Dyrham Park Antiques Roadshow

This week we're back at a favoured spot -

Dyrham Park on the Gloucestershire/Wiltshire border.

Dyrham was once the home of William Blathwayt,

a civil servant in the days of James II and William of Orange.

Blathwayt used his substantial income to transform a rather run-down Elizabethan manor house

into a Baroque-style mansion, set in formal gardens fit for a king,

with terraces, parterres and fancy waterworks.

Standing over the whole glorious scene was the figure of Neptune.

He used to gaze down over a water cascade of 224 steps

leading to a great fountain... most impressive no doubt...

but sadly the terraces and the parterres were already out of date by the time they were completed.

Then the trend was for landscaped parkland, developed by the likes of Capability Brown.

Now Neptune surveys only a grassy slope.

But the house is remarkably intact, and much of the contents remain,

including one of the finest collections of Delftware in the country,

assembled by William Blathwayt at the end of the 17th century.

These flower vases are the rarest of their kind, designed to display tulips at a time when a single tulip

was valued more highly than a whole house.

There's fine furniture here too.

The book press is one of a pair designed for Samuel Pepys, a friend of William's uncle, Thomas Povey.

It was Povey who gave William a taste for the Dutch ceramics and paintings which filled the house.

Sadly the Blathwayts had a change of fortune in the mid-19th century.

Colonel George Blathwayt, who fought at the Battle of Waterloo,

inherited the house and the estate, but not the contents.

Before George's time, the estate had passed to the widow of a former owner, who married again.

When she died, she left the house to the family of her first husband, and the contents to her second husband.

Now, George was not a wealthy man, but he was determined to keep it all together, so he took out

a massive loan of £50,000, 2.5 million in our money, to buy back the contents and to do up the house.

George Blathwayt was a popular man, and when he died in 1871,

all the shops in nearby Bath closed for the day as a mark of respect.

His tenants carried his coffin to the church,

and he lies in the family plot next door to his beloved house.

And today we've brought our team of Roadshow experts

to add their own particular colour to the garden of Dyrham Park.

I take it you're not at all afraid of insects? Oh, no.

Where did this magnificent lamp come from?

Well, my uncle acquired it about 20 years ago.

Did he? It was bought on his travels and it's now with us.

Is it? Are there any bits missing?

Yes, a fringe that goes round the top.

It goes into these little holes?

Yes, it goes into all of the little holes and it's beaded.

Beaded glass? Yes. And how far down does that hang?

About four inches. Yes.

And they're coloured, the beads, are they? Yes.

Because this is a wonderful object that includes a number of materials. You've got bronze, gilt bronze,

and within the shade itself are these extraordinarily beautiful coloured glass panels, in marigolds,

a sort of pinkish marigold, and then these cabochon stones

on the top here which are centres probably for some cast sunflowers.

It's the most extraordinary object. Thank you.

And something the like of which I've never seen before, which is a thrill,

and so it belonged to your uncle and he went on his travels. Did he travel anywhere in particular?

Yes, to France, America, he was...

he was born in, in Australia so he... he travelled around.

Well, I think that he must have had quite advanced tastes

to have been tempted by this lamp 20 or 30 years ago, because 20 or 30 years ago,

it would have been regarded as hideous. It's in the form of a macabre insect, I suspect a mayfly,

and this mayfly has its mandibles out,

gripping a sort of stylised lily pad,

but it's not like any lily pad that really exists,

so it's out there grabbing this thing with this weird expression on its face.

In feeling the thing is very much Art Nouveau,

it's a sort of wacky, mad expression of the Art Nouveau,

with an organically inspired iris,

and the Art Nouveau artists loved an iris - it had lots of curves

and vigour and power to that organic form - and that makes up

this extraordinary swirling base.

If we turn it upside down, we'll see it says "France",

stamped twice, so the country of origin, after the tariff act of 1891

required the country of origin to be stamped on it,

so it's after 1891, and I suppose I'd date it at around 1900 or so.

The beauty of the thing for me must be when it's lit up,

with a beaded glass fringe, and you look through these petals.

Have you ever seen it illuminated? Yes.

Yes, it's beautiful, quite stunning.

And what do you think something like this might be worth?

Have you got any ideas?

Yes. Like what? Um, 5,000?

Not bad. I had on the tip of my tongue, £5,000 to £8,000.

£6,000 to £9,000, maybe.

It would be fun to research and try and arrive at the original designer,

because some would say he might have been on drugs.

But whether on drugs or not...

It's wonderful. ..it's a really dazzling object.

It's wonderful to see the statues in a garden setting, but I hope it's not something you keep in the garden.

No, no, we keep them under the piano, as a matter of fact,

as we haven't got room for them anywhere else.

Under the piano? Right, well, they're so completely different in their form and their type of sculpture,

they're two very distinctly different schools, one following on from another.

Any guesses as to which is earliest?

Well, I think this is 19th century, the one nearest me. What do you know about him?

Well, it's either by or after a French sculptor called Chaudet.

It's got the unusual title of "Cupid presenting a rose to a butterfly",

except that we've lost the butterfly, I'm afraid,

and we seem to have a wasp there but not a butterfly.

Well, he's acting rather well.

But yes, just here, I mean, you're missing some fingers here. Yes.

And so there's a butterfly there?

Yes, I think so, yes, yes, yes.

Well, you're quite right, it is by Chaudet, Denis Antoine Chaudet, who was working in the...

was born I think in 1770...

1769, 1770. Died in 1820. So he's working in that Neo-Classical period

at the end of the 18th century and into the Napoleonic period.

Are they both things you've had for a long time?

If they're under the piano, I imagine you inherited them.

Yes, my father-in-law bought them in the late 1940s or early 1950s from a stately home that was selling up,

but I can't fix which one it was, and that's all we know about it really.

Right, so you don't know how much they cost or anything? No. Right.

Would this be by Chaudet or after Chaudet?

That is the million-dollar question, but I think, in this case, it's relatively easy to, um, to answer,

because Chaudet didn't actually make this in marble himself, ever, it was exhibited at the Salon in 1802...

if I remember correctly... and it wasn't actually made in marble until about 1819...

at the end of his life. So I think you'll have to say,

if it was catalogued, you would say after Chaudet, because they all have to be after Chaudet. The problem is,

how long after Chaudet, and that is the impossible one to really put one's finger on, but I would say,

let's say the second quarter of the 19th century, that sort of date.

I don't think it's any later. No.

But there are a lot of copies around, an awful lot of copies around, so it's a fairly common sculpture.

This one also is a...

it's an image I know very well. I have a... It could be...

There's a group of sculptures made...for Queen Victoria.

Yes. Around the 1850s, she had sculptures done of her children,

and one of person that comes to mind, for this sentimental type of child sculpture, is Mary Thorneycroft,

who was a well trained, very, very highly regarded sculptor, and it is 1850-1860...

despite the WWI look of the helmet, here - it is just a romantic sun hat.

It's very naturalistically carved, and this is where the difference is between the Chaudet and this one.

Yes. As a generation later, we're now into Romantic sculpture

of very much the mid 19th century,

with this ivy leaf, the vine on the tree trunk,

and a lizard creeping up, probably going to tickle the sleeping child,

just nonchalantly asleep, and they couldn't have done it as...

in such a relaxed way a generation before...

with the Chaudet... It's completely...

This figure here would have been an anathema to these people - they would have hated it.

So you've inherited these and no idea of the value. Um...

I'm going to put a modest £3,000 to £5,000 at auction on the Chaudet.

In its present condition? In its present condition. Really?

Unnamed...important Romantic School, mid-Victorian, um,

more problematic.

It is a well-known sculpture.

I'm going to say £3,000 to £5,000 again. Really? Yes, yes.

They belonged to my husband's family...

I believe that his grandparents were given it as their wedding present.

Right, so... in fact, we've actually got an inscription here which is for 1910.

Oh, right. Now, the design of this is absolutely fascinating...

because underneath here

we've got the facsimile signature of Dr Christopher Dresser.

Now, Dresser is very exciting, very exciting.

It was Dresser who very much introduced functionalism into design -

everything was very carefully worked out,

so with this teapot, when you look at the way the handle is positioned and so on, as you're pouring that,

it is actually designed so that the centre of gravity actually remains constant.

It's lovely to pour tea from. Do you use it? Yes. Ah, that's great.

Just occasionally. Special occasions, things like that. You need to enjoy these things.

But it is lovely to use, it pours beautifully.

The date of this... OK, we've got a 1910 inscription

there, but that's a bit confusing, because this is actually earlier.

It's not silver, it's electroplate. It's electroplate, yes.

So we don't actually have an absolutely positive date on it.

We've got the original design registration mark there,

and the makers in this case are James Dixon.

Now, Dresser designed for a whole group of people, most...principally for Huken and Heath,

in fact, he was their design consultant, but he also designed for Elkingtons

and of course Dixons, and interestingly some of his most exciting designs are for Dixons.

And that's another point with him, the whole idea was to bring the cost down

so that the public at large could, could really enjoy good design.

The sadness was that they didn't want to know.

What they wanted was what I always refer to as the "Podsnap".

Our Mutual Friend has this lovely passage where Dickens describes Mr Podsnap's silver

as having broken out in an eruption rather than being ornamented.

And in 1880, when this would actually have been produced, around 1880,

that was very much what most people wanted.

It was only the avant-garde of the day, the dilettantes and so on,

who really went for this, and it was designed to be mass produced as well.

Right? I think it looks very modern.

Oh, it does, I mean I quite agree with you.

If you were to put that into a design centre today,

I think a lot of people just wouldn't bat an eyelid. Yes.

And this is a fascinating feature.

Look at the foot there. The way that rivet appears on the top,

he's emphasising the construction, not disguising it.

Lovely, lovely detail. The sort of thing you see in architecture today,

but I have to keep reminding myself

that teapot, the other pieces with it, they are 120 years old.

Yes, and when I found that it was electroplate,

I thought it wasn't worth anything and I was going to send it to the sale room for £20.

If that was to come up in auction today,

I would suggest they would be estimating at £4,000 to £8,000.

Heavens!

Now, we're here in front of some of the best embroidery I've seen in my life. What can you tell me about it?

Well, it was done my Mrs Delaney who is my six times great-aunt

and it was done around about 1760, we believe in the family.

She was an exceptional woman in the applied arts.

Right, I mean I've heard her name. She crops up in all sorts of references of that period.

The embroidery on this panel is absolutely exquisite.

I know one of her favourite flowers was the lily of the valley, and we see it beautifully shown there.

And of course we have the drawing for it too here which is marvellous.

Now, presumably when she made something like this, which was part of a costume, I guess...

Yes, a court dress. A court dress. A court dress, I understood, yes.

She would have started off with a little drawing like this and then she would have taken

a larger piece of paper, like this,

which is also one of her marvellous pieces of work.

And she would have done the drawing just out of her head, freehand,

with consummate skill, and pricked round the edge of the design

and then pinned that drawing onto the fabric and dusted through

the little holes that were left and so there she would have got a tiny white dotty outline on the garment

and then she could start embroidering with these wonderful silks. It's a masterpiece, isn't it?

Absolutely wonderful. We know that she wore this court dress.

Yes, yes.

And so which part of the dress is this? The back and sides.

The back and sides and the two side panels.

That joins onto the rococo border.

But of course she wasn't just an embroideress, she was an artist,

she was a botanist, thus we see the flowers and things looking so terribly lifelike.

And Joseph Banks of course, the great explorer, sent flowers to her from Kew to copy in collage.

So he must have had a huge regard for her.

But this is the most incredible collection you've brought in.

It gives us an insight into a lady who in her time was in the highest echelons of society in the land,

and her work has come down to us, because people like you have looked after it and made something of it.

It's irrelevant to talk about valuation on something like this,

because it's never going to be sold, it's part of your family history...

but it ought to be covered for insurance...somewhere about £10,000 to £12,000 something like that,

for the whole collection, because it is absolutely irreplaceable.

Well, this is a highly distinctive French leather box for a piece of jewellery, but more than that,

it's obvious that it belonged to a noble lady whose initials are CL. Is it part of your family?

No, no. Where did this wonderful thing come from?

Well, my father used to buy jewellery for my mother, at the beginning of the war,

and I understand he bought several pieces...this was amongst them...

that he thought if the Germans invaded that he'd have something to barter with.

Goodness, well, that's very far-sighted, isn't it? It really is, and in the meantime, your mother got

to wear a most magnificent diamond and pearl and ruby brooch!

What do you feel when you wear it?

Do you love it? I do, but it's not something I can wear every day.

I have worn it to dinner dances but not lately.

No, it's fantastic. it is a piece of 19th-century French jewellery,

and this is a little hidden message of love, because it's "bee"

and then "sure" with the pin "of my love",

so it's a message probably from this noble gentleman to this noble lady,

we've next-to-no-chance of finding out who that is. No.

But it's a perfect specimen in its box.

Have you any idea of its worth? None.

Well, it is an intrinsically valuable object, it's a very desirable object,

I think enviable object, so I haven't any hesitation in putting it down for £4,500 today.

Very nice.

Well, its part of a dinner service which was given to the Sultan of Oman by William IV.

It was sent out in this vessel, the "Prince Regent"

which was also given to the Sultan, but...

I'm not quite sure of the story, he didn't like the ship...

he was disappointed he wasn't given something a bit more superior, but I think he liked the dinner service.

But no-one knows where the rest of the dinner service is now,

the Sultan hasn't got it any longer, I understand.

There's one plate in the Royal Worcester Museum, because I think

everything that they made, they kept one piece of, I believe.

That's right yes. And that plate is there, but we don't know much about where the rest of the service is.

I've no idea how it came into my family, and actually we'd like to try and find out.

It's a Worcester service, it would have been made by the Flight Barr and Barr partnership,

it was probably one of the last gifts by William IV. I think this was made

in about 1836. It's nice that it's got the crest on, it's beautifully painted. What is the crest?

This would be... Now was he a Sultan at that date? I think he became a Sultan a little bit later, actually.

Right. What was he called then? I think he's the Oman of Muscat.

That's right, yes, I think, yes.

Take the cover off...

Very often you've got painted titles or impressed marks on the bottom.

There's no impressed factory mark here, but we have got...

the title of the ship, Prince Regent,

and you've got that quite right, entering Muscat Cove.

And on the other side, let's have a look at the back, because that...

Beautifully painted. Virginia Water, is that Surrey?

Yes, why should it be Virginia Water?

Nice scene of the English countryside, probably no other reason than that.

It's a fabulous thing, actually, it's sort of English Regency porcelain

at its...at its best, really.

The green is traditionally quite a difficult colour to sell.

Oh. If you have a blue ground service and a green ground service, the blue ground service...

all other things being equal... will make more money. Really?

Yeah, really. You're looking at in the region of £3,000.

Really?! As much as that?

Even though it's damaged? Yeah.

"Henry Varley, success to the wire workers."

Tell me.

Well, my family had...we're involved in the wire manufacture business

going back two hundred and something years, since 1773...

and, um, this was...to do with the union,

which is the Amalgamated Society of Wire Drawers and Kindred Workers.

Does that have an easy acronym?

No. It was formed in the Industrial Revolution in 1840.

So the jug is associated with your family trade, but the name Henry Varley?

That means nothing to me.

Right. But it's always been in the family, and I imagine it was handed down from generation to generation.

OK, what about this one? William and Mary Johnson.

Well, William Johnson was my great-great-grandfather's brother

and he died in 1860, only aged about 49, 50,

and that was him and...

Well, hang on, he died, sorry in 1860? He died in 1860.

And how old was he? 49.

He was 49 in 1860. That's his father. And yet we've got a date of 1776.

Yes, because that was when the firm was started.

You've given me a conundrum. Well... Really? Well, yes.

I'll show you why.

Well, first of all, let's just tell you about this piece of pottery.

The pottery is what we call pearl ware. It's a generic name, it's given to the sort of...

white-coloured pottery covered in a glaze which, where it cools, tends to go blue, and it starts off

in Staffordshire around the 1770s,

and here it is on a jug which probably stylistically

I would date to around the 1830s, maybe early 1840s.

It's very difficult actually to place it, I certainly can't place,

I can't say where in the country this was actually made.

This is the conundrum, because the date you've given me for this fella,

and then you tell me that this was the established factory...

the problem is that the porcelain...

and this is porcelain whereas that is earthenware...

the porcelain is actually of the period, the 1770s. Right.

It's a very bluish porcelain, it's rather naive painting,

the strap handle which looks Worcesterish is in fact not Worcesterish, it's another factory.

In fact, Manchester is the clue, because up in Liverpool at this time

there were several, about half a dozen porcelain factories

producing porcelain. It is sadly damaged. Yeah.

As is this.

That's been well used.

They both have. Yeah, do you continue to use them?

Um, not so much that one, but this one is used.

I caught my sons using that as a tooth glass once upon a time.

With the washing-up liquid. Oh, I see, scullery brush holder.

But we took that away. Well, why not, why not?

It does show the stress of scullery brush using, actually.

OK, well, this pottery jug also with its crack, that is probably worth somewhere in the region...

let's say of £200 to £300, something of that order.

This because it's earlier and because it's porcelain and yet it's got that horrible crack in the bottom,

well, it's a difficult thing to put a value on,

but if I were to say somewhere between a mere £3,000 and £5,000... would that surprise you?

It probably would, yeah, better not use it as a tooth mug any more or as a scullery brush.

What is interesting about Eastern European art at the moment is that it's always been very undervalued.

No-one has really been interested in it,

but in the last five years, suddenly, the Eastern European countries are making considerable sums of money,

and their art has gone up in value - in certain cases, it's doubled in value in the last few years.

Really? This is by a very well-known artist, Chelminski, who...

we're not sure where he was born, but I assume he was born in Warsaw,

but he painted at the end of the 19th century and died, I think, in the 1920s, something like that.

But this is a very, very nice example of his work, and he seems to specialise in military themes.

The Poles have a great love of horses and things like that, don't they?

That's right. And I think this is probably why he... Going back through many years.

Exactly, and he loved painting pictures of horses.

Tell me, did you inherit it?

Well, no, I bought it many years ago in Bath. Oh, you bought it?

Oh, yes. Aha, and were you drawn to it because it was Polish? Yes.

Did you know it was Polish?

Well, I know the Polish names, which is the artist obviously,

but I didn't know that it was a Polish subject or anything.

Right, right. But the name which attracts me and the subject.

The subject. The subject, of course.

What I like about Chelminski is he really knows how to paint horses,

and the atmosphere's here - you can feel the dust being kicked up, can't you? Yes.

I suppose it's slightly unusual that it's a summer view.

Most of the Chelminski's I've seen have been winter landscapes. Oh, I see, yes.

And if you look, it's nicely signed at the bottom here and dated 1880.

It's quite dirty, isn't it? It's sort of yellow.

Bit sort of yellow.

But having said that, it's in lovely condition, it's on this nice panel, painted on wood,

which I sometimes prefer to canvas - it seems more solid and rather nice.

Oh. Can you remember what you paid for it when you bought it?

Well, I paid I think over £4,000. Right, right.

I would say that it should be insured now for perhaps at least £10,000,

possibly even a little bit more, but this is a very hot market

at the moment, and anything Eastern European seems to be selling well.

Well, it belonged to my grandfather.

He was married in 1910, and his brother gave him a cheque,

and I believe he bought it with the proceeds of that cheque,

round about that time.

Around 1910. Well, certainly at first glance, it is absolutely 1910,

and it's the sort of thing that could be

by one of the big London makers, I'd imagine.

Um, this type of very, very good quality but giving a country look.

Have you looked to see if it's signed or are there any signatures anywhere?

Well, in here,

there's a sign for Maple's.

Now, I thought Maple's was just a dealer.

Well, a lot of dealers do put the names on, so that can be confusing, there are often...

There are one or two very well-known firms who are still going today,

who for the last 50 to 100 years have been putting a name on, their little label on,

even on antique pieces, whether they made it or restored it or whatever.

But Maple's was a dealer, a retailer, of course, a very well-known name,

but they also made furniture and had furniture made for them,

but when you look at the way it's made...

Let's just take an example here.

You've got this wonderful oak here with the medullary rays showing,

so it's been cut on the quarter.

It's a more expensive cut, which even without the label suggests a good quality, top-notch maker,

possibly a London maker, using expensive timbers and, of course, the decoration.

You've got this wonderful barber's pole, almost chequered stringing here, or banding,

which is, as is the oak, emulating the late 18th century.

So the whole shape and form, the use of the timber and the decoration, is typical of the late 18th century.

But the Maple's leads us to believe that it is early 20th century,

and there's one other factor - that's the size and proportion.

It's slighter tighter and smaller than it would be if it was a Georgian original.

What's interesting is that as I stand here sort of thinking about the price,

I really think that it's worth as much as a Georgian original,

which is not a huge amount. Don't get over-excited.

They're fairly common pieces in the Georgian period and they're not that easy to place in a house.

This is, because it's smaller, I think it's worth as much,

certainly at auction - £1,500, £2,000.

Possibly therefore you should insure it for up to £3,000,

which is what you'd go out and buy a Georgian one for, albeit bigger.

More than I expected.

Very, very pretty pot. It's Wedgwood, of course. Yes.

But the particularly nice thing about it is the Powells have decorated it. Right.

The Powells were sort of outside decorators, though sometimes they worked at the Wedgwood factory,

but here is their work, gorgeous decoration on the top and this lovely little landscape here. Indeed.

Almost looks Chinese, doesn't it?

Oh, Chinese. It is...these, like, sampans or...

but it might be Italian Lakes or Swiss Lakes or something like that. Right.

The Powells were super painters.

I don't think we've ever had a piece by them on the Roadshow before... Really?

..which is surprising, because they did some beautiful work.

How did you come by it? Oh, I bought it recently at an auction. Oh. Yes.

I did spot it. I wasn't certain of the monogram underneath.

Yes, the monogram is the Powells.

Yeah. The model number is the shape number in the Wedgwood factory.

Ah. Normal Wedgwood impressed mark.

Their work is now quite collectable,

especially among the American collectors of Wedgwood.

They're mad keen on Wedgwood over there,

and I suppose an American collector would pay,

I don't know, something like about £300 or £400 for a piece by Powells.

It's not... It's not enormously valuable yet, but it deserves to be.

Worth hanging on to. And the day will come when this is highly desirable.

The funny thing about tortoiseshell

is it isn't tortoiseshell at all - it's turtle.

Nowadays, people are keen not to kill these beautiful animals.

Tortoiseshell is something that won't be made again,

never used again in this sort of way.

But it WAS a very everyday domestic material that was used

from the most humble boxes, like this little chap,

which would have been in somebody's pocket,

full of snuff, used regularly,

to very glamorous objects, which were obviously prized

for holding expensive things.

And a superb card case,

absolutely marvellous.

All sorts of nice bits of etiquette go with card cases, and that's lovely.

It's actually got the name of the person who owned it on the back - M Eaton.

Yes, I've just noticed that. Very nice.

That's obviously made specifically for them.

That's inlaid with mother-of-pearl, which again is a very nice touch.

Probably the creme de la creme is this little number here,

which looks astonishingly expensive and wonderful from the outside.

My word! And we're not disappointed when we open it up inside.

Look. Yes. Isn't that wonderful? Beautiful.

I love the scissors and the machine work on the...

I don't think it is machine work. I think that's all done by hand.

They would have pounced that with a very, very fine little punch,

which would have made all the designs that have gone into the metalwork.

It really does make you want to start sewing, doesn't it? No.

You're not a seamstress? I'm not at all.

Do you think it was ever used?

I don't know. It was one of those things...

It was called a necessaire, and a lady would always have possessed one of these,

because it had everything in it that she needed

for her everyday mending, sewing, amusements.

Is it French? It could well be French.

The French were good at making these fine objects.

Now, what I haven't managed to see is actually the gold mark.

Unless you can get that tested and say that it is gold,

I can't presume that it is.

From a valuation point of view, I think we're looking at about £800 for the lot. Right, OK, yes.

So where did this picture come from?

Originally Southampton, where my father's from.

It spent a long time in his house, and then subsequently he gave it to me some years ago.

And where did he get it from?

Um, his mother gave it to him. Where would she have got it from?

The next generation back.

Fine, so this has been in your family then for...

since the 1850s or 1860s? Since it was woven, yes.

And is that the...? That jolly tar would be your great-grandfather?

That's right. And that's his ma, is it?

That's right. Your great-grandma.

That's correct. Brilliant.

Well, it's called a wool-worked picture,

rather than a silk-worked picture, because the material is wool... Yes.

..with these extraordinary long, horizontal stitches.

It's the sort of thing that sailors on their journey,

when they had any spare time did,

either to make extra pin money or to give as presents on their return to their port. Yes.

What I like about this one is it's got an unusual brown ground,

which makes it look as if it's faded, but it's not faded.

There's lots of colour remaining in the oval reserve in the middle.

Great from your point of view as an heirloom. This is an heirloom, isn't it?

What are you going to do with it? Well, I shall pass it on in turn, as long as it stays in the family.

I shan't sell it. There you are.

It really is an heirloom, and I think it's worth between £500 and £700.

I see. Insure it for £500.

Good.

Michael, I had to show you this,

because it chimes in quite nicely with the house. Oh, a coin.

Oh, it moves around. Be careful. Someone wanted to get at that coin,

and you can see it's been broken underneath.

Is it a valuable coin?

Have another look at it. See what you can make out of it.

I can see the names of William and Mary. That's right.

It's, in fact, a half crown.

It's a William and Mary half crown, done probably in the late 1690s here,

absolutely contemporary with the house.

It's been inserted into this glass tankard

and unfortunately ruined by somebody deciding they wanted the half crown.

Or breaking into the glass to put the half crown IN.

HE CHUCKLES

This is very interesting to have the calendar

and the original watercolour together.

Who did this belong to? Well, it was my father-in-law's.

He was a builder's merchant and he used to send calendars to his customers.

I think this must have been one that he sent in 1942.

These were printed for the companies.

They'd buy the pictures and send them to their favoured clients.

What is interesting is that this is by a man called Ernest William Haslehust,

and he died in the 1940s and was painting from the 1860s.

I've seen a lot of his work. This is a particularly large painting of a garden by him.

Garden pictures were very popular in the early part of the 1900s.

He's not the most famous of garden painters,

like EA Roe was, who makes thousands.

But this, the Haslehust, is a very affordable picture.

I think it would be worth somewhere in the region of £800 to £1,200 at auction.

Really? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Lovely.

My uncle collected watches, and I've got a lot more,

but these are the two

I thought I'd bring to you to see.

Let's start with this case,

the silver one.

I believe it's a biblical scene, New Testament,

and is probably Christ at the Well. Yes.

However, the gold one,

is a scene from the Classics.

We have a figure on my left there of Perseus with his shield.

I believe this here is Andromeda,

and on MY right down the bottom is the sea monster.

He rescued her from the sea monster,

and I've a feeling this is what it is.

Let's go back to the silver one,

because this is a rather more special watch in many ways,

because it has the name of pendulum watch... Yes.

..which is silly, because it doesn't have a pendulum.

You can't have a pendulum in a watch.

It's the balance for the weight in the centre.

You can't see the rest of the balance.

It's also a particularly fine watch by a particularly well-known maker,

and you know who that is?

Joseph Windmills. Joseph Windmills, yes.

In fact, it was your uncle you say who... Yes, he wrote all this.

He wrote all this. Well, it does actually say, "Case made by J Mauris 1683." Yes.

I'm sorry, I think I'm going to contradict that.

I don't believe it is. I believe he read it upside down.

It's not JM or IM, as in the case, it's actually the other way round.

It's WI, and it stands for William Jacks. William Jacks, yes.

That was the case-maker for Windmills.

Now, if we open it up,

you can see by these - what are called pair-case watches -

there's the outer case, this one here is the inner case.

If we open it up, you see it's different to most watches.

You can't see the balance ticking on the back there.

It's on the front,

because you can see it through the dial.

But there's the name, Joseph Windmills, London.

The date, I think, is slightly later than 1683.

The early sort of 1700s is more likely.

But that's the inside of this particular watch.

The other one is rather more traditional.

Oh, before we go that far,

the face, the dial...

sorry to tell you that's not original, neither are the hands.

The dial of this one would actually resemble the Windmills watch.

This dial dates from the 19th century and it was changed then, together with the hands.

Look at the movement of this one,

and you'll see what I mean about the more traditional movements.

So there you have a very great maker, Joseph Windmills,

a slightly less-known maker, Samuel Toulmin.

Probably the watch dates from the sort of 1750s.

But when you come to the value of them,

on the gold one here, although it is a gold watch,

the condition of the case here is going to be all-important in its value. Yes.

As is the fact it is not an original dial.

If this was in absolutely perfect condition,

one might look at a figure of £3, 000 or £4,000,

but I think we've got to bring the figure down to nearer £1,000

because of the condition it's in, which shows how carefully you must look after these. Yes.

Come to the Windmills watch, though, and this one here,

the condition of the, er...

scene on the back here is very, very much better.

Added to this is the fact that Windmills is a very well-known and respected maker.

You're looking at a figure around sort of £4,000 for this watch.

Yes. Even though it is a silver one rather than gold. Yes.

This is a very interesting little brooch,

twinned hearts with a crown, a card from the King and Queen. Tell me more.

Well, this was presented to my sister by the Queen Mother at Christmas.

She always gave gifts to her staff, and it was in 1938, I think, wasn't it?

'37, according to the cover. Bang on.

Isn't that marvellous?

She gave all her staff a present at Christmas, and this was my sister's present.

What was your sister doing at the palace?

She was the head chef. Marvellous. Quite a relic. Yes.

Do you know why it's a double heart and a crown above?

Well, no, unless it just represents affection, I would imagine.

It's a Scottish background, actually.

Maybe Queen Elizabeth decided to choose that one...

Because she was Scottish. It's called a Luckenbooth brooch,

which means it not only brings luck but is a traditional Scottish shape.

It would have arrived with this charming dedication card.

Your sister must have been very touched, I imagine.

Oh, she was indeed. Was she?

Lovely memories of Queen Elizabeth. Marvellous. Well, a family relic...

It's only made of marcasite.

I gathered that. It's nothing to...

Nothing of value, it's just the...

The whole point about these things

is that it's not to do with intrinsic value. No, no, no.

And to have a most touching gift from Queen Elizabeth is... Sentimental.

Possibly one of the most famous ladies in the world. Oh, yes.

And here's something that comes from her heart to somebody that she was very fond of.

I mean it's invaluable.

Invaluable. Well, that's more valuable than the money.

It's worth more than anything. Yes.

Thanks for bringing it. My pleasure.

I know very little about it, but it, um...belonged to my wife's family,

and they originated in Norwich.

Any idea of the date?

Not at all, I've no idea.

No. Now, this is absolutely fascinating.

The overall form, especially with the decorative details that we've got here,

you might expect this to be early 17th century.

It's not actually early 17th century, it's late 17th century. Oh, I see.

But it is 17th century,

and these marks are amongst the rarest marks to be found in English silver.

Are they? What we've got there are the marks of a chap called Thomas Hutchinson,

and Hutchinson was actually working in Great Yarmouth.

Now, that's too far removed from Norwich. No.

But there are literally only a few such pieces known to exist.

It's one of the rarest locations to find any piece of English silver.

What have you been doing with it? Looking a bit grubby.

Well, I don't do anything with it.

Well, I can see that! Sits on a shelf.

Right, I think it does deserve

a little bit of a clean every now and again.

Yes, I'm not all that houseproud.

It has over the years had one or two...there's been a repair.

You can just see it just at that point.

I wouldn't touch that at all because, I mean, with a piece like this,

anybody would want... There are avid collectors of East Anglian silver.

So what about value? Have you got it insured or anything?

No, I've not had it insured or... no idea of the value.

Right. It's a difficult one to call.

I'm going to give you a guesstimate,

which it has to be, because I cannot remember any such piece coming on the market.

I would suspect we would be looking in excess of £5,000 or £6,000. Good heavens!

And if it went significantly higher than that,

it would not surprise me in the slightest.

I see it as a tin cup!

Well, that's the Roadshow for you.

MICHAEL: What seemed to be a tin cup turns out to be a rare piece of silver.

Thanks again to the National Trust for letting us enjoy Dyrham Park. Until the next time, goodbye.

Subtitles by BBC