0:00:37 > 0:00:40We've taken a trip to Boston.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45No, not Boston, Massachusetts, but the original authentic prototype -
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Boston, Lincolnshire.
0:00:47 > 0:00:51There is a connection, of course - the ancestors of today's Bostonians
0:00:51 > 0:00:55went off and helped to found a new continent.
0:00:55 > 0:01:00The Domesday Book barely mentioned the hamlet which became Boston,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04its name taken from a 6th-century missionary, St Botolph.
0:01:04 > 0:01:10But in 1142, a sluice was built to improve the flow of the River Witham
0:01:10 > 0:01:14and the hamlet soon became the outport for Lincolnshire.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18By the 14th century, it was the fourth richest provincial town.
0:01:18 > 0:01:25Merchants from all over Europe flocked to the Great Fair held on St Botolph's Day every June.
0:01:25 > 0:01:27Boston had arrived.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32All that was needed was a symbol to celebrate its new power and wealth.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40St Botolph's is believed to be the largest parish church in England.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43It became known as the "Boston Stump",
0:01:43 > 0:01:49probably because the steeple has the appearance of a tree with its boughs lopped, ready for felling.
0:01:49 > 0:01:52One of the treasures of this church is found
0:01:52 > 0:01:56under the parson's nose - if you see what I mean.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00These seats are called misericords and they tip up,
0:02:00 > 0:02:03enabling the user to relax
0:02:03 > 0:02:06while still technically standing.
0:02:06 > 0:02:08And how's this for light relief?
0:02:08 > 0:02:12Some wonderful carving, dating back to about 1390.
0:02:13 > 0:02:18Ironically, as work went on to build this symbol of power,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Boston's fortunes as a trading port were fading.
0:02:21 > 0:02:26Commerce declined and was replaced by a spirit of religious radicalism
0:02:26 > 0:02:32personified in 1612 by the new vicar, John Cotton.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36John Cotton was a Puritan. Puritans wanted the Church of England
0:02:36 > 0:02:43to dismantle its elaborate structure and sermons and return to a simpler, purer form of worship.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47There was a price to pay for rebellion.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52Persecuted within the church and the community, a band of Puritans
0:02:52 > 0:02:56set sail from Plymouth in 1620 aboard the Mayflower.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00They were bound for the New World and religious freedom.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04This was the inspiration that John Cotton's flock needed
0:03:04 > 0:03:09and in 1630, members of the congregation sailed on the Arbella, bound for Massachusetts.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13There they founded the new Boston.
0:03:13 > 0:03:17More than 300 years on, Boston, Lincolnshire still thrives
0:03:17 > 0:03:21as a busy market town and port, so let's join today's Bostonians
0:03:21 > 0:03:24at the Peter Paine Sports Centre.
0:03:25 > 0:03:29Well, fantastic African art apart, what happened?
0:03:29 > 0:03:35- Er, car crash.- What did you do? - I broke my neck and fractured my skull and cheekbone.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38You look well for having broken your neck...
0:03:38 > 0:03:42Anyway, we're here to talk about your collection of African art.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46This is all - or the majority of the collection is -
0:03:46 > 0:03:52West African, Nigerian and Yoruba twin figures. Where did they come from?
0:03:52 > 0:03:56My granddad lived in Nigeria in the '60s and worked there
0:03:56 > 0:04:00and collected them while he was there in that area.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04The nice thing about them is that they were actually used as fetishes
0:04:04 > 0:04:09rather than sold on to tourists, or carved for tourists.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13This pair are rather nicely worn, which shows that they've been used.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18- Do you know why these figures were actually made?- Er, no, not really.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Well, what happened back in the...
0:04:21 > 0:04:26I think it was the 18th century, the Yoruba tribe had more twins
0:04:26 > 0:04:33per head of population than anybody else, I think, anywhere else in the world, and when one of them died,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38or if both died, that was unlucky, and the mother would commission
0:04:38 > 0:04:43the woodcarver of the village and would have these figures made.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45They wouldn't exactly worship them,
0:04:45 > 0:04:50but they would offer food and drink and all that sort of thing to them.
0:04:50 > 0:04:56I like that pair particularly. This pair are more modern. I think these are 19th century...
0:04:56 > 0:04:59This is probably 20th century.
0:04:59 > 0:05:06It's much more alarming, very much more typical, I suppose, of 20th-century art...
0:05:06 > 0:05:11And the wonderful coffee-bean eyes that they have, it's very typical,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15particularly on the big figure. Do you have a favourite?
0:05:15 > 0:05:19I like this one. I like all the markings on the body.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22The scarifications on the body.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27And - very typical - the nails for eyes, which is typical of this,
0:05:27 > 0:05:32and the blue colouring on the hair, and the beading, of course, which is absolutely tremendous.
0:05:32 > 0:05:37I have a particular pair here which I think are rather splendid.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40Most wonderful headdresses,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42absolutely lovely.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47Now, a pair of these, certainly the pair I first picked up,
0:05:47 > 0:05:52would be worth somewhere in the region of £600 to £800.
0:05:52 > 0:05:57These a little less because I think they are more modern, but there,
0:05:57 > 0:06:03we have a table full of it, so where do you think we're going as far as price is concerned on this?
0:06:03 > 0:06:09- No idea.- Well, I would have thought you've got the best part of £5,000-worth here.
0:06:09 > 0:06:16I'm not sure what this is. Um, I think it's a correction chair, but we've had it in the family
0:06:16 > 0:06:23for generations, and the only one I've ever seen similar - not quite so ornate -
0:06:23 > 0:06:28is at Mapledurham in Oxfordshire, at that house, but other than that, I know nothing about it.
0:06:28 > 0:06:32I actually don't call them a correction chair,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35because that makes it sound rather brutal.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38They're known as deportment chairs.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43- Oh.- And as a young lady, in the Victorian times particularly,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46it was extremely important, and part of your education,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50to sit up straight, carry yourself properly,
0:06:50 > 0:06:54and for children brought up in a nursery with a governess and nanny,
0:06:54 > 0:07:00part of their learning during the day would be etiquette, table manners, deportment,
0:07:00 > 0:07:07and so a chair like this would have been in a sense correctional, because, of course,
0:07:07 > 0:07:14if you sat on this, with its very straight high back, and you weren't sitting up properly, you'd tip off.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18You couldn't sit with this little narrow seat
0:07:18 > 0:07:21in any way other than in a perfect posture, upright.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25This is a nice example and we can date it quite accurately
0:07:25 > 0:07:30- because of this decoration on the top.- Yes.- It's like an open fan,
0:07:30 > 0:07:34and I would suggest that that would date it to around 1880,
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and it's a country piece, because it's made of beech.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43They are very collectable because they're a nice piece of furniture,
0:07:43 > 0:07:48but they also appeal to people who deal with dolls and those things,
0:07:48 > 0:07:51because they're a good size to display things on.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55I think probably, um, if you were to look to find another -
0:07:55 > 0:08:01and they are not that common, as you know, because you've not seen it before -
0:08:01 > 0:08:06- I think it would probably be worth insuring it for about £350.- Really?
0:08:06 > 0:08:11Six of the figures from Lord Of The Rings, made by the Doulton factory.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15- How did you come by them?- It started off, I bought that one...
0:08:15 > 0:08:21and then the rest were presents from my mother-in-law for Christmas and birthday.
0:08:21 > 0:08:23Do you remember how much he cost?
0:08:23 > 0:08:27- I remember this one cost my mother-in-law £20.- £20.- Yes.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31They came out in the 1970s, and then they went out of production,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and they weren't limited editions.
0:08:34 > 0:08:38There were actually nine of them. You haven't got the other three?
0:08:38 > 0:08:42- I haven't.- You'll have to try and get the other three,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45- but they're zooming up in price. - Yes.- These early ones.
0:08:45 > 0:08:51Generally, figures that aren't limited editions don't go up in price much, not for a long time,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54but the films have boomed the whole thing
0:08:54 > 0:08:58and nowadays you have to pay a lot of money for these things.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01If you had the full set of them,
0:09:01 > 0:09:05- they would fetch something like around about £1,500.- Really?
0:09:05 > 0:09:09- Much more than they did a year ago. - Right.- But with just the six...
0:09:09 > 0:09:15- I suppose one's still looking at something like about £750.- Oh.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Do you have an Irish connection?
0:09:18 > 0:09:23No, I don't. I did try and find out the origins of the chairs after I purchased them.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28- You have a pair?- Yes, they're a pair. They were very distressed.
0:09:28 > 0:09:34After I'd bought them, I traced the second previous owner, and from that I was told
0:09:34 > 0:09:40that there had been a chap who'd been buying furniture in Ireland and retailing it in this country.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44And, I mean... this upholstery, YOU put on?
0:09:44 > 0:09:47- Yes, it's been renewed.- Were there layers of upholstery underneath?
0:09:47 > 0:09:52- No, it'd been very, very badly upholstered, possibly in the '70s, I would think...- Right.
0:09:52 > 0:09:57- ..with foam rubber and red Dralon. - Lovely(!) Good for fire risk too!
0:09:57 > 0:10:01Apart from the scale, it's an incredibly comfortable chair
0:10:01 > 0:10:05that one sees being made by people like Howard & Sons -
0:10:05 > 0:10:08very comfortable easy chairs, and they have turned legs,
0:10:08 > 0:10:15but the real thing that stands these chairs apart from almost any others are these distinctive legs.
0:10:15 > 0:10:18- If you could give me a hand... - Sure.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22- They're made of walnut rather than being mahogany.- Right.
0:10:22 > 0:10:27And they've got this incredibly stylised foliate cabriole leg,
0:10:27 > 0:10:31- although it almost looks like it's drapery in a funny kind...- Yes.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34It's a very idiosyncratic motif,
0:10:34 > 0:10:38and then with these rather nice sort of lion-paw feet...
0:10:38 > 0:10:42I've only ever seen this model of leg once before,
0:10:42 > 0:10:46and that was on a suite of Irish chairs, Irish side chairs.
0:10:46 > 0:10:49- They're thinner and they were in mahogany, not in walnut.- Right.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53But they were mid 18th century and the real key is...
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Let's just have a look to see
0:10:55 > 0:10:59what the rails reveal - because with the upholstery, of course,
0:10:59 > 0:11:03you can never see whether it's a 20C copy or an 18C one.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07The form itself is not a form you would see in the 18th century.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12The concept of an easy chair like this, with a padded bergere side,
0:11:12 > 0:11:18- the whole proportions of it, is a different shape to any 18th-century prototype.- Right.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21The construction of the rails...
0:11:21 > 0:11:25They've actually got rather a nice old, quite pure surface
0:11:25 > 0:11:30with oxidised timber, and there's also, at the bottom of the legs,
0:11:30 > 0:11:34there's a good amount of wear actually on the feet themselves.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37These aren't, I'm glad to say,
0:11:37 > 0:11:4120th-century chairs, but they're not 18th-century chairs either.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43You bought them as being...?
0:11:43 > 0:11:48I suppose either sort of late Victorian or Edwardian repros.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52Right. Actually, it's a very, very gutsy chair and its shape...
0:11:52 > 0:11:57I wonder whether it may originally have been covered in leather or...
0:11:57 > 0:12:01as library armchairs, and with this scrolled out section,
0:12:01 > 0:12:08in terms of construction, I think they date from the mid to the second half of the 19C.
0:12:08 > 0:12:14Characteristically Irish on the bottom. How much did you pay for them in their distressed state?
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- They were £500.- £500.
0:12:17 > 0:12:23Well, I think, just as a very good, over-scale pair of 19th-century Irish bergeres like this -
0:12:23 > 0:12:27incredibly comfortable as you say, going with your recommendation -
0:12:27 > 0:12:33they would probably fetch £4,000 to £6,000 at auction, so, distressed they may have been...
0:12:33 > 0:12:37- I'm delighted.- ..but they're happier now!- So am I! Thank you.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41This is brilliant!
0:12:41 > 0:12:45Modern medicine - Clark's miraculous salve
0:12:45 > 0:12:48for the cure of ulcerated bad legs,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52boils, abscesses, fistulas...
0:12:52 > 0:12:57- HE LAUGHS - ..bad breasts and gatherings of all kinds.
0:12:57 > 0:13:01One and a ha'penny... One shilling and one ha'penny per pot.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04Absolutely brilliant.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09- As toucans go, this is impressive. Michael, you remember these, don't you?- Oh, I say, yes.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14I remember the film with Glenda Jackson - Only Two Can Play. That was excellent.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18- One of the most famous advertising symbols, isn't it?- Absolutely.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22- Yes.- And there was the other one... "My goodness, my Guinness."- Yes.
0:13:22 > 0:13:27Where the boy's lost his glass down an ostrich's neck. It's fabulous.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31- How long have you had it?- Over 40 years.- What's the history of it?
0:13:31 > 0:13:35- My father used to work in the pub trade...- Did it stand on the bar?
0:13:35 > 0:13:38- Yes.- Yes, as an advertising symbol.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42- And it would have had a glass of Guinness on the back?- I think so.
0:13:42 > 0:13:44Which unfortunately's been...
0:13:44 > 0:13:49Rough evening in the pub, perhaps. The glass has gone, as you can see.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52It's made of papier-mache
0:13:52 > 0:13:58and there are a lot of collectors of this animal, the toucan, because of the advertising symbol,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03and I think a collector of Guinness memorabilia would probably pay £300 or £400 for this,
0:14:03 > 0:14:08- even in that condition. - Excellent.- Cheers.- Terrific.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11So, ruby and diamond cufflinks in the form of owl's heads.
0:14:11 > 0:14:16- Tell me about them.- I didn't know they were ruby and diamond, to start with.- You didn't?!
0:14:16 > 0:14:21- No, I didn't.- That's a good start then, isn't it?- It is rather, yes!
0:14:21 > 0:14:23We want to know who they belong to.
0:14:23 > 0:14:27I bought them for my husband as a birthday present.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29Well, what a brilliant thing...
0:14:29 > 0:14:32So, gold and silver and rubies and diamonds
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and I guess they date from about 1910, something like that.
0:14:36 > 0:14:38How much were they?
0:14:38 > 0:14:43I can't remember exactly, but I'm a generous wife but not over the top -
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- about £300, I think.- £300...
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Well, everybody would want these. They look fantastic on the cuff,
0:14:51 > 0:14:55they're not too noisy and they're not insignificant,
0:14:55 > 0:15:00and very desirable, and I'm going to value them at £1,250.
0:15:00 > 0:15:04- I think I deserve brownie points for years!- You do!
0:15:04 > 0:15:09- Do you drink tea out of this? - No, it's in a display cabinet.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11How did it come to you?
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Well, it came from my grandfather's side of the family...
0:15:14 > 0:15:18- Sorry.- Excuse me. - I heard the word "teatime".
0:15:18 > 0:15:21You've come all the way from China?
0:15:21 > 0:15:24- Do you know what that is?- No.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28- It is a lump of compressed tea. - Really?
0:15:28 > 0:15:32Yeah, and they export it just like that,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36- and I bought one for my daughter. Sorry I interrupted.- Absolutely!
0:15:36 > 0:15:41- I thought it was a coincidence.- The perfect moment! You haven't got the cream?- We'll grind it up, make tea.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43It's a tea brick.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47Actually, they made those for the Russian market.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50We, of course, were drinking leaf tea in the 18th century,
0:15:50 > 0:15:55and this is for leaf tea. You call it a service, but is it really?
0:15:55 > 0:15:59Well, we keep it as a service in the display cabinet,
0:15:59 > 0:16:04- but the patterns are slightly different on some of the items. - The patterns ARE different.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07The odd one out is actually the teapot.
0:16:07 > 0:16:11The reason is... these are all porcelain,
0:16:11 > 0:16:16albeit of different patterns, but this is made of earthenware.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21If you hold this up to the light, you will not see light through it.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It is earthenware. Let's do that.
0:16:24 > 0:16:27You see? Nothing coming through at all.
0:16:27 > 0:16:32This is a pottery body, but it is a beautifully made piece of pottery
0:16:32 > 0:16:35that is actually imitating contemporary porcelain.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39The porcelain probably was made in Staffordshire,
0:16:39 > 0:16:44maybe at a factory called New Hall, but this earthenware teapot
0:16:44 > 0:16:48could have been made in a number of places. Liverpool is a possibility,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52Staffordshire, Yorkshire - they all produced this pearlware.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56I do like that swan on top. Isn't that pretty?
0:16:56 > 0:17:02These tea bowls date circa 1790 and you can buy these in shops for £20-£40 a tea bowl and saucer,
0:17:02 > 0:17:08but the teapot - this modest piece of pottery imitating porcelain with its broken swan finial -
0:17:08 > 0:17:13it's something for which you'd pay somewhere in the region of £100 -
0:17:13 > 0:17:15maybe anything up to £200.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20- We don't collect. It came to me through my father...- Yes.
0:17:20 > 0:17:26And it was given to him about 55-60 years ago, all in tiny little pieces.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29- The leading had gone.- Yes.
0:17:29 > 0:17:35And at the end of the war, he brought it all out, he made a little crate, made up the jigsaw...
0:17:35 > 0:17:37- Yes, it is like a jigsaw.- It is.
0:17:37 > 0:17:42..and put it on top of his Austin 7 car and off we went up to London
0:17:42 > 0:17:45- and he took it to the firm of Kelly's...- I see.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49And this was 1947, and it was all re-leaded,
0:17:49 > 0:17:52- and we noticed there is a signature...- Oh, yes.
0:17:52 > 0:17:56- There it is. - ..Which says H Hughes, 1870.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Of course, stained glass is a long tradition in English art.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04It goes back to the Middle Ages.
0:18:04 > 0:18:09The Victorians revived the medieval method of doing stained glass,
0:18:09 > 0:18:13which was basically to colour each piece. Each piece of glass
0:18:13 > 0:18:18was individually coloured and put together, and then they painted over it as well,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20usually in a sort of enamel.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25The famous maker of stained-glass windows was William Morris and Co,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29- and Burne-Jones their most famous designer.- Yes.- There were others.
0:18:29 > 0:18:36There were many others, and of course Henry Hughes is as yet, you know, not well known or remembered,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41but he obviously, clearly, was a first-rate artist.
0:18:41 > 0:18:46Now, what about the subject? I see here it says "Black Prince".
0:18:46 > 0:18:49- Black Prince.- Son of Edward III.
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Yes, Crecy and Agincourt.
0:18:51 > 0:18:56And this explains, therefore, why his shield here has both
0:18:56 > 0:18:59- the French arms and the English. - Yes.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Because at that time we owned,
0:19:02 > 0:19:05- or laid claim to, large parts of France.- Parts of that country.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09But tell me, where do you have it in your house?
0:19:09 > 0:19:15- Because it's quite difficult to put stained glass in... - We had to redesign the porch
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- and entrance hall to take it. - So it's on an inside wall?
0:19:18 > 0:19:22- Yes.- An inside wall.- Does the light come through it?- Yes.
0:19:22 > 0:19:28The whole essence of stained glass is you've got to have light coming through.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Otherwise you lose the point of it. This is a very handsome figure,
0:19:32 > 0:19:38but not many people collect stained glass. It's a minority activity.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43But they are beginning to, and it's beginning to be appreciated again,
0:19:43 > 0:19:49and I certainly think a panel like this must be worth £2,000 or £3,000 now...
0:19:49 > 0:19:52I would think, without question.
0:19:52 > 0:19:58- It was bought locally in a small cycle shop owned by a German gentleman in Boston.- Oh, locally?
0:19:58 > 0:20:02- Yes, locally.- How nice. Well, it's a fantastic piece.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05How the publican earned money out of it -
0:20:05 > 0:20:09you threw a penny in the side, and it came down here
0:20:09 > 0:20:12and that started the movement which revolved the disc.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17- Shall we give it a go?- Yes, please. - Give it a wind.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20SOFT MUSIC
0:20:29 > 0:20:34- Plays wonderfully, doesn't it?- Yes, it's lovely.- Any idea about value?
0:20:34 > 0:20:38It was bought for three pound ten shillings, a long while ago...
0:20:38 > 0:20:41- That was quite a lot of money then. - It was.
0:20:41 > 0:20:46- Well, my suggestion is today, you insure it for about £3,000.- Really?
0:20:46 > 0:20:50I didn't know how much it was worth. It's just a treasure. Love it.
0:20:50 > 0:20:55- You love it?- Yes.- You keep it, but do insure it.- I will now!
0:20:55 > 0:20:58This is truly a whopper. How did it come into your life?
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Well, we bought it off the internet, which sounds a bit strange...
0:21:03 > 0:21:07We didn't realise it was as big as this when we bought it.
0:21:07 > 0:21:10We bid for it on an auction site.
0:21:10 > 0:21:14- Were you looking for something like this?- I was looking for a sideboard
0:21:14 > 0:21:19and I showed the wife this, and we both like old antique furniture,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22and because of the carvings on it,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25we both fell in love with it.
0:21:25 > 0:21:30- Did you have the full dimensions? - Yes, but it's one of those things
0:21:30 > 0:21:36where you don't realise how big it actually is when you measure it.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38It is gigantic.
0:21:38 > 0:21:42- What did you pay for it?- We paid... This is the secret of bidding.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46We actually paid £300 and a penny!
0:21:46 > 0:21:50- Three hundred pounds and one... - We actually won it by a penny.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54- And did the price include delivery? - No, it was about £50 for delivery.
0:21:54 > 0:21:58- So you spent about £350.- £350. - And one penny.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00And a penny, yeah. And a penny.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04- And what do you actually know about it?- Well, we know that it's oak.
0:22:04 > 0:22:10We was told that it was Flemish. And, er, basically, that's about it.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15We were also told it was late 19th century, but we don't actually...
0:22:15 > 0:22:19Well, one of our experts was sauntering past
0:22:19 > 0:22:25and gasped, and told me that it's Renaissance revival, about 1900,
0:22:25 > 0:22:31and that with that sort of specialist appeal, you could get at auction between £500 and £800.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34That's OK. Not a bad profit, is it?
0:22:34 > 0:22:37- So that's one for the internet. - Yeah.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41My dad was at the 1936 Olympics and he brought this back.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45Wow, an American baseball! Look - "American Baseball Team
0:22:45 > 0:22:48- "at Olympiad, Berlin, 1936..." He was there?- Yes.
0:22:48 > 0:22:52Fantastic. That was, of course, the Games that Hitler attended
0:22:52 > 0:22:57to show off the power and physical prowess of the Third Reich.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01- So these are the signatures of the American baseball team?- Yes.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04But it wasn't an official Olympic sport, was it?
0:23:04 > 0:23:08- No. It was a demonstration game. - Right, that all makes sense.
0:23:08 > 0:23:12There's going to be a huge interest from the US in this.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15It's a difficult one to value. I've never seen one.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18But if you could get these signatures looked at
0:23:18 > 0:23:23by somebody who perhaps knows about the players whose name this bears,
0:23:23 > 0:23:27- it's potentially worth at least £2,000 or £3,000.- Really?
0:23:27 > 0:23:31- Or more.- Wow.- The sky's the limit. It's a unique item.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- What a great little chap. - He is, love.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36I like the, er, bottom bits.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40- This is a fertility figure, I suppose.- It is a fertility figure.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45- Intended for...young ladies... - An engaged couple.- Engaged couple.
0:23:45 > 0:23:48To help them produce, I suppose...
0:23:48 > 0:23:51- Establish a family. - He's very well endowed...
0:23:51 > 0:23:55- I think he's lovely.- He is. - From the Tek Sing ship's cargo.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59- That's right, love.- Which has been fairly recently discovered.- Yes.
0:23:59 > 0:24:03- Have you got much stuff from the Tek Sing cargo?- Quite a bit.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07- How did you get hold of it?- Well, my husband worked for Mr Hatcher.
0:24:07 > 0:24:13Mr Hatcher's uncle did the deep-sea diving and found all the pottery.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17- That's Captain Hatcher?- That's Captain Hatcher, yes.- How wonderful.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21- He's a lovely man.- Yes, he's great. - He is, yes.- I met him once.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27- You have?- He asked me to go deep-sea diving with him.- Oh!- I can't swim!
0:24:27 > 0:24:29I think he's absolutely lovely
0:24:29 > 0:24:33and one of the most valuable things on that Tek Sing cargo.
0:24:33 > 0:24:38- These fetch hundreds of pounds.- Oh, yes.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43- Dealers ask, some of them, almost £1,000 for one of these.- Yes.
0:24:43 > 0:24:48- So you've been very fortunate.- Yes. - I think he's wonderful. Yes, he is.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52Of English furniture, dining tables are the most problematic things
0:24:52 > 0:24:57- because they're used. This has seen some good use.- Over the years...
0:24:57 > 0:25:01Well, since I've had it, yes, but previous to that, grandparents.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03- Right.- And my mother.
0:25:03 > 0:25:08- Oh, so you've known it in the family for...?- 60-odd years?
0:25:08 > 0:25:1060-odd years.
0:25:10 > 0:25:16And the difficult thing is, there are more reproduction dining tables than you'll ever see
0:25:16 > 0:25:22and they make them beautifully, very, very good timber, copying the same designs exactly.
0:25:22 > 0:25:28- What date do you think this table is?- Haven't a clue. I just thought it was reproduction.- Right.
0:25:28 > 0:25:30There's a few good giveaways.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34One always looks for the construction on the underside.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38The top can be repolished and refinished.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Looking at the underside,
0:25:40 > 0:25:45one of the things I always like to look for is the catch itself.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49This is a very nice traditional design of catch.
0:25:49 > 0:25:55Can you see where the light catches bits of old lacquer on the brass?
0:25:55 > 0:26:01It's a wonderful finishing technique which most reproduction dining tables don't have.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05- That is a very nice Georgian catch. - Is it?
0:26:05 > 0:26:12You also would expect to see quite a lot of corresponding wear between the top and the base,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14because the tilt top section...
0:26:14 > 0:26:19these end sections and the central pedestal should mark the top.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21You've got corresponding wear here.
0:26:21 > 0:26:25- I wondered what that was.- When it's down there, it's pushing through.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27With shrinkage over time,
0:26:27 > 0:26:33this piece lifts up and stands a little bit proud of the platform.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Let's have a look at the base.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40It's got this very confident ring-turned baluster shaft
0:26:40 > 0:26:44running all the way down, very, very nicely turned,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47lovely colour, dense timber with these nice reeded legs
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and with a good amount of wear
0:26:50 > 0:26:52round the bottom where fidgety feet
0:26:52 > 0:26:58have scraped along, so you've lost some of the definition that's raised here.
0:26:58 > 0:27:03That's a good sign. The sandwich construction of the platform,
0:27:03 > 0:27:08made of pine in three sections, is exactly as one would like to see.
0:27:08 > 0:27:13These are all promising signs of its being an antique dining table.
0:27:13 > 0:27:15I hadn't noticed the sandwiching.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19- These, however, are not so good. - Oh.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22I mean, they've got these rather...
0:27:22 > 0:27:24badly defined...
0:27:24 > 0:27:27- supports.- Mm-hm.
0:27:27 > 0:27:33Those would suggest that this is not a period dining table if you're looking at those alone.
0:27:33 > 0:27:38- The good news for you is that these are not the original supports.- Oh.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42And the real giveaway is that you've got here, filled holes
0:27:42 > 0:27:46- and shadow marks for longer bearers which originally went here.- Right.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52But if we just swing it round a little bit
0:27:52 > 0:27:55and then let's see how it goes.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02Now, it's a very, very nice, good three-pedestal dining table,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05and they're extremely desirable.
0:28:05 > 0:28:11One thing that affects the value of a dining table - and this isn't a reproduction, as you feared...
0:28:11 > 0:28:15- Oh, great.- It is a late 18th-century dining table,
0:28:15 > 0:28:19which is quite close, in the design of the plinth, to the dining tables
0:28:19 > 0:28:24that Gillows of London and Lancaster produced in the 1790s,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27but the colour of the top has been taken back.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32That was in our attic for a long time and those two have been used.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37- Right, because there's a slight colour difference.- There is, yes.
0:28:37 > 0:28:41- It's had a lot of use over the years, has it?- Yes.
0:28:41 > 0:28:47In fact, we used to put the table tennis net across here and play table tennis round it.
0:28:47 > 0:28:53- From end to end?- Yes. - Oh, my goodness! Slightly more difficult with a rounded one.- Yeah.
0:28:53 > 0:28:57- I wouldn't recommend that.- No. - Even with the alterations,
0:28:57 > 0:29:02this George III, three-pedestal dining table is probably worth
0:29:02 > 0:29:04£15,000-25,000.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08- Really? Wow. - Because they're such good plinths.
0:29:08 > 0:29:13Alistair, of all the priceless pieces of silver you've discovered,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17you have brought in a table full of fakes.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21- How do you know they're fakes? - It's largely down to experience.
0:29:21 > 0:29:28You have to know where certain pieces were marked at a particular period in time.
0:29:28 > 0:29:33In the 18C, they marked particular objects in a particular way.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37The most important thing to remember about silver...
0:29:37 > 0:29:44is that it's the only part of antiques that's governed by Act of Parliament,
0:29:44 > 0:29:49so you're limited to what you can and can't do to a piece of silver.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53So a fake is something that has contravened that?
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Yes, that's the short answer to it.
0:29:56 > 0:30:01There are different types of fake. Probably the most common one,
0:30:01 > 0:30:07is that you cannot change an object from the original purpose for which it was hallmarked.
0:30:07 > 0:30:12If we look at this coffee pot here, which is rather an odd shape,
0:30:12 > 0:30:16does it strike you as being reminiscent of anything else?
0:30:16 > 0:30:20- A good old tankard.- Well, that's exactly what it is, yes.
0:30:20 > 0:30:23If you mask away the spout there...
0:30:23 > 0:30:27- Yes.- ..there you have an absolutely standard mid-18C tankard,
0:30:27 > 0:30:31hallmarked here for 1755 by a firm called Gurney and Cook,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35but it's been to the Goldsmiths' Hall
0:30:35 > 0:30:40and they've stuck marks on it to show that it has had additions.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45What they forgot to do was put the marks on the addition itself,
0:30:45 > 0:30:51but as this piece was from the first year that this law came in, 1844, I think we can let them off.
0:30:51 > 0:30:55But that was transformed from a tankard into a coffee pot.
0:30:55 > 0:31:02I should just add that decoration - and this decoration is also about 1844 - is not illegal.
0:31:02 > 0:31:04You can decorate a piece of silver
0:31:04 > 0:31:08- if you don't change the use of it. - When you say illegal,
0:31:08 > 0:31:12- are people liable for prison sentences, fines?- Yes, in the 18C,
0:31:12 > 0:31:15prison was - and transportation -
0:31:15 > 0:31:20was a very common punishment for repeating offenders.
0:31:20 > 0:31:26- There's nothing new in this particular crime?- Fakes have been going on for centuries.
0:31:26 > 0:31:31That's why we have one of the best hallmarking systems in the world,
0:31:31 > 0:31:36a wonderful form of consumer protection going back 700 years.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Have any of these pieces got a very dramatic history?
0:31:40 > 0:31:45Well, this little cream jug, which looks harmless enough,
0:31:45 > 0:31:49is part of one of the most famous fraud cases ever to come to light.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Two characters, Charles Twinam and Reuben Lyon,
0:31:53 > 0:31:58in the late 1890s, made such a substantial number of fakes,
0:31:58 > 0:32:02that the Goldsmiths' Hall published for the first time in their history
0:32:02 > 0:32:07a special booklet listing all the pieces they'd found,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09with all the fake punches.
0:32:09 > 0:32:13This is a cream jug made by these two with a false set of marks,
0:32:13 > 0:32:15with a date letter for 1783,
0:32:15 > 0:32:21and it actually was made round about 1895-1898.
0:32:22 > 0:32:27- So, by being so greedy, they helped the cause of justice.- They did.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31This is the most extraordinary illustrated diary I've seen.
0:32:31 > 0:32:38It's over three years and each page is covered with these most extraordinary drawings.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41- Where did it come from?- Um...
0:32:41 > 0:32:45well, it belonged to my great-aunt who was a tailoress
0:32:45 > 0:32:49and from what I've been told, she got it in part payment
0:32:49 > 0:32:54- because a gentleman hadn't enough money to pay.- How much was the debt?
0:32:54 > 0:32:58- I've no idea.- Well, this is lovely! Just open this little door...
0:32:58 > 0:33:02and there's wonderful things in the cupboard,
0:33:02 > 0:33:06including some little gremlins drinking pop or something.
0:33:06 > 0:33:08They're all very amateur,
0:33:08 > 0:33:12but nevertheless they're very much to the point.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17This one here gives me a slight clue that it's not English.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20You don't know where it came from at all?
0:33:20 > 0:33:25- No, I don't.- A slight clue is this is called A Temperance Lecture.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30I'm not saying we didn't have temperance lectures in England,
0:33:30 > 0:33:35but I think they're more likely to have had big temperance time in America.
0:33:35 > 0:33:41And as I go through, I mean, these wacky little pictures...
0:33:41 > 0:33:43Look, this is quite extraordinary.
0:33:43 > 0:33:47"Melting brass burnt through the patty pan."
0:33:47 > 0:33:52And here he is, and this tie is very un-English, don't you think?
0:33:52 > 0:33:54- Yes, yes.- I mean it IS in English.
0:33:54 > 0:34:00But it suggests to me that it is American, so we're talking about American primitive art,
0:34:00 > 0:34:06and the other thing which backs this up is this wonderful list here, in the back.
0:34:06 > 0:34:13"There are 26 states which consists the Northern, Middle and Southern states." This is all America.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15- Yes.- And it lists them all here,
0:34:15 > 0:34:20and the territories, "Wisconsin, Iona, Florida..."
0:34:20 > 0:34:24Iona? Iowa, sorry! I can't read his writing.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28"..and Columbia District." But that's absolutely lovely.
0:34:28 > 0:34:32It's in a little green vellum binding, little brass clasp,
0:34:32 > 0:34:36a little bit worn, but I think we will forgive it that,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40but essentially it is just a delight.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42- Value, any idea?- No.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45None at all, really.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47Well, I think we'll go for £5,000.
0:34:47 > 0:34:53- I hope the debt is now repaid!- Yes, definitely.- Thank you very much.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55- Thank you.- Very exciting to see.
0:34:55 > 0:35:01It belonged to my husband's family. My husband's lived in the farmhouse for as long as we can remember.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06My husband found it when he was a little boy up in the attic.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10From what we can gather, it belonged to a family member.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14Now the interesting part of this helmet... We're in Boston,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18and here around the title is "Holland Cavalry".
0:35:20 > 0:35:22Now, this area is known as Holland,
0:35:22 > 0:35:25- Boston, is it not?- That's right.
0:35:25 > 0:35:30So we've got a helmet for the locality and really it gets better
0:35:30 > 0:35:35because at the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars,
0:35:35 > 0:35:41they had what was called a tarlatan helmet which the officers wore, and the troopers.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45Some of those tarlatan helmets exist for the officers,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49but you very rarely get other ranks' helmets.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Now it wouldn't surprise me if this is prior tarlatan.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58- Now, we're talking about 1795 now. - Right.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01France declared war on us in 1793
0:36:01 > 0:36:06and then it went on more or less without a break till 1815,
0:36:06 > 0:36:12nearly 22 years of war, but these early helmets, they just do not exist.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15I can't emphasise enough,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18they are that rare.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22I think any collector of this period would be willing to pay
0:36:22 > 0:36:27- about £4,000-5,000 for a helmet like this.- Really?
0:36:27 > 0:36:29- Yes, really.- Goodness!
0:36:29 > 0:36:34This is a tiny, tiny, little ring. What prompted you to bring it?
0:36:34 > 0:36:38- Well, because I believe it's valuable.- What made you think that?
0:36:38 > 0:36:42- Well, it says Lalique inside. - It does.- Yes.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47- What do you know about Lalique? - I know they did...- It's French.
0:36:47 > 0:36:52- They do a lot of...- They didn't only do jewellery...- Pottery as well?
0:36:52 > 0:36:59- Yes, glass later on, yeah. - Well, that's where we realised it could be valuable.- Mmm.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Well, it's not only a rare thing,
0:37:01 > 0:37:06- but it's a very beautiful thing, isn't it?- Yes.- Who gave it to you?
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Old gentleman who lived next door...
0:37:09 > 0:37:15We looked after him. He was left on his own, we looked after him and so on. He was 94 years old.
0:37:15 > 0:37:20- And did he know about...? - I don't really know, no.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24- I don't think he realised the value of it.- But what has to be said,
0:37:24 > 0:37:29is that this is a complete little masterpiece of goldsmith's work
0:37:29 > 0:37:36and it's made by one of the towering geniuses of the Art Nouveau Movement, Rene Lalique.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41He is a genius who chose to work in jewellery, then moved on to glass,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45and this is a tiny expression of his work, but it's all there.
0:37:45 > 0:37:50- Now, what do you think about this green material?- Is it enamel?
0:37:50 > 0:37:52It's a particular sort of enamel,
0:37:52 > 0:37:56which we call plique-a-jour enamel which means "applied to the day."
0:37:56 > 0:38:01That's a way of saying that it's an enamel without a background.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Lalique was returning to nature.
0:38:03 > 0:38:08- His inspiration comes from plant life and animal life.- Yes.
0:38:08 > 0:38:12In order to achieve that, he used a Japanese technique,
0:38:12 > 0:38:19suggesting the veins in leaves and the veins in the wings of buzzing insects with pierced gold,
0:38:19 > 0:38:23and then he'd hold the enamel in suspension, like a bubble,
0:38:23 > 0:38:27and it gives a little bit of naturalism, more than a little bit.
0:38:27 > 0:38:31- Now the reason it's tiny is that it's a ring.- Yes.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35So this is not marks against it that it is a tiny work of art.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39People collect these things
0:38:39 > 0:38:43- and if it turned up in a sale, two collectors wanting it...- Yes.
0:38:43 > 0:38:48..I think maybe £5,000-6,000 wouldn't be completely mad.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52I'm not generally in favour of flowery porcelain.
0:38:52 > 0:38:55It's not my taste, and pink roses...eugh!
0:38:55 > 0:38:57But...
0:38:57 > 0:38:59sometimes...
0:38:59 > 0:39:04something is so over the top and blousy
0:39:04 > 0:39:08and in-your-face that it just kind of works.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11And this absolutely works for me.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13I think it's absolutely brilliant.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17- Do you like it?- I do, I mean, it's always been in the cupboard at home.
0:39:17 > 0:39:22It's never been allowed out for fear of it being broken,
0:39:22 > 0:39:24but yes, I do, yeah.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26OK, the fear of it being broken
0:39:26 > 0:39:31suggests that you thought it might be of some merit.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35Not me personally, but I think my parents...
0:39:35 > 0:39:39It was handed down from Great Aunt Lucy in Nottingham to my mother.
0:39:39 > 0:39:44And she always valued it, I think, because of Great Aunt Lucy.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47I think that me, as a small child,
0:39:47 > 0:39:51because it was colourful and pretty and little girls with tea sets...
0:39:51 > 0:39:55- Absolutely, but you weren't allowed to play with it?- No, I wasn't, no.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57And Nottingham's interesting.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00- D'you know where it comes from?- No.
0:40:00 > 0:40:03- This is Derby porcelain.- Right.
0:40:03 > 0:40:09And we've got on here a typical Derby puce mark.
0:40:09 > 0:40:12Puce is this particular pinky colour.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17And it's all...I've had a look - I say all, most of it...
0:40:17 > 0:40:22and it appears to be puce marked except one piece which is...
0:40:22 > 0:40:25- red mark.- Right, yes.
0:40:25 > 0:40:30Now the puce mark ran up till 1800 and then it changed to a red mark.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33This suggests to me
0:40:33 > 0:40:38we're exactly on the cusp of 1800, unless that's a replacement,
0:40:38 > 0:40:41which it doesn't look to me as if it is -
0:40:41 > 0:40:46that's where we're at, we're on the year 1800.
0:40:46 > 0:40:54Now you were quite right to be kept from playing with it as a child,
0:40:54 > 0:41:01although I will give you permission when you get home to play with it for 5 minutes, very carefully!
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Dare I now? I just don't know.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09Well, it's a rather wonderful survival. There seem to be...
0:41:09 > 0:41:13I haven't counted, but, I mean, a dozen each of the coffee can...
0:41:14 > 0:41:17..tea cup...
0:41:17 > 0:41:19and saucer.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23Now, how are we going to value this? It is without a teapot.
0:41:23 > 0:41:28- No teapot?- I do... I'm sure I have a teapot.
0:41:28 > 0:41:30OK, let's price it individually.
0:41:30 > 0:41:36You would get £150 to £200 for the slop bowl.
0:41:36 > 0:41:40The plates are a bit worn, or this one's a bit worn,
0:41:40 > 0:41:45so we're looking at perhaps £250, £300, £400 for the plates.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49The jug, we've got a bit of misfiring on... No, it's dirt.
0:41:50 > 0:41:56- Don't draw attention to it!- It could all do with a slight clean.
0:41:56 > 0:41:58That's worth...
0:41:58 > 0:42:00£250 to £350.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03The sucrier...
0:42:03 > 0:42:07is such a wonderful neoclassical shape,
0:42:07 > 0:42:10it's so clean and bright,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14I think we're looking at about...
0:42:14 > 0:42:17- pushing £1,000 for that. - You're joking!
0:42:17 > 0:42:20And a saucer,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23a coffee can and a teacup,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26which is what we call a trio,
0:42:26 > 0:42:28we're looking about £400 to £600.
0:42:30 > 0:42:35- Incredible.- If you tot that up overall, without the teapot,
0:42:35 > 0:42:41- which we may or may not have got... - I think we have.- We're looking at somewhere around £4,000 to £6,000.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44I just can't believe it, I really can't.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48It's a good job I wasn't allowed to play with it. It's terrible.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51See if you can find the pot.
0:42:51 > 0:42:55- If you can find the pot, another £3,000.- Really?!
0:42:57 > 0:43:00I'll find the pot. I'll find the pot!
0:43:00 > 0:43:03- Thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:43:03 > 0:43:09Standing next to a massive piece of furniture seems the perfect place to say goodbye from Boston,
0:43:09 > 0:43:15home to the tallest working windmill and the largest parish church in the land.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19And now I'm going to look for the deepest cup of tea!
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Thanks to all the Bostonians for bringing us a wide range of items.
0:43:23 > 0:43:29You can find out more about silver from our website, but now from Lincolnshire, goodbye.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42Subtitles by Suzanne Macdonald and Dorothy Moore