and reconditioned it.

I can see the brass has been cleaned, and the clown repainted,

-and that is a factor in determining the price.

-I see.

I've seen these make as much as £1,000 at auction.

In this condition this is going to be worth around about £700-£900.

-Is it?

-It's a rare machine

-Obviously, it gives you pleasure.

-Yes, especially the grandchildren.

-Good. Thanks for bringing it.

-OK.

-These are interesting. I'd guess they're belt buckles. Am I right?

-I think so.

-Where are they from?

Well, they were presented to my great-great-grandfather,

who was the strongest man in England in 1861.

Um, I think those were following an exhibition he did before the Queen in Holland Park, London.

He died aged 47, in 1870, um, but he was very well-known for Indian club-swinging,

which apparently was a keep-fit fad from the mid-1800s to about 1930s.

I gather he saw the Lord Mayor's Procession in London, saw an Indian doing it,

and decided he'd like to do it, and was eventually swinging clubs that came up to chest height.

-Was he a big man?

-I don't know. I have a sketch of him and a photograph, but that's all.

-He doesn't look massively powerful.

-No!

The hands are strong. Did you inherit his strength?

No, I wish I had, but, er, I think his son inherited some of it - the youngest they called Samson.

I think he and another brother did Indian club swinging for a while.

How did you get them?

-A friend bought them and I like the simple things they're doing.

-Yeah.

-Um...

-They are very nice. Lovely.

I'd guess they're Northern French, probably 1920, individually painted.

Some of them are monogrammed. Have you spotted any monograms?

-That one there. Well done. How much did you pay?

-We paid £50 or £80.

-£80?

-Yes.

-That's OK.

-I thought £5 for a hand-painted tile was what you pay nowadays.

-Absolutely.

INAUDIBLE SPEECH

It was left to me by my mother, and she was left it by her great-aunt.

-Did the great-aunt tell her anything about it?

-Not as far as I know, no.

My mother thought it was Persian. Somebody then said it was Japanese.

-Yeah.

-I think she had it valued a few years ago, but I just want to know more about it, really.

With the original owner, was there any connection with the Far East?

A connection with India, but not with, as far as I know, with Japan.

-When were the connections with India?

-1842.

-Right.

-Well, this goes back some way before that.

-Yes.

-It actually is Japanese,

and the type of ware is called Namban lacquer.

It's actually made for export, but in the late 16th and 17th centuries, when this type of thing was made.

No doubt it could filter its way over South East Asia, into India, and then here.

But they're very scarce.

It's a spectacular piece of furniture.

It would've came from Japan filled with something. When it got here... Was there any other piece of this?

-There is a base, but I think that was made separately. It sits on it, but it's a different style.

-Right.

A lot of these came in, not necessarily this form,

but a lot came in and were mounted on English and Continental bases, so that's quite standard.

They wouldn't have made this in Japan with the base.

It's densely decorated, painted in lacquer, inlaid with mother-of-pearl, with all this geometry down here,

-and these nice ogival panels up here. These are auspicious and have a meaning.

-Oh?

-The crane here symbolised longevity.

-Yeah?

I can't remember the exact meaning of the hare,

which brings me in here, which is done in a slightly different style, but you have the two hares.

I know they have a positive iconography about them,

but this is a marvellous example of this rare material, and...it's quite valuable.

Although the Japanese market's fluctuated recently,

this would certainly make between £15,000 and £20,000 at auction.

-Maybe even more, I don't know.

-Yeah.

-It's not going to be sold, though.

-Good.

-I'm keeping it.

-Very exciting.

-Thank you.

-Who was George? Or is George the name of the car?

-He was my father.

Who the car belonged to. It was kept in the bottom of the wardrobe,

and I used to get it out, play with it, put it back,

and they always said it belonged to my father. It was Dad's.

He got it when he was a boy, so I guess it's about 70 years old.

Right. Well, there's no discerning mark on it that tells me immediately who made this.

It's German, I know that.

In the early 1900s, the Germans were the biggest manufacturer of toys

and they exported in huge quantities to the UK.

This is a very fine quality toy.

What's nice about it is that he, and then subsequently you,

played with it very carefully.

There are some features that I quite like about it.

First of all, it's got a handbrake here, at the side.

And also here, it's got a little adjustable window

that can open and close,

so the front windscreen can actually hinge up and down.

In old cars they didn't have windscreen wipers,

so if started to rain, and the chauffeur couldn't see out -

he was sitting out in the cold, anyway -

so he'd just winch up the windscreen and got even colder and wetter.

So that's a nice feature that a car of that period would have had.

And then two great acetylene lamps in the front.

They didn't have electric lamps in those days,

they were gas lamps, illuminated so that they could see at night.

So these features are extraordinarily nice and very rare.

And also... If I could turn it round...

the liveried chauffeur here at the side.

Those were the days when you didn't have to drive yourself, but your chauffeur drove for you.

It's probably by a company called Distler,

or it could be a company called Karl Bub.

Distler certainly had this adjustable windscreen.

So it's one of those two. They both were manufacturers in Nuremberg.

And I think the date is about...1920,

so that puts it at 80 to 85 years old.

-So do you know when he was born?

-Well, he will be 84, so...

-So he must have got it as a very small child.

-Yes.

-So he got it new, in this box.

-That's right, yes.

-And they've always stayed together.

-Yes.

What I'd like you to do, the next generation,

when you find out a bit more about it,

just put that as a label inside the box,

so people down the line will know exactly who it belonged to.

So often these things appear and one doesn't know the history behind them.

This has a full history. Like when you buy a car you want the history,

when you buy a toy, you want the full history as well.

-Have you had it valued it all?

-No. I've never asked anybody about it.

-At auction you could expect to get between £1,500 and £2,000.

-Great.

And maybe a bit more for insurance.

-Madam Mayor, a great privilege to see you, and to meet you.

-Thank you.

I must say, however elegant and interesting the table is, it's eclipsed by that medallion.

It's wonderful and Queen Victoria...

-It was presented for the Queen's Golden Jubilee.

-How wonderful!

-So it's a privilege to wear it.

Now, first glance, it looks like a very interesting breakfast table

from about 1830, maybe before. We need to sit down and look at the base together.

These are the things that we date it from and give it a provenance.

This type of triple moulding, on a platform such as this,

with a leg springing from each corner

is typical Northern Counties or Scotland from 1820-1840.

-OK?

-Yes.

-The fact that it has this superb quality timber,

and it has carved wooden claws rather than the brass ones,

does indicate a slightly later date, so we'll go for slightly post-1830.

The column is fantastic, with a beautiful baluster shape, so it fits together nicely.

The next thing we'd date it by is the apron - this skirt around under the top.

That appeared after 1810, not before.

An 18th-century one would've had no skirt, but a moulded edge like that.

So, all is well, and it should tip up.

-This is where the test comes...

-It does tip up.

-..because...

We can stand up here if you'd like to get up.

Now, it doesn't stand up. It doesn't tilt to the upright.

It doesn't, because it's hitting

the knee of that curl of that leg.

An original table would've stood up, so we have to look at the frame,

-and here you can see this is a totally new piece of wood.

-Yes.

These are totally new tenon joints, and these are also new rails.

So you've got an old top being re-railed,

and that is a new...

quite soft-timbered platform.

So, we have an old base

and an old top

put together, at a later date, with a new frame.

That could've happened for several reasons - they weren't satisfactory.

Big tables, because the weight is on that tiny centre part,

were often rickety and so forth, and they broke, so they made a new one.

-I see here it says, "Clitheroe Town Mayor's Parlour".

-That's right.

-So how do you use the table?

-Well...

-For breakfast?

-No.

The table stands in the hallway of the town hall,

and we display leaflets and anything that comes in -

councillor's notes and letters, and, should we have a raffle, the prizes are placed on the table.

It's never been anything special.

As long as it's being used, it doesn't matter.

It's not being abused and it's never going to be turned up, so what I've told you is purely academic.

However, in terms of antiques, it's probably better that it's like this,

because if this were good and original, it's probably into £10,000-£12,000.

-As it is, it's nearer probably £2,000-£2,500, which is the price of a modern table.

-Nice.

So you can use it and enjoy it.

-And still put the raffle prizes on it.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Was this a lucky purchase for you?

Well, my wife bought it, er, for her mother in Nelson over 20 years ago.

-It had plastic flowers in it, and she paid £3.50 for it.

-£3.50?

-Yeah.

-That was good. What did you do with the plastic flowers?

-Oh, they still get put in it.

-You, of course, recognised the mark immediately, did you?

-No, I didn't.

-I didn't like it at first.

-Did you not?

-No, no.

It's wonderful. If we look at the marks - "Bizarre, Clarice Cliff".

Clarice Cliff was one of the great designers who starts up in the 1929 period.

During the early '30s, she's one of the world's greatest designers.

She worked for Wilkinsons, and the proprietor of the Wilkinsons factory was a man called Colley Shorter.

There is one pattern Clarice Cliff did called the "Secrets" pattern,

which includes a little cottage such as the one you've got here.

That's where they'd tryst - Clarice Cliff and Colley Shorter.

But there are all sorts of variations on that pattern,

and they're extremely sought after, these pieces.

So, £3.50 - 22 years ago. What do you think it's worth now?

-I haven't a clue.

-You haven't...?

-I thought it might be a few hundred.

-Um, well...

-Guessing.

-Nearer to £800 to £1,200 for this.

-You're joking?!

It's a sought-after shape and very exciting to see, so thank you.

-Great! I like it better now.

-LAUGHTER

My friend asked us to get a valuation on it over a year ago,

-and we only got a valuation of £50, and I felt it was worth more.

-Hmm.

When I heard you were coming, I said I'd bring it in.

Well, it's very kind of you. It's a wonderful big knife.

Very typical of Victorian knives that were produced in Sheffield.

It's made by G Butlers of Sheffield,

and its trademark's name is the Cavendish.

It has a saw, for use on wood or bone.

If you'd been hunting you'd saw through bone.

We move round. There's a button-hook to do your boots up or your spats.

Further round here there's a wickedly pointed thing - an awl,

which you'd use for boring holes in or whatever.

-Further round - a hoof pick.

-Right.

-For removing clag from the horse's hoof.

-I didn't know what that was.

Most important on any knife, here is the good old corkscrew.

And then we move into the detail.

-You've got things you'd expect on most penknives.

-Yes.

But, down here... Voila! A pair of tweezers, and...

-A bodkin.

-Right.

-You could sew with that or do anything with it. It takes splinters out of thumbs.

And then last, and perhaps most interesting,

is this little thing here,

which is made between two pieces of tortoiseshell.

-That's a little surgical lancet.

-Right.

-You do what you like with it.

It all fits into this wonderful combination tool.

You could be confident that you'd have a tool for every job.

It is literally the ancestor of the Swiss army knife and the multi-tools of today.

-Now you wanted a valuation. Well, I think that it is worth between £750 and £1,000.

-Right.

Oh!

He got it... I think he got it with some cutlery in a cutlery drawer.

So I think he'll be very pleased.

I fell in love with the Scottish colourists.

-I was introduced to them by a friend in Scotland.

-Yes.

-I love them - the Hunters, the Cadell and the Peploe.

-Yes.

I just fell in love with this painting when I saw it.

Well, I've long admired Peploe and the other colourists, too,

and the Glasgow colourists were amazingly advanced for their time.

They'd been to France and seen the impressionists, postimpressionists,

imbibed that, taken it back to Scotland,

and they were far in advance of what English painters were doing then.

This is a typical work by him. It's quite restrained.

Peploe's still lives can be bright and strong in colour - those flowers in vases.

But this is rather restrained - its white, its black, its grey tones, its rather sort of cool colours.

But I like that. I like that.

-Um, now, any idea who the girl is?

-No, none at all.

-Because I think it's Peggy McCrae, who sat for him a lot.

-Oh, yes?

-And I think it's a picture of her.

But, tell me now, how did you acquire it?

Well, about nine years ago, I received a rather nice bonus.

I used to be in industry, and decided I wanted to buy something that we could keep,

and I bought it at Christie's at one of their Scottish sales...

-Yes.

-..in Edinburgh.

-Do you remember what you paid?

Approximately £10,000 - 10,300 or 10,400 - something like that.

-I don't obviously have to tell you there's been a huge revival of interest in Scottish painting...

-Yes.

..Old Scottish art, and in the colourists most of all,

-so there's no doubt, in ten years, this will have gone up in price.

-Yes.

I'd think if that went up in a sale in Scotland today,

-it would be more like £20,000-£25,000 now.

-Yes.

-You can't be precise...

-No, quite.

-..but that's roughly what I think,

-and, for insurance, you should be insuring it for, say, £35,000.

-Right.

I knew, since the London Colourist exhibition, they were more popular, but I didn't realise that popular.

-Those things all help.

-Yes, quite.

-It was my great-grandfather's.

-And how long ago would that be?

Maybe 1910. We don't really know when, but think around that date.

It's been passed down through the family and now belongs to my brother.

-Do you know where it came from?

-We've been told it's a Brazilian yellow diamond.

-Apart from that, we don't know.

-It's interesting you said Brazil,

-because, now, most people associate diamonds with Southern Africa.

-Mm-hm.

-But diamonds were originally found in India, and all the diamond mines were worked out about 1725.

-Right.

Around the same time, they found them in Brazil,

and those mines went on until they found diamonds in South Africa,

which was pretty late in the 19th century.

-So it's likely this did originate from Brazil.

-Did they specifically find yellow diamonds in Brazil?

Well, they find white, white-yellow, all colours, because the... After white diamonds,

the range goes from yellow to brown. This is quite a good colour yellow.

It's not a really strong intense yellow.

The cutting's quite interesting, because it's a 19th-century cut.

It's not round like most modern-cut diamonds. It's more cushion shaped, or TV-screen shaped, I always say.

Also, if you look through, you'll see that there's a slice off the bottom.

-Yes.

-The cullet. That's something you won't get in a modern diamond.

-Do you think it's always been a ring?

-No, I don't,

because the stone is older than the setting, and diamonds get unset and reset and unset and reset.

-It happens all the time.

-What kind of date's the setting?

Around 1910, because it's platinum. Platinum's great for mounting jewellery, because it's very hard.

They hardly used it, because it was difficult to solder until about 1900, when they improved their technology.

It's quite a big stone. I've got a little gadget here that, um...

roughly measures the size of diamonds,

but it only goes up to 2½ carats.

And 2½ carats goes nowhere near that.

And these are heavy, because they cut them deeper than modern stones.

So I think this probably weighs

somewhere between four and five carats, which is quite sizeable.

So, you don't actually have this insured?

It's on the household contents insurance.

-So you'd get £500 for it if it was stolen?

-Something like that.

If it was a strong yellow, it'd be worth a huge amount,

but even with this pleasant yellow, weighing between four to five carats,

this has got to be insured for, well, at least £12,000.

-Anything between £12,000 and £15,000, I would say.

-Yeah, quite a lot.

-It's... It's really a super ring.

-It was a present for getting into Central School of Art and Design to study theatre.

-Were you a designer?

-For a little while.

-So this means something to you?

-It means I had a past in the theatre. I love it.

-Well, before we dive in, I want to just look at the building itself.

-Do.

This is so wonderful. It's made of wood.

At the front, it's got the royal box, the proscenium arch and so on, but that's what you'd expect really.

The interesting thing comes... I'm going to do this very carefully,

because I'm sure things will just drop away.

-But it's got the fly doors here...

-It does.

..All finished in simulated brick as if it was a proper theatre.

There it is, inside you've got a fully working theatre.

The doors open on the other side, so you can operate the flies, you can move the scenery in and out.

-Are children allowed to play with it?

-I have allowed children to play with it, under supervision.

-Nothing has been broken, and these were special needs children.

-That's staggering.

-They love it.

-I suppose it's so obviously breakable and fragile

that maybe it gives a certain sort of hesitation to leap in and bang away at it.

Now, we've got various plays here.

It looks as if this could be Romeo and Juliet, this Merchant of Venice.

-I think so.

-Could this possibly be the unmentionable play?

-It could be, or Hamlet.

-Let's say Hamlet. Here, perhaps The Tempest?

-I love this boat here.

-Do you want to play?

-Yeah!

-Right, you go first.

-And you.

-And here we go.

-LAUGHTER I'm feeling seasick.

-It's lovely.

Absolutely great. These are little perfect watercolour sketches

of the backdrops, the flies, the side scenery,

everything there, even 3D scenery here.

-And they're written on the back of calling cards, business cards.

-Certainly seem to be, yes.

We've got a number of names here.

One name sticks out, which is Percy Madgwick,

and he says that he is the stage manager

-of Mr FR Benson's Shakespearian Company.

-Yes.

Sir Frank Benson is an extraordinary name in Shakespearian productions,

because when he first got involved with Shakespearian production in the 1880s...

He produced Shakespearian plays for 30 years at Stratford,

so he was associated with Stratford and Shakespeare, and produced all but two of the Shakespeare plays,

-and he was actually knighted in Drury Lane on the set of Julius Caesar.

-That's amazing!

-It's wonderful that we've got that.

-Oh, beautiful! I didn't know that.

-It's great, isn't it?

-It's smashing, yes.

Looking at the original box...

I'm looking at the name here,

-hoping I can make out P Madgwick.

-Yes.

-It'd be nice to think so.

-It does look like it is.

-It does.

-Give it the benefit of the doubt?

-I think it was his, for his theatre.

In which case, it links it, without any question, to Sir Frank Benson's company.

Now, why do you think Mr Madgwick made these things?

I only can think he loved working for the company, and this was his record.

So you don't think these are actually pre-production designs?

-I think they're too tiny.

-Actually, you're right.

-They're far too tiny.

-What scale do you work on for pre-production?

-This...?

-That would be normal, but I think that's too tiny.

-If you were a travelling company, you could travel with the box.

-Yes.

-That's a possibility.

-Yes.

-But I don't know, I really don't.

And what's exceptional about it is that it's not a toy. It is really quite serious,

but, as a side issue, it's entertaining and amusing, but for a serious purpose.

I would have thought that, to a theatre collector, somebody would pay £2,000 for this.

-It's just...heaven.

-Yes, good.

-I'm really pleased you brought it.

-You can play as long as you like.

-Let's go and play.

-Absolutely. Thank you.

-It's a pleasure.

'Well, a day of pleasant surprises.'

A long time ago, even before the first Roadshow,

this whole area was at the bottom of a warm tropical sea, and it feels like that today.

It's been very warm and humid, so special thanks to the people of the Ribble Valley for joining us.

If you've enjoyed our discoveries,

you can enjoy them again on our website.

But, from Clitheroe, until next time, goodbye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd