0:00:29 > 0:00:33This week, the Roadshow caravan has come to Essex.
0:00:33 > 0:00:37Beyond the busy suburbs, in the centre of the county,
0:00:37 > 0:00:41lies a gently undulating landscape with rich soil,
0:00:41 > 0:00:44for centuries a farming Utopia.
0:00:44 > 0:00:52Close to the town of Witham stands Cressing Temple - a farm estate that pulsates with history.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57Behind me, a 17th-century farmhouse any self-respecting Old Macdonald would die for,
0:00:57 > 0:01:03while in front of me, two of the most spectacular timber-framed medieval barns in Europe.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10It wasn't any Old Macdonald who made these beautiful structures.
0:01:10 > 0:01:15They're the work of an order of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19Founded in 1119 to protect pilgrims en route to the Holy Land,
0:01:19 > 0:01:25the poor Templars were gifted tracts of land, and in time became rich and powerful.
0:01:25 > 0:01:32In 1137, they acquired the estate of Cressing, which they farmed to provide money for the Crusades.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Walk into the barley barn
0:01:34 > 0:01:39and you'll find an oak structure that's stood for over 700 years.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44It's like a cathedral, with a central nave and side aisles.
0:01:44 > 0:01:50Its clever construction also solved the problem of supporting a roof over a huge area.
0:01:50 > 0:01:56Those medieval chippies knew what they were doing. Some timbers here are over 40 feet long.
0:01:56 > 0:02:03At the end of the harvest, the barns were stacked to the roof with sheaves of wheat or barley.
0:02:03 > 0:02:09When the last cartload came in, the barn was dressed with green boughs. One of them, a "horkey",
0:02:09 > 0:02:13was tied to the roof to ensure good fortune for the next harvest.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19This one dates from the late 1950s, before mechanisation swept away the tradition.
0:02:19 > 0:02:25All around Cressing Temple, there are poignant reminders of the way things were,
0:02:25 > 0:02:29when the horse, the plough and the wagon reigned supreme.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33In the 16th century, the estate passed into private ownership
0:02:33 > 0:02:37and a great house and a walled formal garden was added.
0:02:39 > 0:02:42When the house was demolished in the 18th century,
0:02:42 > 0:02:47the pleasure garden was put to work, providing for the kitchen.
0:02:47 > 0:02:54Now, things have come full circle and the formal garden has been recreated in the Tudor style.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58This arbour draws its inspiration from A Midsummer Night's Dream -
0:02:58 > 0:03:02"I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows
0:03:02 > 0:03:06"Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows
0:03:06 > 0:03:09"Quite overcanopied with lush woodbine
0:03:09 > 0:03:13"With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine."
0:03:13 > 0:03:19On that fragrant note, let's waft along to our very own country fair,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22the Cressing Temple Roadshow.
0:03:22 > 0:03:28That traction engine covered in gleaming brass and traditional paintwork curiously relates to this.
0:03:28 > 0:03:34Here we have a massive collection of horse brasses and decorations. Why have you got these?
0:03:34 > 0:03:37I suppose it started in my youth.
0:03:37 > 0:03:42Father was with horses, so it's one of these things you carried on.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48- They're a one-off, so that's about it.- So you grew up with them?- Yes.
0:03:48 > 0:03:52- You grew up with working horses on a farm.- That's right.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55And when they went out to plough, they were decorated.
0:03:55 > 0:04:00- They'd have a few brass.- They'd always have something on.- Yes.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- Initially they were to protect the horse.- Yeah.- They had magic powers.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08A lot of the decoration relates very much to that protective quality.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13So the purpose originally was to put on something, which goes back hundreds of years,
0:04:13 > 0:04:20to protect your investment - your horse. Then, bit by bit, that changed into ornamentation.
0:04:20 > 0:04:26- So the mythology got lost eventually, did it?- I don't know, it was always a lucky charm,
0:04:26 > 0:04:32- but then you went into different counties.- And there's variations? - Each county had their own.- Yeah.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36- Like your Staffordshire one there. - There's a Staffordshire knot there.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39- There's a leaping horse of Kent. - Yeah.
0:04:39 > 0:04:44- They're interesting because it's become a folk art tradition.- Yes.
0:04:44 > 0:04:51- It links to Romanies and caravans. - Yes.- To the decoration of steam engines, steam ploughing tractors,
0:04:51 > 0:04:58canal boats - all these symbols are common in that sort of aspect of early-19th-century working life.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02From early on, there was competition, wasn't there?
0:05:02 > 0:05:05- Gotta be better than your mate. - Best-dressed horse.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09Brewers were the key operators of dray horses in a decorative sense.
0:05:09 > 0:05:15- Farming horses couldn't compete with them.- No. Here, we've got the Festival of Britain.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19- That must be almost the last real horse brass.- Suppose it would be.
0:05:19 > 0:05:26- 1951.- A while ago.- There were still horse teams working.- Yeah. - Um, OK, so what do you pay?
0:05:26 > 0:05:31- Oh, they vary from a five to a tenner each.- Yes.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35These good brasses, to me, would be now, sort of, £25 to £50.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37Oh, yeah.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40£50 is a good price for a rare one,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44- so you've got hundreds of pounds, haven't you?- It soon tallies up.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48- I think it's a great collection. - Thank you.
0:05:48 > 0:05:52I believe it's a Carlo Bugatti, but I'm not sure.
0:05:52 > 0:05:59You're correct, it is by Carlo Bugatti. He trained as an architect and was the son of a woodcarver.
0:05:59 > 0:06:04By the 1880s, he was designing furniture, working in Milan,
0:06:04 > 0:06:11and this chair is absolutely typical of the style of furniture that we know that he made.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16The features of Bugatti's furniture are the use of very exotic materials
0:06:16 > 0:06:22and furniture inspired by the Middle East, so Moorish sort of influences.
0:06:22 > 0:06:25It's in ebonised wood, has ivory
0:06:25 > 0:06:29and then, very characteristic of Bugatti's work,
0:06:29 > 0:06:34it has vellum - or parchment - panels and tassels hanging down.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39Then you've got pewter inlay into the ebony there.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43And another interesting feature of its design is the legs here,
0:06:43 > 0:06:50bound in metal - again very typical of Bugatti - imitating the columns of a Romanesque building.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54- Yes.- And all these sources Bugatti was looking at.
0:06:54 > 0:07:00The high point of his career was in 1902 when he designed a series of rooms for an exhibition in Turin.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05He won first prize for that - it was very grand, eccentric furniture.
0:07:05 > 0:07:10A chair like this would be standard production from his workshop
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and probably dates to around 1900-1910,
0:07:13 > 0:07:20that sort of date, and it is an extraordinary and very beautiful example of Bugatti's furniture.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24- You said you bought it? - Yes, about seven years ago.- Right.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28A friend of mine was an executor to somebody's will
0:07:28 > 0:07:34and I looked round the house and just fell in love with it and said, "I've got to have it."
0:07:34 > 0:07:40Today, despite its condition, I think it's something that you should insure for £2,000.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43- Right.- It's lovely, a thrilling way to start the day.
0:07:44 > 0:07:4930 years ago, when I got married, I saw it in a house in Scotland.
0:07:49 > 0:07:56- Right, and you put it under your arm and went away with it. - I always thought how pretty it was.
0:07:56 > 0:08:02- Was that what appealed to you?- Yes. - Has it ever worked?- On and off, but not reliable.
0:08:02 > 0:08:07- It's not in a condition to go at the moment.- No.- It's a lyre-shape clock.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11Signed by a Paris maker called Causard.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16He was known to be working in Paris as early as 1770, maybe earlier,
0:08:16 > 0:08:20and it actually says on the dial, "Horloger du Roy".
0:08:20 > 0:08:23In other words, clockmaker to the king.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28But I don't believe this clock was made then. It's some time later,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30probably round about 1820s,
0:08:30 > 0:08:37the time of King Louis Philippe, really, we're looking at. Hence he's got "Horloger du Roy" on there.
0:08:37 > 0:08:44I suspect he may have died by then and it's somebody reviving his name, so it's not the original Causard.
0:08:44 > 0:08:48Apart from that, it is a stunningly pretty clock.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52The pendulum can actually be seen here moving. If I move it myself,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56it moves behind there with this wonderful ring of paste here.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00- That's what glitters and shines - or it would if it was clean.- Yes.
0:09:00 > 0:09:03It would look very beautiful when it's going.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06The rest is lovely blues of porcelain.
0:09:06 > 0:09:10It's a stunning-looking piece. Have you ever thought, though,
0:09:10 > 0:09:17- what it would look like cleaned up? Would you want it to be? - Yes, I'd love it to be.- Right.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Because all these mounts here,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23this beautiful sunburst up here, all this gilt work here,
0:09:23 > 0:09:27could be taken off and cleaned by a clockmaker,
0:09:27 > 0:09:33- but I do warn you, when it comes out, it will be a bright, bright gold in colour.- Oh.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37What I suggest you do is make certain you like the look of that
0:09:37 > 0:09:44because if you have it done and you don't like it, you'll have to live
0:09:44 > 0:09:50- another 150 years to see it back in this condition.- Yes.- So that's a warning I give you there.- Yes.
0:09:50 > 0:09:55It could be made to go quite well just by having the movement cleaned.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59You don't have to do the case. It's a personal choice, isn't it?
0:09:59 > 0:10:04- Yes.- Not doing any damage. What's lovely, if you look at the hands,
0:10:04 > 0:10:10- they mirror the shape of the clock - also lyre-shaped.- Oh, I hadn't noticed that before.- As to value,
0:10:10 > 0:10:14well, currently I think it's worth £2,000-£2,500.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19- Certainly a very pretty clock, and a pity not to see it working.- Yes.
0:10:19 > 0:10:25- So maybe I could persuade you to have it done.- That's a good idea. Thank you.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28Fortunes read. Have your fortune read, sir? Fortune?
0:10:28 > 0:10:35- I don't smoke, thank you. - No, I'll tell your fortune.- What do I do?- You just pick one, any one.
0:10:37 > 0:10:39Tell me the number.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Number fifty, 50.
0:10:41 > 0:10:4650. Just a minute, let me dip into my book of words by Kwan Ling.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50Here we go, 5. Right, are you ready for this?
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Yes.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54Family safe,
0:10:54 > 0:10:56birth of a son,
0:10:56 > 0:10:59crops and silk worms good,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02missing articles not found,
0:11:02 > 0:11:07- treasure not abundant.- Ridiculous! We're surrounded by them.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12Ah, Charley Weaver, the bartender, dating from the 1960s, early 1960s.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17- The nice thing is he's in good condition.- Yeah. - With the original box.
0:11:17 > 0:11:23- Yes.- Though a bit battered.- Yes. - How did you come by it?- Years ago, I went to a garden fete.- Yes.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28- And I picked it up for very little money.- Yeah.- Very little.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32- They're quite fun and are beginning to become quite collectable.- Yes.
0:11:32 > 0:11:39- I think currently his value's around £40-£50.- Yes.- But it's going to go up in value, certainly.- Yes.
0:11:39 > 0:11:45So keep the box, keep him in reasonable condition and he'll keep going up in value,
0:11:45 > 0:11:49- and since Charlie's asking, mine's a large one.- Oh, is it?
0:11:49 > 0:11:52I had it cleaned a few years ago and the chap said
0:11:52 > 0:11:57it had an interesting hallmark, and it's just been dumped in a drawer.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02It's a Russian mark that was placed there in the late 19th century
0:12:02 > 0:12:07by a jeweller called Frederick Kochli, he was supplier
0:12:07 > 0:12:13of the Russian Imperial family in those days. He used to work in larger scale mainly.
0:12:13 > 0:12:19I would say cigarette cases was his speciality, so it is quite interesting to find
0:12:19 > 0:12:23such a pretty, tiny, little brooch, very delicate.
0:12:23 > 0:12:29A lover's knot and diamonds are for "love forever". So you knew what the stones were?
0:12:29 > 0:12:35Yes, when Dad gave me the brooch, I scratched their mirror in the sitting room right across.
0:12:35 > 0:12:42- You did a proper job because diamond cuts anything, glass included. - I knew they were real then.- Lovely.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48Well, I would say that at auction this brooch would probably bring you something between £1,200 and £1,800.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50So to insure it?
0:12:50 > 0:12:56- Make it three times as much, £3,500-£4,000.- All right, thank you very much.
0:13:00 > 0:13:07My husband bought them from a boot sale - that one a couple of months ago, and that one about a year ago.
0:13:07 > 0:13:12Right, let's see what he's found. This jar sitting on the table there,
0:13:12 > 0:13:19ought to be Chinese porcelain from the Ming period, a classic Ming vase from the 17th century.
0:13:19 > 0:13:24But it's a fake, a copy. But having said that, it's a very early copy.
0:13:24 > 0:13:30If we look at the base, it's a coarse earthenware pottery covered in a white glaze.
0:13:30 > 0:13:35It's Delftware, Delft made here in Holland to imitate
0:13:35 > 0:13:38- what was then a valuable piece of Chinese porcelain.- Right.
0:13:38 > 0:13:45This was made in Holland in about 1690-1700, copying a Chinese vase of the time.
0:13:45 > 0:13:47Oh, right.
0:13:47 > 0:13:54So the designs, we're looking here at birds and plants, typical Chinese emblems - peony flowers -
0:13:54 > 0:13:58and the painter in Holland has copied the Chinese work exactly.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02I mean, it really does look like the real thing.
0:14:02 > 0:14:08It's had some mending around the rim. At some time someone's repaired the top, it was broken a little bit.
0:14:08 > 0:14:12- Maybe someone made a lamp out of it. - Right.- And ended up at a boot fair.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- What did he give for that one? - About a pound.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20- He just saw it as a bit of bric-a-brac, I think.- Good.
0:14:20 > 0:14:26Well, a very early fake, so it's still highly collectable as Delft. So from a pound, we're looking at,
0:14:26 > 0:14:28um...£500.
0:14:28 > 0:14:33- Oh, crikey!- That's right. Not a bad little find. What about this one?
0:14:33 > 0:14:39- What was he thinking about, buying this strange pot?- He just liked it, he's got very unusual taste.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43That's probably why he chose me! He just liked it.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- Not a thing of beauty.- No. - But a thing of great age.- Oh.
0:14:47 > 0:14:54It's a piece of polished alabaster, a rather simple little jar, the surface wonderfully smooth.
0:14:54 > 0:15:01- Right.- An age that's been caused by being in the ground not just hundreds, but thousands of years.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05- Crikey!- This would've probably been dug up somewhere in, perhaps, Egypt.
0:15:05 > 0:15:10It would have come from a tomb and have been probably highly treasured
0:15:10 > 0:15:13when it was found in Victorian times.
0:15:13 > 0:15:18These things are usually seen in museums and special collections.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23But somehow forgotten about - its history, provenance, where it's from, all lost. Instead,
0:15:23 > 0:15:27- there on a shelf in the boot fair. - Oh, right.- So, another pound or so?
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Yeah, I asked him and he said about £1-£1.50 he paid for it.
0:15:32 > 0:15:39For its age, these don't make a huge amount of money, but even so that's worth perhaps £1,000.
0:15:39 > 0:15:41Oh, my God!
0:15:42 > 0:15:44Right.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47- Crikey!- Fantastic.
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Two of this group are real and we have to guess who they are.
0:15:51 > 0:15:56- Well, there's me. You must be the other one.- Definitely, otherwise they couldn't talk, could they?
0:15:56 > 0:16:00- How many of these have you got? - I have about 1,200.
0:16:00 > 0:16:05- 1,200?- Yes, not the biggest collection, but some rare pieces.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10- 'Yeah!'- Yes, good boy, don't do that again. Thank you very much.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Are they local pieces or international?
0:16:13 > 0:16:15No, they're mostly local -
0:16:15 > 0:16:17um, Essex, Anglia,
0:16:17 > 0:16:20London, places like that, you see.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22And how old are they?
0:16:22 > 0:16:28The little one with the orange pullover was used along the Norfolk and Suffolk beach
0:16:28 > 0:16:35before and up to the war-time, and the man had to give up his clothing coupons to buy shoes.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40They're still brand new, with the utility mark on the bottom. This one...
0:16:40 > 0:16:44- 'Yeah!'- Yes. - This one is well over 60 years old
0:16:44 > 0:16:48- and he worked along the Norfolk and the Suffolk beaches.- Did he?- Yes.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51- They're all ex-performers?- 'Yeah!' - And you too?
0:16:51 > 0:16:53'Yeah!'
0:16:53 > 0:16:57I didn't see your lips move. Which is your favourite of this bunch?
0:16:57 > 0:17:01- 'This one.'- Really? What's he called?- This is Jingles.- Yes.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04I can say the rudest things and get away with it.
0:17:04 > 0:17:07- 'Give us a kiss.'- You're very kind.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13We have here a watercolour by one of the best known
0:17:13 > 0:17:17of all British 20th-century artists - Sir William Russell Flint.
0:17:17 > 0:17:22Here's his signature in capital letters, as he always did,
0:17:22 > 0:17:28and Flint was a Scotsman, born in 1880, came to London about 1900,
0:17:28 > 0:17:33spent the rest of his long and successful career in England,
0:17:33 > 0:17:38but he's an artist who inspires equal like and dislike -
0:17:38 > 0:17:40you love him or you hate him.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Obviously, you like Russell Flint.
0:17:43 > 0:17:48I like these paintings, I don't like his more naked ladies.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50You've put your finger on it there.
0:17:50 > 0:17:57He of course has become famous for these pictures of flamenco dancers, generally topless,
0:17:57 > 0:18:03but here we've got a beach scene, but I don't see any naked ladies.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08I see a lot of bathing ladies here in very '30s-looking bathing hats.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12- I would think this is about 1930, isn't it?- Yes, I think so.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16What's its history? Did you acquire this or buy it?
0:18:16 > 0:18:21Russell Flint painted at times with my husband's grandfather
0:18:21 > 0:18:24and they swapped paintings.
0:18:24 > 0:18:31Mm. Well, whatever people do say about Russell Flint, I always think that he is a master of watercolour.
0:18:31 > 0:18:35There's no question his technique was extraordinary.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39- Actually, my favourite part of this watercolour is the sea.- Yes.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44The way he's done the waves and the feeling of waves coming up the beach
0:18:44 > 0:18:48and the spray and so on, is brilliantly done.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52To do that in pure watercolour is incredibly difficult.
0:18:52 > 0:18:58As to value, I expect you know Russell Flint's watercolours do make fairly considerable sums of money,
0:18:58 > 0:19:04and I would say, in a sale, you're likely to get £10,000 for this.
0:19:05 > 0:19:11My wife's grandmother had a sister. They had this piece of furniture in a corner, dirty, dusty,
0:19:11 > 0:19:16leg broken, replaced by a broom handle, no-one thought anything of it.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22When we first visited them, I just thought it an amazing piece of furniture.
0:19:22 > 0:19:29- To cut the story short, we inherited it, we had it restored and it blossomed.- Of course.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34- Where is your family from?- Hungary. We've lived in England six years.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38When we first look at it, there's a Chinese cabinet.
0:19:38 > 0:19:43But it's not made in China because these are not Chinese faces.
0:19:43 > 0:19:49They're a European's idea of Chinese faces, so it's an interpretation.
0:19:49 > 0:19:54Now, we had three main periods of what we call chinoiserie taste -
0:19:54 > 0:19:58one in the 17th century, one in the mid-18th century
0:19:58 > 0:20:02and one which sort of started 1790 and went through to...
0:20:02 > 0:20:07Well, it lasted all through the Victorian period, the 19th century.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10This particular type of decoration,
0:20:10 > 0:20:15combined with chinoiserie, was popular at the beginning of the 19th century.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18It's known as lac burgaute.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23When we see bits of mother-of-pearl around Chinese scenes,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26it does indicate that later period.
0:20:26 > 0:20:291830-1845, OK?
0:20:29 > 0:20:35We look all over and you see this exaggerated cabriole leg form.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40This was throughout Europe, but I have a feeling, I just think instinctively,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42that this in fact is an English one,
0:20:42 > 0:20:47and when we open it up and look at the fineness of that work,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50that is gold leaf
0:20:50 > 0:20:52applied in such delicacy
0:20:52 > 0:20:55as defies belief.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00And this was perfected by a company called Jennens and Bettridge. OK?
0:21:00 > 0:21:04They made the finest papier-mache,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08chinoiserie and lacquer decoration work that we've ever seen.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12It is just stunning.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16- Anyway, do you use it and enjoy it? - Yes, we keep our passports in it.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22- We don't want to put anything heavy on it or in it.- Absolutely not. - Passports are not that heavy.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27Well, the passports are standing in a cabinet which, um...
0:21:27 > 0:21:32if you wished to replace it - if you could find one as pretty as this -
0:21:32 > 0:21:37it would certainly cost you in the region of £30,000 to £35,000.
0:21:37 > 0:21:41Thank you very much.
0:21:43 > 0:21:49Clive, would you be interested to know that I once, aged 14, wrote to Elizabeth Taylor, a fan letter,
0:21:49 > 0:21:53got back a photograph and I wet the signature and it didn't run?
0:21:53 > 0:21:59- But if it had been a real signature, you'd have lost it. - I never thought of that.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03But it proved it wasn't genuine. A lot of that goes on, doesn't it?
0:22:03 > 0:22:10We get it here all the time. I've got a photocopy here of a letter of Churchill's. It says,
0:22:10 > 0:22:17"I'm so much obliged to you for your very kind token of goodwill on my birthday. Winston S Churchill."
0:22:17 > 0:22:23He wrote the original and then had the rest printed and sent out. He wasn't intending to deceive,
0:22:23 > 0:22:29but he wanted to reach as many people as he possibly could who'd thanked him for his birthday.
0:22:29 > 0:22:32This goes on all over the place, even royalty.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36Prince Charles and the Princess of Wales...
0:22:36 > 0:22:41used to send out autopens. Now, an autopen is...
0:22:41 > 0:22:47You sign a matrix, just once, and the machine will take your pen
0:22:47 > 0:22:53and sign your signature as many times as you want. I've got a lovely Charles and Diana Christmas card
0:22:53 > 0:22:58with a picture of the boys, Harry and Wills, "From Charles and Diana."
0:22:58 > 0:23:02It's definitely in ink, there's a surface to it.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06You can feel it, you can touch it. But look at this one.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08There's the photograph
0:23:08 > 0:23:13and these two are... You can virtually trace them over.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16No variation at all, that's...
0:23:16 > 0:23:19Just look at that, absolutely no variation at all.
0:23:19 > 0:23:24What about secretaries who sign on behalf of great men and statesmen?
0:23:24 > 0:23:27I think you're thinking of somebody like, um...
0:23:27 > 0:23:33John F Kennedy. You could identify secretary 1, secretary 2, secretary 3,
0:23:33 > 0:23:39- and probably any other of the women in his office.- Isn't it illegal, signing someone else's name?
0:23:39 > 0:23:46I don't think it's illegal at all. On an official document - passing a law or something like that -
0:23:46 > 0:23:50I suspect you would be more circumspect,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52but no, it's not necessary.
0:23:52 > 0:23:56So how can an autograph collector ever know they have the real thing?
0:23:56 > 0:24:02It's because they come to people like us, and we have seen these autopens before.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06Charles and Diana nearly always autopenned.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10It's very difficult not to find anything that isn't autopenned.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15Occasionally, a courtier may die and their collection come on the market
0:24:15 > 0:24:22and it is super-inscribed to such and such a person and then it is normally signed, that's OK.
0:24:22 > 0:24:29Are you saying if somebody gets the OBE and receives that document, it isn't the signature of Her Majesty?
0:24:29 > 0:24:34When you get your knighthood, I assure you she will actually sign it herself for you.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37- That's what I was getting at. - I thought so.
0:24:41 > 0:24:48My grandfather's family were all haberdashers and I think probably they were originally haberdashers.
0:24:48 > 0:24:54I wondered if she had maybe been used as a costume doll to show designs and fashions.
0:24:54 > 0:24:57No, I think that's highly unlikely.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59- Can I have a look at her?- Please do.
0:24:59 > 0:25:06We're talking about late 18th century, probably around 1770, thereabouts.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10So they didn't have costume dolls then.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15They would have been commissioned by the family to wear the clothes of the mother.
0:25:15 > 0:25:21I don't think this is 1770, I think this is a much later material.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25- Looks more like 1815 from the design.- It does, doesn't it?- Yes.
0:25:25 > 0:25:30These long legs are very typical and painted as well. It's very simple,
0:25:30 > 0:25:36maybe made of alder, maybe made of just pine and then painted.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42- Actually quite simple tenon joints. - Yes.- Um, because...
0:25:42 > 0:25:45what they were doing WAS showing off clothes,
0:25:45 > 0:25:51- but not to anybody else other than the child who wanted to emulate her mother.- Oh, I see.- Um...
0:25:51 > 0:25:54her head is very typical of the period,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58she would have had a layer of very fine gesso
0:25:58 > 0:26:03over the wood, then an oil-based paint on top
0:26:03 > 0:26:09- to give her these rouge cheeks and the sweet little nostrils and the little mouth like that.- Yes.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13What I love are the eyebrows, these tiny little dots,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16tiny little dashes for the eyelashes
0:26:16 > 0:26:21and then you can see there's just a little bit of real hair left,
0:26:21 > 0:26:28so someone has probably said, "I'm going to cut her hair, like Mummy cuts mine." There's not much left.
0:26:28 > 0:26:32And this is the original lovely little remains of the net bonnet
0:26:32 > 0:26:36and lovely little silk ribbon.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39- Great.- What a lovely doll! I would recommend
0:26:39 > 0:26:44that you insure her separately for £5,000.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48- Really?- Yes, they're very difficult to find, these dolls.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51Thank you very much.
0:26:51 > 0:26:57Anything that has a hole in one end and a button on the other generally tells me - a concealed gun.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01- There we are.- That's what it is. How old is it?
0:27:01 > 0:27:05Well, if you look at it, it's a very typical flintlock pistol
0:27:05 > 0:27:09of the very end of the flintlock era, from 1820 to...
0:27:09 > 0:27:17It'll have been made in Birmingham. It's got a name on - Clement Shaw. If we just look down there, it says,
0:27:17 > 0:27:22- "Fossgate, York".- Yes.- So that tells us that he was the retailer of this.
0:27:22 > 0:27:27Now, this, I am certain, was not set up in Clement Shaw's shop
0:27:27 > 0:27:31because it's very, very crude, and I think this is some ingenious chap
0:27:31 > 0:27:36who might have been robbed and thought, "Enough's enough of this!"
0:27:36 > 0:27:41- Right.- Particularly in Yorkshire, they're careful with their money. - Oh, absolutely.
0:27:41 > 0:27:48And he thought, saw the back end of the butt off and put it into this piece of wood
0:27:48 > 0:27:55which has got a couple of holes in there. Couple of spare bullets in there, gunpowder charge in there.
0:27:55 > 0:28:01- Twist of paper, probably, no more than that. You'd probably only need one reload, wouldn't you?- Yes.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06- And then the clever bit is that through there is a hole.- Right.
0:28:06 > 0:28:12I'm certain there was a string or wire running from the back of the cock there, through the side there,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17which you just pull, then you'd feel a click and you'd know it was ready
0:28:17 > 0:28:21and when you were ready to fire, you pressed. "Night-night, mugger."
0:28:21 > 0:28:26So this is a Clarice Cliff and as I was saying, the orange...
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Oh, my word!
0:28:29 > 0:28:31The biter bit.
0:28:31 > 0:28:33Revenge.
0:28:33 > 0:28:38- Meet my friend.- He is grotesque. - Yes.- Does he have a name? ..Sorry, I shouldn't say that.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42- Oh, I like the eyebrows. - Yes, it's got everything.
0:28:42 > 0:28:46- All in working order.- Can you do that without moving your lips?
0:28:46 > 0:28:48'That's the way to do it.'
0:28:51 > 0:28:55Actresses' dressing room at Drury Lane. Rowlandson. Thomas Rowlandson.
0:28:55 > 0:29:02Yes, very nice too. He's the late-18th-century watercolourist and cartoonist
0:29:02 > 0:29:08and, um, he's well known, of course, for his slightly risque subjects, shall we say?
0:29:08 > 0:29:15Yes, indeed, I think he has done a lot of work, some of them are a little bit saucy.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17Oh, yes, saucier than this!
0:29:17 > 0:29:23- Yeah, I haven't been tempted to buy any of those.- What's the next one?
0:29:23 > 0:29:26What's this? You've got another one?
0:29:26 > 0:29:31- This is the same subject.- Indeed. What happened is that I bought one
0:29:31 > 0:29:38and, er, subsequently, I came across another one at a fraction of the price.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41So what are these other ones?
0:29:41 > 0:29:44Here's another. This is amazing! I don't believe this.
0:29:44 > 0:29:49- How many have you got?- Well, I've got altogether six of them.
0:29:49 > 0:29:56- That's amazing! I don't believe it. Six watercolours by Rowlandson, all the same subject.- All the same.
0:29:56 > 0:30:02You've got at least £3,000 on the one you bought first.
0:30:02 > 0:30:07Then five others all worth about £1,000, so if we're totting that up,
0:30:07 > 0:30:14- that's getting to about £8,000. I would reckon we've got £10,000 in this lot.- Oh, that's wonderful.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16- 'Probably.'- ARRGH!
0:30:18 > 0:30:23'What's the matter with you then? Ain't got a sense of humour?'
0:30:25 > 0:30:29It was given to me on the day I got married in 1972,
0:30:29 > 0:30:34and my mother-in-law gave it to me as a wedding gift
0:30:34 > 0:30:39and I believe my father-in-law gave it to her on her wedding day.
0:30:39 > 0:30:43- It would have been in the 1950s and she was his second wife.- Lovely.
0:30:43 > 0:30:51This is an exciting and beautifully made piece of jewellery. Tiny, but exquisite and hugely refined.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54I'll tell you why. Turn it over here
0:30:54 > 0:30:59and we can see that this piece of hard rock crystal - it's quartz -
0:30:59 > 0:31:05- has been engraved in what's called "in intaglio", which means like a cameo but in reverse.- Right.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09As it's transparent, you can see into the decoration,
0:31:09 > 0:31:13and the decoration is as important. But let's talk about the frame.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18It's platinum, set with diamonds and two little sapphires
0:31:18 > 0:31:22and then lurking here is a little eagle's-head guarantee mark.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27- Oh.- That tells me that this is a French brooch.- Really?- Yeah.
0:31:27 > 0:31:33It's French jewellery from 1900. We know that two or three firms were very prominent then.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37Strangely enough, Tiffany in Paris were working.
0:31:37 > 0:31:43- Boucheron is a likely candidate to have made this.- The first one I've heard of, the second one, never.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47No? It was a competitor of Cartier - still running there.
0:31:47 > 0:31:51Living in this little plaque are gods and goddesses.
0:31:51 > 0:31:57- The one on the extreme left is Psyche, goddess of the soul and all higher emotions.- Right.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00We know from the little butterfly wings.
0:32:00 > 0:32:06It's a Classical source. And she's always being tormented by Cupid.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11We see Cupid here in front, being dragged in chains away from her
0:32:11 > 0:32:15by what's called a "putto", a small boy.
0:32:15 > 0:32:20There's a marvellous legend associated with them, because he would visit her at night
0:32:20 > 0:32:27- and to comfort her in every way she wanted him to.- Oh.- Exactly.- Right. Appropriate for a wedding day!
0:32:27 > 0:32:35And you said it! Because all this allegory is building up to something very significant for a wedding day.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38- Yes. - That's a brilliant observation.
0:32:38 > 0:32:44It's an allegory of love to be given to brides, and a great treasure. How do we value a treasure like this?
0:32:44 > 0:32:46- Any idea?- No.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51If this came up for sale and was properly understood and catalogued,
0:32:51 > 0:32:56maybe somebody might go completely mad and give £3,000 for it.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Oh, lovely.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01- Thanks very much.- Thank YOU!
0:33:01 > 0:33:04We've got dolphins up here, muskets, guns,
0:33:04 > 0:33:08and this wonderful garland at the bottom here.
0:33:08 > 0:33:15"The Pedigree of the Right Hon Henry Fienes Clinton, Earl of Lincoln." So please tell me, why have you got it?
0:33:15 > 0:33:18My family has a stable of titles,
0:33:18 > 0:33:25but the really interesting one is my eldest son, who is Lord Markham Clinton Nottinghamshire.
0:33:25 > 0:33:31- Has the Clinton got anything to do with any other Clinton? - Yes. We believe it's the lineage
0:33:31 > 0:33:37of former President Clinton from the time of William the Conqueror,
0:33:37 > 0:33:42through the ages, and the move from England to Ireland
0:33:42 > 0:33:45and then from Ireland to the United States.
0:33:45 > 0:33:51- This is all Clintons quartered with, um...- That's right. Clinton is quartered with everybody.- Yes.
0:33:51 > 0:33:57And, of course, that shows relationships through marriage also.
0:33:57 > 0:34:02Yes, this is beautiful. I don't think I've seen a better genealogy. I've seen many,
0:34:02 > 0:34:06but this one, on vellum, is absolutely
0:34:06 > 0:34:13the most elaborate, and I have to say, goodness knows who you're NOT related to, quite frankly!
0:34:13 > 0:34:15Exactly. And I think,
0:34:15 > 0:34:21when one looks back through the ages you'll see the Clinton family were very successful,
0:34:21 > 0:34:27um...having heirs in Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, all the way down to London.
0:34:27 > 0:34:33This one is just absolutely incredible - here's the Clinton quarters again.
0:34:33 > 0:34:40- Yes.- And with the garter there and these two wonderfully heraldic dogs there.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45And this strange piece of, um, Latin here -
0:34:45 > 0:34:49loyalty, "loyaulte na honte".
0:34:49 > 0:34:54What does that mean? Is it, "loyalty not honesty"? Because I think...
0:34:54 > 0:34:58I believe it means that, and it's very interesting because,
0:34:58 > 0:35:04er, King Richard befriended King Connach of Ireland.
0:35:04 > 0:35:07Um, and he attended his coronation.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10In fact, Clinton carried the crown.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16As a result of that friendship, Baron Clinton went to Ireland.
0:35:16 > 0:35:21- Right.- The extraordinary thing... - Is it an Irish title...?
0:35:21 > 0:35:26No, they spread out and there were lots of branches of the family.
0:35:26 > 0:35:30The Clintons actually fought against the English.
0:35:30 > 0:35:36- Baron Clinton was killed and his sons fled to America.- Right.
0:35:36 > 0:35:41But at the same time, the Clinton family were entrenched in England
0:35:41 > 0:35:48- in lots of noble families all the way down through to 1862. - That's incredible.
0:35:48 > 0:35:54- Did you know you were related to a president of the United States? - No, I didn't.- Well, you do know.
0:35:54 > 0:36:01I think your grandpa has actually sort of confessed to this "hands across the sea" business.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06Look at this lovely binding, early 18th century again - priceless.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10But I think if one had to put an amount of money on it
0:36:10 > 0:36:14for a piece... or a work of art like this,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18I could easily see it going for £10,000 or £15,000. It's wonderful.
0:36:18 > 0:36:23- But we wouldn't sell it.- No indeed, but it's such fun, it really is.
0:36:23 > 0:36:29- Where did they come from?- We were left them by our great-grandmother about two years ago.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32- Do you like them?- Yes.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36- Whose is whose?- They're really a collection that we share.
0:36:36 > 0:36:42I know, but eventually you're going to fall out and move away - who's going to have what?
0:36:42 > 0:36:44- We'll wait and see.- OK.
0:36:44 > 0:36:48Do you each like each piece?
0:36:48 > 0:36:54- Yes, but...- Which is your favourite piece?- The rat ball.- Definitely the rat ball.- The rat ball.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56Do you remember it from a young age?
0:36:56 > 0:37:00- Yeah.- This would appeal to a child, wouldn't it?- It does indeed.
0:37:00 > 0:37:04It's made of ivory, carved meticulously
0:37:04 > 0:37:09with hundreds of rats spilling over one another.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12And, of course, the rat in the Orient,
0:37:12 > 0:37:17the rat is one of the 12 animals of the zodiac
0:37:17 > 0:37:19and it symbolises good luck.
0:37:19 > 0:37:26It dates from the late 19th century and it's an extremely nice one of its kind.
0:37:26 > 0:37:31That's going to be worth somewhere in the region of £300 to £500.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36You've got a nice netsuke here,
0:37:36 > 0:37:41in the form of a monkey wearing a monk's hat,
0:37:41 > 0:37:46and it's taking a bit of fun out of religion, really.
0:37:46 > 0:37:52There are the two holes to take the cord and they're of different sizes, a large one and a small one.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56That generally indicates an earlier date if they're different sizes.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01He's going to be first half of the 19th century
0:38:01 > 0:38:05and worth in the region of £300 to £500.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08- So it's clocking up.- It is.
0:38:08 > 0:38:13And then a very nice group of a man and woman with a water buffalo.
0:38:13 > 0:38:19- That is worth again £300 to £500. - What would that be used for? - That is an okimono.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23- Right.- A standing figure which is meant
0:38:23 > 0:38:26simply to sit there and be entertaining.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29The bowls - do we have one each?
0:38:29 > 0:38:32Supposedly.
0:38:33 > 0:38:38They're... painted in underglazed blue
0:38:38 > 0:38:44with mallow flowers and we've got a double ring on here
0:38:44 > 0:38:48which is characteristic of Chinese. The Japanese used one ring.
0:38:48 > 0:38:54And a six character mark - "ta Ming Xuande nian zhi".
0:38:54 > 0:39:00which means, "Made in the reign of the great Ming emperor Xuande." He was a 15th-century emperor,
0:39:00 > 0:39:03but they're not 15th century.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07- Right.- They actually date from the reign of the Emperor Kang-Xi
0:39:07 > 0:39:10who reigned from 1662-1722
0:39:10 > 0:39:13and these date very close to 1700.
0:39:13 > 0:39:18But the painting is what one might almost describe as sloppy.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Not at all characteristic of Xuande painting.
0:39:22 > 0:39:29I think they're trying to imitate the Ming porcelain of this period.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33- Right.- And because they haven't quite got their mind round it,
0:39:33 > 0:39:36it's not quite come out right.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40So they're very unusual bowls and I like them very much.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43I think they're very good.
0:39:43 > 0:39:49I think we're looking at around £600 to £800 each for these,
0:39:49 > 0:39:52- maybe even £1,000 if you were lucky. - Right.
0:39:52 > 0:39:59So it was a very nice thing to have been left, and I hope when it comes to it, there's no fighting.
0:39:59 > 0:40:05- No.- We'll try not to. - Thank you for bringing them in. - Thank you.- Thank you.
0:40:05 > 0:40:10- Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. - It's a cracking little table.
0:40:10 > 0:40:14What do you know about the table? Tell the family history.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16I inherited it from my father.
0:40:16 > 0:40:21- Right.- And he in turn inherited it through his mother -
0:40:21 > 0:40:25ie, my grandmother - but as my grandmother was married twice,
0:40:25 > 0:40:30we don't know if it came through her first husband or my grandfather.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Right. Have you had any idea...?
0:40:33 > 0:40:39I mean, this is, to both Martin and I, one of the great surprises of the day.
0:40:40 > 0:40:44So what do you know about it so far to give us something to go on?
0:40:44 > 0:40:48- It was always an ornamental piece. - Right.
0:40:48 > 0:40:53- It had little sort of snuff boxes and things on it always.- Yeah.
0:40:53 > 0:40:58These marks look as if somebody's dropped cigarette ashes on them.
0:40:58 > 0:41:03Well, I think the table that had cigarette ashes on
0:41:03 > 0:41:08may be by one of the great names in English cabinet-making.
0:41:08 > 0:41:14- There are many features about this table... John, do you agree?- Absolutely.
0:41:14 > 0:41:20- ..that would suggest Thomas Chippendale.- Yes. - A piece from his London workshop.
0:41:20 > 0:41:25This table has many features of his documented furniture. If we look...
0:41:25 > 0:41:27- Underneath.- ..Look underneath.
0:41:27 > 0:41:32- 1770-1775? - 1770s, I absolutely agree.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36Very elegant fluted column with a vase at the bottom
0:41:36 > 0:41:43- and a very distinct feature - the curve of the three legs.- And the French scroll foot.- Absolutely.
0:41:43 > 0:41:49If we look at the tripod tables from Harewood House, one of Chippendale's commissions,
0:41:49 > 0:41:53you'll find very much the same bases there.
0:41:53 > 0:41:58- One antique dealer said he thought is was John Vile. - That's interesting.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02WILLIAM Vile is another very notable cabinet-maker of the period
0:42:02 > 0:42:06and it's a perfectly sensible suggestion,
0:42:06 > 0:42:14but these lovely inlays following the top and this starburst in the middle are typical of Chippendale.
0:42:14 > 0:42:20So the guess, or suggestion, ought to be in the Chippendale direction rather than Vile.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23- I mean, it's still...- A real star on this show.- Fantastic.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27- So have you had it valued? Do you have an idea?- Ten years ago.
0:42:27 > 0:42:32Ten years ago. Well, don't tell us what it was.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36- You ought to insure this, even in this condition, for...- 35?
0:42:36 > 0:42:40- £35,000.- £35,000, there we are. Or even £40,000.
0:42:40 > 0:42:46- It's made our day.- This is the best thing I've seen in many programmes. One of the best things ever.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49Absolutely wonderful.
0:42:49 > 0:42:54Thank you very much for being with us, and from the ancient barns of Cressing Temple in Essex,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57it's goodbye from me, and goodbye from him.
0:43:21 > 0:43:24Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd