0:00:28 > 0:00:31ORGAN PLAYS
0:00:31 > 0:00:34# On Christmas night all Christians sing
0:00:34 > 0:00:37# To hear the news the angels bring
0:00:37 > 0:00:39# On Christmas night all Christians sing
0:00:39 > 0:00:43# To hear the news the angels bring... #
0:00:43 > 0:00:46We have returned to King's College, Cambridge.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50# ..Then why should men on earth be so sad?
0:00:50 > 0:00:53# Since our Redeemer made us glad. #
0:00:53 > 0:00:56The annual festival of lessons and carols from King's
0:00:56 > 0:00:58has been broadcast for more than 70 years,
0:00:58 > 0:01:03but the choir itself, like the college and the chapel, was founded by Henry VI,
0:01:03 > 0:01:05more than 500 years ago.
0:01:06 > 0:01:11Henry wanted the chapel to be without equal in size and beauty...
0:01:11 > 0:01:12an incredibly ambitious task...
0:01:12 > 0:01:16which eventually took five kings, four master masons
0:01:16 > 0:01:20and an army of craftsmen over a century to complete.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26It took just three of those years
0:01:26 > 0:01:30to construct the largest fan-vaulted stone ceiling anywhere in the world.
0:01:30 > 0:01:34From below, the intricately carved stonework looks delicate, even fragile,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39but each of the central bosses actually weighs a ton.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43And from way up here in the space between the ceiling and the roof,
0:01:43 > 0:01:46you can tell just how solid it all is.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Sir Christopher Wren admired the great ceiling and came up here several times
0:01:52 > 0:01:55to try and work out how it was done, so that he could replicate it.
0:01:55 > 0:01:59He never managed to achieve that, but I'm sure he enjoyed the choir.
0:01:59 > 0:02:01CHOIR SINGS
0:02:07 > 0:02:13The purity of the human voices is enhanced by the acoustics of the building.
0:02:13 > 0:02:16Each note is said to hang in the air for five seconds.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22The chapel is the most popular tourist attraction in Cambridge
0:02:22 > 0:02:26and it's easy to see why. Now let's test the pulling power of the Antiques Roadshow.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Well, I just love printing presses
0:02:31 > 0:02:36and this one, because it is so small, is even more adorable.
0:02:36 > 0:02:41Where did you get it? My father - a terrible cadger of free objects -
0:02:41 > 0:02:46found it at a business that he was doing some work for,
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and, having the cheek of the Devil, he said, "Can I have it?"
0:02:49 > 0:02:51and they said yes.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54He intended to take it to an industrial archaeology museum
0:02:54 > 0:03:00but it got no further than my house because I said, "Me, please." You were a terrible cadger, too!
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Anyway, Frederick Ullmer, Albion Press.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07Well, the Albion presses came first in the 1820s
0:03:07 > 0:03:10but Frederick Ullmer was a lot later than that.
0:03:10 > 0:03:14He was making Albion presses, or little Albion presses,
0:03:14 > 0:03:19in about the 1870s, 1860s-1870s, and I think this dates from that. Yes.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22It's lovely because it's got the original colour,
0:03:22 > 0:03:27it's green and there's a little gilding round the top here, round this crown and this -
0:03:27 > 0:03:33where you put the pressure on for the plate - is still in wonderful order.
0:03:33 > 0:03:36You've brought some typeface, as well. I have, yes.
0:03:36 > 0:03:40That, as far as I'm concerned, is much later than the printing press. Oh, it is, yes.
0:03:40 > 0:03:46Right, you're the master printer, you're the master cadger, show us how it works.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49Right, having rolled up the block underneath... Yes.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52..one carefully feeds the... It's very like Caxton's original press.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56Absolutely, yes. It hadn't changed really for several centuries.
0:03:56 > 0:03:59Use pressure. That's it.
0:03:59 > 0:04:00Pressure down on it
0:04:00 > 0:04:04and wheel it out, and, with a bit of luck, we have a print.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07So, let's have a look.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13That's tremendous. It's a bit smudged but that's absolutely wonderful.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15It's a little bicycle.
0:04:15 > 0:04:19People think that, because they're small, they're for amateurs, but they're not.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24People who had large printing presses would use these for hand bills
0:04:24 > 0:04:27and smaller pieces of stationery and things like that. Yes.
0:04:27 > 0:04:33So it is an absolutely perfect working Victorian model of a printing press.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36It is absolutely tremendous. Now, do you have any idea of value?
0:04:36 > 0:04:38I haven't a clue. I never have had.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Well, I think if you went into the market today
0:04:41 > 0:04:42and you had buy one of these,
0:04:42 > 0:04:45you'd be talking about £1,500 to £2,000. Really?
0:04:45 > 0:04:47Yes, yes. And you print off this?
0:04:47 > 0:04:51Occasionally, yes. It has seen Christmas cards pass through it.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54If I give you my address, will you send me a Christmas card?
0:04:54 > 0:04:58You could try, yes. You could hope for it. I don't see why not.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00Well, thank you very much. Thank you.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Adorable item, as I say.
0:05:02 > 0:05:08This was produced by my great grandmother and she left it to her son,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10Joseph Whiteside Wakinshaw.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15In her will, it says, "My picture in needlework of Bolton Abbey."
0:05:15 > 0:05:18Oh, after the Landseer of course.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Absolutely, yes. And who was the seamstress?
0:05:22 > 0:05:23Who was the stitcher?
0:05:23 > 0:05:29She was a woman. She was born Ruth Whiteside, and you can see that on the sampler. Oh, yes.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33She did that when she was 13.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36And so she then graduated from that...
0:05:36 > 0:05:38To this. ..To something a little larger.
0:05:38 > 0:05:42Well, I think she did this... I don't know the date of Landseer's painting.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Actually, I don't know either, but I can say that Landseer
0:05:45 > 0:05:51was at the height of his popularity in the 1840s, which is when Berlin woolwork
0:05:51 > 0:05:56was at the height of its popularity, which this is a great example of.
0:05:56 > 0:06:03Berlin woolwork was something invented in Berlin. It was the first time that squared paper
0:06:03 > 0:06:10had been printed into patterns where one square represented one square of the canvas...
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Stitching by numbers, really. Yes.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15And it became hugely, hugely popular.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Queen Victoria, for instance...
0:06:17 > 0:06:20There are reports of her actually sitting
0:06:20 > 0:06:24and doing her Berlin woolwork during meetings with Prime Ministers, and so on.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26That compulsive? Yes.
0:06:26 > 0:06:32There are a couple of things that detract from its appeal.
0:06:32 > 0:06:38One is that it is slightly faded, but it's faded in a uniform way, which is something.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41The second thing, of course, is that it shows a dead animal.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Yes. Now, it's a lovely dead animal.
0:06:43 > 0:06:48Politically incorrect. But a bit UPC, yes. Absolutely.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51So that will have an effect on the value
0:06:51 > 0:06:56but, to compensate, it's got this fabulous rosewood frame of extraordinary dimensions.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59Yes. I mean, it weighs a ton.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00I bet it does.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02Value of this -
0:07:02 > 0:07:08we'd be talking about perhaps £1,000 to £1,500 at auction. Oh, really?
0:07:08 > 0:07:11Yes. Now let's turn to this little poppet.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14It really is so lovely.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18First of all, it's named and dated.
0:07:18 > 0:07:23Secondly, it's got a very attractive border around it.
0:07:23 > 0:07:28It has very neat colourful stitching,
0:07:28 > 0:07:33but the thing that makes it exceptional is this frieze of children at the bottom here.
0:07:33 > 0:07:36There's a boy holding a sheaf of corn.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41There's a toddler holding an animal of some description...
0:07:41 > 0:07:43a sheep perhaps. I think it's a sheep.
0:07:43 > 0:07:48A sheep. A boy here holding his hat and probably the mother figure here.
0:07:48 > 0:07:54That really brings the whole thing to life in an extraordinary way.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57The surprising thing, I suppose, about this, is the value...
0:07:57 > 0:08:04because, although it is a tiny proportion of the size of this piece of Berlin woolwork,
0:08:04 > 0:08:10this is so perfect and so desirable that this would probably have a similar sort of price.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13We'd be talking about around £1,000. Really?
0:08:13 > 0:08:16For this little sampler here. You do surprise me.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18So, are you a stitcher yourself?
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Yes, but only of kits.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24Me too, but at least we can pretend that we're doing the real thing.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26Yes, yes. Thanks for bringing them.
0:08:26 > 0:08:27Thank you very much indeed.
0:08:30 > 0:08:32That's rather nice, a little miniature of...
0:08:32 > 0:08:35looks like Pope Gregory XIII...
0:08:35 > 0:08:38it's been in the wars. Yes. Tell me about it.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41My father lived in a converted lifeboat on the River Cam.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43And was in the Home Guard. Yes.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45And spent his life fishing. Yes.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49It's one of the items that came out of the water. Came out of the water?
0:08:49 > 0:08:52Yes, during the war. I wonder what the story was behind it.
0:08:52 > 0:08:56Did someone throw it away or do you think it was...? I have no idea.
0:08:56 > 0:09:00It seems such an odd thing to throw away. It's on a nice piece of copper,
0:09:00 > 0:09:02which is an expensive medium to paint on,
0:09:02 > 0:09:04but it looks like it's been cut down.
0:09:04 > 0:09:11I think it's probably a copy after Titian, who painted a number of portraits of popes
0:09:11 > 0:09:15but it seems to me as if someone's kept it as a nice sort of memento.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Yes. You know, it's a rather intimate small size, and things like that.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23It's remarkable that it's survived being in the water for so long
0:09:23 > 0:09:27and it's lost a little bit of paint, but nothing very serious.
0:09:27 > 0:09:31I just can't believe it and I think it indicates how well painted it is.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36The artist really spent some time preparing to paint onto this lovely bit of copper.
0:09:36 > 0:09:39I suppose we have to put a value on it, don't we?
0:09:39 > 0:09:44You know, the idea that it came out of the Cam on a fishing trip is wonderful.
0:09:44 > 0:09:49Um, I guess it's worth in the region of sort of £300 to £500, something like that.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Fine. Not bad for a day's fishing.
0:09:51 > 0:09:53It's not, no. It's not going anywhere so... Good.
0:09:53 > 0:10:01Now, let's just see what sort of weight we've got here... 31 ounces.
0:10:01 > 0:10:05So that's about £100 worth of silver just on scrap value but...
0:10:07 > 0:10:10..have a look and see.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Now, what can you tell me about it?
0:10:12 > 0:10:17Well, this salver came to me from my grandmother, who was born in 1875
0:10:17 > 0:10:22and I'm particularly interested to know if there's other significance of the engraving.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25Indeed, now the salver itself is an absolute joy,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28but the armorial there is fascinating
0:10:28 > 0:10:32because what we've got, the actual arms...
0:10:32 > 0:10:36Can you see a representation of what is essentially a lozenge? Mm.
0:10:36 > 0:10:40Now, that straight away tells me that this was made for a lady. Mm.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43The reason being that, in heraldry,
0:10:43 > 0:10:48men have their arms represented on shield-shaped escutcheons,
0:10:48 > 0:10:52but that was an implement of warfare and considered unseemly for ladies.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Normally, this tells you that it's going to be a widow.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00The lady wouldn't normally represent her arms in this way unless her husband was already dead...
0:11:00 > 0:11:03because it would be obviously then, the husband...
0:11:03 > 0:11:07It should be fairly straightforward to establish whose arms those are.
0:11:07 > 0:11:12Now, this wonderful little Neo-Classic bow at the top,
0:11:12 > 0:11:19the engraving here is 1770s. In fact, let's just have a look at the exact date.
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Oh, yes, there we are. We've got that letter "a", for 1776
0:11:25 > 0:11:28and so the engraving tallies nicely. Maker...
0:11:28 > 0:11:31That's a chap called Richard Rugg...
0:11:31 > 0:11:34Uh-huh. ..who specialised in making salvers.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35Had you thought about value?
0:11:35 > 0:11:38Well, no. I certainly don't want to sell it,
0:11:38 > 0:11:41but one's always interested in something's worth.
0:11:41 > 0:11:44Right, well I certainly don't blame you not wanting to sell it.
0:11:44 > 0:11:50I would say today we're looking at £3,000 plus.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55What do you think they represent, or do, or are?
0:11:55 > 0:11:58Well, I can tell they're Oriental.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00Very good. And they're whistles, aren't they?
0:12:00 > 0:12:02They are whistles. We'll try.
0:12:05 > 0:12:07That's amazingly good.
0:12:07 > 0:12:10Did you hear that?
0:12:10 > 0:12:13They are indeed Oriental - they're Chinese.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16And they're a class of porcelain called blanc de chine
0:12:16 > 0:12:22and they come not from Jingdezhen, which is the main porcelain centre in China,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25but down south from Dehua.
0:12:25 > 0:12:29These were called toys, that was the proper name for them,
0:12:29 > 0:12:34and they were made, not to be played with by children, but by adults. Oh.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37And this one is SUCH fun...
0:12:37 > 0:12:43We've got a Dutchman... You can tell he's a Dutchman because he's got this tricorn hat on. Oh, yes.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45And he's kicking a tiger!
0:12:45 > 0:12:50Rare little things, and the fact they've survived is extraordinary.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52What date do you think they are?
0:12:52 > 0:12:56Absolutely no idea whatsoever. Right. I inherited them.
0:12:56 > 0:12:57Would you believe about 1660?
0:12:57 > 0:13:00Oh, goodness. Isn't that extraordinary?
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Yes, yes. Absolutely extraordinary.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06And I think, despite a little bit of damage on each of them,
0:13:06 > 0:13:11we're looking at about £500 to £1,000 for the two of them.
0:13:11 > 0:13:15Ooh, that's amazing. Isn't it amazing? Yes.
0:13:15 > 0:13:19We've got a mass of what apparently are proofs for packets here.
0:13:19 > 0:13:20What do they mean?
0:13:20 > 0:13:22What have you got here?
0:13:22 > 0:13:26They were left to me by my uncle, Ernie Hunt.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Right. And he actually designed and drew them.
0:13:29 > 0:13:31So he was a commercial artist?
0:13:31 > 0:13:33He was a lithographic artist, yes.
0:13:33 > 0:13:38So he did the designs and then he prepared the colour separations for printing.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41Yes, yes. Right. So what we have here in effect is his portfolio.
0:13:41 > 0:13:46Had he been looking for a job, he'd have taken these to say, "Look, this is what I can do."
0:13:46 > 0:13:49So we start off very suitably... Cambridge Cracker.
0:13:49 > 0:13:54Yes. Which was a type of biscuit, but Macfarlane and Lang - famous name. If we move on...
0:13:54 > 0:13:56There's another Cambridge cracker...
0:13:56 > 0:13:59A different kind. That's lovely, isn't it? It is, yes.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04And she's advertising some cosmetic, French cosmetic or Dutch.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Very pretty, very decorative.
0:14:06 > 0:14:09Most of them are 1920s' style. Yeah.
0:14:09 > 0:14:14Here we've got biscuits, again another famous name. Here we've got tobacco...
0:14:14 > 0:14:17These presumably are lids for tins, aren't they? Yes.
0:14:17 > 0:14:20Which might have been lithographed onto a tin or with a paper label,
0:14:20 > 0:14:26and there's a much more elaborate design for domestic bottled goods.
0:14:26 > 0:14:27Yes. So we've got 20, 50...
0:14:27 > 0:14:30..I haven't counted... 60 or so here.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35For value, it's very much to do with the decorative quality of the image and the condition.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40This chef, torn and tatty, is frankly not worth very much.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43Good ones in bright colours, nice subjects,
0:14:43 > 0:14:46will be worth £30, £40 each.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48Yeah. And the subject is important.
0:14:48 > 0:14:53It's always a pretty girl that is the most popular. Pretty girls can sell anything.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Add it up... You've got several hundred pounds' worth.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59Yeah. But more important, it's a family archive. It is, yeah. Yeah.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05I've had somebody who was not an expert, give an opinion,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09but I'd like to know how old it is and who might have owned it.
0:15:09 > 0:15:11What was the non-expert opinion?
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Well, we've always called it a chest, but he called it a coffer,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17so I thought that it was used for storing money.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20But something that big would hold a lot of money.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23Yes. How old is it and who owned it?
0:15:23 > 0:15:24That's what I'm interested in.
0:15:24 > 0:15:31Right, it's actually the type of chest which can range between 1500-1550 to about 1700-1720.
0:15:31 > 0:15:34It's the sort of thing that was made... let's have a look...
0:15:34 > 0:15:38You say coffer. I think the definition of a coffer and a chest is the same thing.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41A coffer doesn't mean to say it's for money. Right.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46Sometimes they do have a little till here which is for money. Original hinges,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50totally untouched, 400-year-old piece of furniture - fascinating.
0:15:50 > 0:15:54It would have been used for linen, because linen was very expensive.
0:15:54 > 0:15:59Linen bed sheets, things like that. Tapestry covers, very expensive.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Almost one of the luxuries of the 17th century. So that's what it would've been used for.
0:16:03 > 0:16:05I just think that it's just charming...
0:16:05 > 0:16:09You've got the thumb carving, the chip carving here.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Just the most simple carving, one quick hit with a chisel,
0:16:12 > 0:16:15and you get that lovely effect, but just, you know, it's a local joiner,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18not a cabinet maker or carver, it's pre-cabinet making.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22It's very simple - known as a six-plank chest.
0:16:22 > 0:16:28Right. One, two, top, bottom. Two front and back, four and two slab sides, so a six-plank chest.
0:16:28 > 0:16:32I just love this wonderful warping. Here he is, he's got some wood
0:16:32 > 0:16:35and for some reason he hasn't got the wood seasoned properly
0:16:35 > 0:16:40and you've got this lovely warping, and to me that adds value. Oh, right.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42That's what attracted me, because we see a lot of these.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45People bring them in to the Antiques Roadshow.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50Right. But this is just plain, simple, unadulterated and just the naivety of that...
0:16:50 > 0:16:52Value? No idea.
0:16:52 > 0:16:57I know it wouldn't have cost very much when we bought it.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00£1,000. Really? As much as that?
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Jolly good.
0:17:04 > 0:17:06I'm very excited about this...
0:17:06 > 0:17:10Let's imagine we're back in Edwardian times - 1905 -
0:17:10 > 0:17:14and I'm a ten-year-old school boy. You've given me this present and I've ripped it open.
0:17:14 > 0:17:18The first thing I see is the wonderful label, which tells me what's inside
0:17:18 > 0:17:22because here is a railway station, beautifully lithographed.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24All the figures are going in and out of the train.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Joy of joys for a small boy, and even a big boy, I have to say...
0:17:27 > 0:17:29Right. ..Is this fantastic train set.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Where did it come from and why is it in such amazing condition?
0:17:33 > 0:17:41It was won by my great grandfather in a raffle in a pub, in 1913, for sixpence.
0:17:41 > 0:17:46Right. And although, the children were allowed to play with it,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49I don't think they played with it much, and they had to be careful,
0:17:49 > 0:17:53and, as you can see, it is in quite good condition.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57What I love about it is it's actually an engine that's run on steam.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59Have you ever tried to fire it up?
0:17:59 > 0:18:03We did get it going once, when I was a small child and we set it up one Christmas
0:18:03 > 0:18:08but it went so fast round the track, it fell over and very nearly set the carpet alight.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11And they could also blow up and blind you, so not a good idea to try it today.
0:18:11 > 0:18:15No, we've never done it since. But let's have a quick play, can I? Yes. Oh, good.
0:18:15 > 0:18:20So it's what's called a gauge one and that's the size of the track.
0:18:20 > 0:18:24As I explained, it works on steam, so you could actually fire this up
0:18:24 > 0:18:27and you'd put water on it and away it would steam.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32Then it has the tender, as the train would.
0:18:32 > 0:18:38Then it has these two glorious carriages, one of which is the first class,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43There's a second class one too. It's tucked underneath.
0:18:45 > 0:18:48And these are all hand painted, hand enamelled. Right.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51And you've even got the little plaster figures that go inside. Yes.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57Now these are the things that go missing. They get broken or eaten, or whatever.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01But they just... You open the lid and...in they go.
0:19:01 > 0:19:03It's in pristine condition.
0:19:03 > 0:19:09Right. I can see it today at auction fetching somewhere in the region of between £2,500 and £3,500.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11Wow. So, not a bad raffle prize.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14No, very good. Thank you for letting me play with your toys.
0:19:14 > 0:19:16That's all right. Thank you.
0:19:16 > 0:19:21If you look at that you'd think, "That's a strange-looking shotgun cartridge,"
0:19:21 > 0:19:25but with a bit of wizardry as you twist the bottom.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Yes. Up comes this carrier and out pops these little silver leaves.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Do you know what this is for?
0:19:31 > 0:19:36Well, we didn't when we first had it. My husband was given it about 20 years ago.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39We had it rolling around in a drawer for about five of those
0:19:39 > 0:19:42and then one day he started to play with it, and out they popped.
0:19:42 > 0:19:48That's absolutely brilliant. And it was only after he'd been on a shoot that he realised what it was.
0:19:48 > 0:19:51They're called place finders and they...
0:19:51 > 0:19:54Well, this is a very elaborate version of what is a fairly simple idea,
0:19:54 > 0:19:59where to ensure that there is no fixing about who stands on the best peg... Yes.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03..Where the biggest number of birds is going to come across,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06then the host of the shoot, at the beginning of the shoot
0:20:06 > 0:20:09gets all the guns together and says, "We're going to draw for pegs"
0:20:09 > 0:20:11and he would produce this.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Would you like to draw for a peg? Thank you. What have you got?
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Number one, yes. That's a very hot drive, this one.
0:20:16 > 0:20:19They'll be coming nice and high over you(!)
0:20:19 > 0:20:23And it was that sort of element of chance that gave people at the beginning of a shoot,
0:20:23 > 0:20:26firstly to know where they had to be,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and then they went up two numbers or down two. Yes, I see.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31It was just a novel way of doing it.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34Hundreds of these must have got dropped in farmyards and things.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37Yes. Which is why yours is so nice - it's complete.
0:20:37 > 0:20:40It's rather neat, isn't it? Yes, it's incredibly clever.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43These have become very, very popular, recently
0:20:43 > 0:20:49and these brass versions are worth between £750 and £1,000.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52So, all that time it was in your drawer,
0:20:52 > 0:20:54you didn't know what it was or what it was worth.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57No idea. I'm glad I brought it along. Thank you very much.
0:20:57 > 0:20:58Thank you, thanks.
0:20:58 > 0:21:03This brings together two of the most influential and important artists
0:21:03 > 0:21:06working at the beginning of the 19th century.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Sir William Nicholson - the portrait painter -
0:21:08 > 0:21:14and Sir Edwin Lutyens - one of the most famous country house architects.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16So, what's the connection?
0:21:16 > 0:21:18Which side are you connected with?
0:21:18 > 0:21:23Well, Sir Edwin was my husband's grandfather. Ah, right.
0:21:23 > 0:21:31And these have been handed down through the family and I ended up with them when my husband died,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35and Sir Edwin and William Nicholson were great friends. Yes.
0:21:35 > 0:21:41And I think, probably, these were drawn after a very enjoyable dinner one night.
0:21:41 > 0:21:46Yes, they're somewhat surprising in execution.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51We have Sir William Nicholson's monogram in the bottom left-hand corner
0:21:51 > 0:21:54but if somebody wasn't familiar with his work,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57he would be forgiven for thinking, "Are these good enough?"
0:21:57 > 0:22:01I mean, they are caricatures, quickly, randomly drawn.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05The perforations on the left-hand side are sheets from a sketch book.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09Did he have them on him when he was at every dinner?
0:22:09 > 0:22:13I don't know. Perhaps they played some sort of game between them?
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Sir Edwin, in all the letters he wrote to the children,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19he always did small caricatures.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Yes, yes. Funny pictures.
0:22:21 > 0:22:27I love the way that the spectacles just intersect the eyeballs in both of the drawings.
0:22:27 > 0:22:28Yes.
0:22:28 > 0:22:35Of course, Edwin was the designer of the Cenotaph, the Viceroy's house in New Delhi. Yes.
0:22:35 > 0:22:42Very, very, very successful and Sir William Nicholson was also a great painter.
0:22:42 > 0:22:48Now, as I said, they don't look like any other works or paintings by Nicholson that I know,
0:22:48 > 0:22:52but they are fascinating because it brings these two great men together.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56Mm. I think perhaps... I hope you won't be too upset if I said
0:22:56 > 0:22:59probably the maximum they're worth is £2,000 for the two.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01No, I wouldn't be upset at all.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05Well, they're wonderful. Thank you very much indeed. Thank you.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09He's a Japanese figure and he's a porcelain figure not a pottery figure. Yes.
0:23:09 > 0:23:15And he's amongst the very earliest Japanese enamelled porcelains to exist. Really?
0:23:15 > 0:23:17What sort of date do you think he is?
0:23:17 > 0:23:22What sort of date do you think he is? Well, you tell me the earliest. Let's say 400 years?
0:23:22 > 0:23:25Mm, he was made in about 1660,
0:23:25 > 0:23:27just after Cromwell, but in Japan.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Right, yes.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34It's a model of the rice god Daikoku standing here on two rice bales.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36The base is interesting. You can see the muslin...
0:23:36 > 0:23:42Yes. ..that the porcelain was pushed onto when he was made. He's a very rare little thing, really.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45Um, the other pieces here.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49Yes. Running through them quickly, these are Chinese, from around 1900.
0:23:49 > 0:23:55Really? This is Chinese, dating from the second half of the 18th century.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59Right. And running through the prices of these -
0:23:59 > 0:24:01about 50p.
0:24:01 > 0:24:06Really? About 50p, about £5, about £5,000.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Really? Mm.
0:24:10 > 0:24:16Well, I thought he was a little gem but I didn't have any idea what it was. That's fantastic, isn't it?
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Often the backs of pictures have more information than the front
0:24:19 > 0:24:24and here we have a wonderful inscription, which really tells us the whole story.
0:24:24 > 0:24:31"HMS Triumph homeward bound in Magellan Straits, September 1888"
0:24:31 > 0:24:35And then we have the initials of the painter - "JDM",
0:24:35 > 0:24:40but we don't quite know who the artist is. Now let me just...
0:24:40 > 0:24:42turn it round.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45Here we have this wonderful picture of HMS Triumph.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47It's sort of Boys' Own stuff, isn't it?
0:24:47 > 0:24:51She's quite an important ship, you know. You've done a bit of work.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53I have, yes. Can you tell me something?
0:24:53 > 0:24:58Well, she was actually the flagship for the Pacific fleet.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01And we don't know who JDM is, or do we?
0:25:01 > 0:25:04I worked through and I've decided he wasn't an officer.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09Right. And so he was a member of the crew who was obviously talented in this way. Yes, exactly.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12And they were going through very difficult places there.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15Of course. Lovely. It's frustrating, isn't it?
0:25:15 > 0:25:19Because you know we've got actually a historically interesting picture.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23Yes. It's quite well painted, although it is obviously by an amateur hand.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26Yes. And you can see some of the figures are a bit naive.
0:25:26 > 0:25:31Lovely, yes. It's wonderful. And are these...icebergs, do you think?
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Yes, yes. Coming through... Fascinating, fascinating.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37I also love the landscape. I mean it's wonderfully exotic.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Yes, isn't it? Lurking danger...
0:25:39 > 0:25:42She was going through the narrow parts here. Right.
0:25:42 > 0:25:47And because it was the narrow parts they had to anchor every night.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Difficult to value because, you know, we don't know who JDM is. No.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55I don't know what it's worth, so I'm going to skip that problem.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58I'm not going to sell it, so that's all right.
0:25:58 > 0:26:03It's funny to see things like this on the Antiques Roadshow that are part of our lives.
0:26:03 > 0:26:05Yes, these are quite new to me...
0:26:05 > 0:26:09but very familiar and that's how I earn my living. Here they are...relics.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13Relics of an already nostalgic age. People collect these things -
0:26:13 > 0:26:18they have become part of our past, but I remember the first set we had like that.
0:26:18 > 0:26:241953 - the Coronation. But my mother had already been working on Watch With Mother since 1950,
0:26:24 > 0:26:29so I was very much a child of the television era and you must have similar memories.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34Well, television wasn't around when I was a child. The wireless was everything. Yes.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38And I listened to Children's Hour and the wireless Toy Town series.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42I actually met the mayor of Toy Town when I started broadcasting
0:26:42 > 0:26:45and no-one I've ever met since has matched that.
0:26:45 > 0:26:47I can't match that.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50These are both by Pye, which is a local Cambridge company
0:26:50 > 0:26:57set up in 1896 to make scientific instruments. Their first radio was 1922.
0:26:57 > 0:27:02Their first television was in the late 1930s during that curious era
0:27:02 > 0:27:05when there was experimental television from Alexandra Palace
0:27:05 > 0:27:10and I understand that Pye sold 2,000 sets at about 34 guineas each
0:27:10 > 0:27:14before 1939, which is a huge amount of money, in relative terms.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19And then they came back in the 1940s after war-time radar experiences
0:27:19 > 0:27:21and this was one of their first post-war models.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26This is 1948 and so this is really the sort of thing that I remember very well.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29And people collect them not simply because they are old...
0:27:29 > 0:27:33That is a fairly plain thing. This has a sort of beauty to it.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37This is a wonderful sort of Art Deco motif - the sun burst and the clouds and all that.
0:27:37 > 0:27:39People collect these for two reasons...
0:27:39 > 0:27:45They're technicians and they're interested in how it works, they're interested in the visual impact,
0:27:45 > 0:27:50because, in this time, the television and the radio had to become pieces of domestic furniture,
0:27:50 > 0:27:54they lived in our house and if it looked like a scientific box of tricks,
0:27:54 > 0:27:57everybody would say, "I don't want that in there."
0:27:57 > 0:28:00It had to acquire a domestic face, and this is a classic, really
0:28:00 > 0:28:05because it doesn't tell you it's a radio. The knobs are round the side,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10it's a wonderful sort of structure reflective of all the spirit of the jazz age.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13It's a good area because they're not expensive.
0:28:13 > 0:28:18You can buy a radio like that for about £150. You can buy a telly like that for about £100 if you want it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21So it's quite accessible to the next generation.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23But let's imagine again...
0:28:23 > 0:28:26If we had that radio, what would we like to hear?
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Well, I would live on a permanent diet of Larry the Lamb,
0:28:29 > 0:28:33Dennis the Dachshund and Mr Grouser. That would be your thing, would it?
0:28:33 > 0:28:37Yes, what I wouldn't do is to hear again Mr Chamberlain declaring war...
0:28:37 > 0:28:42I heard that with my family around a set like this - terrifying moment.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45That picture seen so often. Sitting on the arms of chairs.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48You actually did that? Yes. Well, I couldn't claim that.
0:28:48 > 0:28:52Shall we see what's on telly? Yes, haven't got Radio Times but I bet it's good.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54I'll turn it on, it's bound to be good.
0:28:57 > 0:28:59There you are, a real classic.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01ANTIQUES ROADSHOW THEME PLAYS
0:29:16 > 0:29:18So, you've had this a while?
0:29:18 > 0:29:20Just had it, just over a year.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22Yes. There we are.
0:29:22 > 0:29:26Oh, isn't that lovely? Bought from an auction or...
0:29:26 > 0:29:33I saw it in an antique shop locally and liked the pattern, so I thought, "Well, I'll have that one."
0:29:33 > 0:29:36I should think so too... what did you pay for it?
0:29:36 > 0:29:38£20. £20? Yes.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40It is well marked, isn't it?
0:29:40 > 0:29:47It's got the Worcester mark on it, but no signature of the painter. Do you know who painted it?
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Well, I understand, through a bit of research,
0:29:50 > 0:29:53because I was so interested in it, that it might be Bott.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55That it might be, I'm not 100% sure.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00Well, I can tell you positively - it is Thomas Bott. Thomas Bott, senior.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02Yes. He had a son at Royal Worcester
0:30:02 > 0:30:05who did this sort of style of Limoges enamel
0:30:05 > 0:30:07but this is Thomas Bott, senior.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10Yes. Somewhere round about the 1865 period. Yes.
0:30:10 > 0:30:18All this is in enamels. Enamels on this deep blue ground, which is Thomas Bott's speciality,
0:30:18 > 0:30:25he claimed it was like Limoges enamels, the medieval method of painting white enamel onto copper,
0:30:25 > 0:30:31but in this case he just painted these white enamels onto the blue,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35but it's not a case of firing this colour. He built and built these colours,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39time and time again, to raise them, and fired each time
0:30:39 > 0:30:43and then eventually you get to the heavy raised enamel on the fronts of these,
0:30:43 > 0:30:51of these faces, and the very faint bits are left as tiny little stems of the leaves.
0:30:51 > 0:30:54The workmanship is absolutely fantastic
0:30:54 > 0:31:01and this is sort of Classical style, sort of imitating Greek and Roman, which was his great love.
0:31:01 > 0:31:04That's what attracted me to it. The decoration?
0:31:04 > 0:31:07The decoration. I love Roman Classical decorations.
0:31:07 > 0:31:13Yes, but they are very beautiful and so typical of Bott's work because it just screams Thomas Bott.
0:31:13 > 0:31:18I mean, it just couldn't be anybody else. So, you've got a very fine piece.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21Twenty quid? Yes.
0:31:21 > 0:31:26Well, I suppose if you want to know the value now,
0:31:26 > 0:31:32the real value, I think you're looking at £1,500 to £1,750,
0:31:32 > 0:31:36something like that and perhaps you should insure it for £2,000
0:31:36 > 0:31:40because you're not going to find another one too easily, so congratulations.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42Thank you. And treat it reverently.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45I will, I love it. I wouldn't let it go. Good.
0:31:45 > 0:31:51Of course, this is tremendous fun. Tell me, what on earth is the significance of that car?
0:31:51 > 0:31:56It belonged to my cousin who was serving out in Shanghai as a nurse
0:31:56 > 0:31:59and it arrived out there in 1923
0:31:59 > 0:32:03for the grand sum of £190, including shipping
0:32:03 > 0:32:07and I've even got a photograph of it with my dear cousin at the wheel.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10Isn't that wonderful? A number of her nurses draped over it.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14It cost £190? The car did, yes.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18Oh, the car, not the ink set. No, I've no idea how much that cost. Extraordinary.
0:32:18 > 0:32:22It's wonderful when you get a bit of original material to go with it
0:32:22 > 0:32:28and, of course, the maker we've got here is Omar Ramsden. Ramsden, yes.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31And, of course, it's an inkwell.
0:32:31 > 0:32:36What fun to have this individually commissioned with this wonderful enamel work
0:32:36 > 0:32:42but, the ink stand itself, a special commission from Ramsden.
0:32:42 > 0:32:50I suppose today, if that was coming up at auction, it would be estimated probably at £2,000...£2,500.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52Really? Gracious me.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56Especially with the car connection. Anybody interested in Citroens,
0:32:56 > 0:32:59this is going to be almost a "must have" if you're a fanatical collector.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07It's such a treat to see these early cigarette cards
0:33:07 > 0:33:10and the quality of printing is simply fantastic.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12Absolutely. How many cards should there be?
0:33:12 > 0:33:16Right, the small size and the medium size set, both comprise 50 cards.
0:33:16 > 0:33:22I see here you've got the small zebu and the large zebu.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26I brought them along to demonstrate the background that appears on the larger sets.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29There's a bit extra for your money, as well as the size.
0:33:29 > 0:33:34And did you have to pay a little bit extra? Yes, always a little bit extra. Exactly.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39But what's even more extraordinary is that you've got another lot here
0:33:39 > 0:33:45and these appear to be the original drawings for these. Watercolour drawings.
0:33:45 > 0:33:46That's what I think and hope.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51And they were first produced in about 1890 and they are simply fantastic, aren't they?
0:33:51 > 0:33:54I mean, this orang-utan...and you've got the small card of that.
0:33:54 > 0:33:58Do you have the large card? No, I haven't. So we don't know what kind of jungle he's in.
0:33:58 > 0:34:02No, not really. Looks fairly dense but... Doesn't it, just?
0:34:02 > 0:34:06The very fact that you've got every one that matches up with your set,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09I can't imagine they're anything other than the originals.
0:34:09 > 0:34:12No. And I think they're really very desirable.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16The small cards have a catalogue value, I dare say, of about £150...£200.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18The bigger ones much more than that,
0:34:18 > 0:34:21but the originals are really very difficult to value.
0:34:21 > 0:34:26I imagine they would make around £80 a piece for the larger ones.
0:34:26 > 0:34:29That's £2,500 and then you've got all these...
0:34:29 > 0:34:32How many original fish have you got? 50.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37Supposing they're worth £40, £50 each, that's another £2,500.
0:34:37 > 0:34:39So that's £5,000 for the drawings. That's right, yes.
0:34:39 > 0:34:43All in all, it's really fantastic.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45Should cover the council tax for a couple of years.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Depends how much they put it up, I suppose. Well, indeed.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51E Wheeldon, Derby. That's great-grandpa.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54Oh, quite a grand sounding ceramic name, but spelt differently.
0:34:54 > 0:34:57Yes. And a Whieldon pot indeed.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Do you know anything about Whieldon ware?
0:35:00 > 0:35:06Well, it's pre-Wedgwood. They got together, didn't they, and collaborated?
0:35:06 > 0:35:10We've have had quite a few pots like these on the Roadshow, over the years.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14There was a wonderful punch pot in Liverpool, years ago. I remember that.
0:35:14 > 0:35:15You remember that?
0:35:15 > 0:35:17I do. With these wonderful glazes. Yes.
0:35:17 > 0:35:22And super colours. And it's got its top, as well, sitting on there.
0:35:22 > 0:35:23Was this used in the family?
0:35:23 > 0:35:30Oh, never. It was bought in the early 1950s by my father for eight guineas... Eight guineas.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33..From an antique shop in Wiltshire.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35Well, that's less than £9, isn't it? Yes.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39It's '50s, that was a long time ago. Yes, he was very pleased to find it.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41I bet he was, I bet he was.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44Whieldon is a name given to these wonderful coloured glazes
0:35:44 > 0:35:47where the glaze is sort of an inherent part of the pot.
0:35:47 > 0:35:51They're sealed there, those colours, for all time, they never change.
0:35:51 > 0:35:54That pineapple is as bright now as when it was made.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57What, in 1760, 1765?
0:35:57 > 0:36:01I mean, it's a marvellous design, isn't it?
0:36:01 > 0:36:03The whole plant comes out of the pot, doesn't it?
0:36:03 > 0:36:10Of course, in the '50s, Whieldon was the only potter anyone really knew about.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14He worked at Wedgwood, he made these glazes in Staffordshire,
0:36:14 > 0:36:18but we've done more research since and we now know there's a lot more pottery
0:36:18 > 0:36:22and a few years back they were digging in Staffordshire and they found bits of this teapot
0:36:22 > 0:36:26on the factory site of another maker called William Greatbatch.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29We now know this isn't Whieldon. It's actually a Greatbatch teapot.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31Oh. It's only made down the road.
0:36:31 > 0:36:36Oh, right. Really, he was a marvellous caster. The detail in the modelling is always superb.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38Just look at those leaves.
0:36:38 > 0:36:45Eight guineas back then in the '50s. I suppose that reflected...
0:36:45 > 0:36:48The handle's been broken off at some time. I don't know if you'd noticed. No.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51It's had a bit of mending there, but I think we can forgive it that.
0:36:51 > 0:36:56Right. Even so, with a broken handle, it's still going to be £4,000.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Oh, I see. It's a lot of money.
0:36:59 > 0:37:00A costly little teapot.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02It is, yes. But an exciting one.
0:37:02 > 0:37:05Oh, I'm glad you like it.
0:37:05 > 0:37:12I believe that it's a missionary being eaten alive by an alligator or crocodile.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15And I feel it's about 100 years old,
0:37:15 > 0:37:23sort of about the time that Africa was being opened up... in the 1870s, 1900.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28You're absolutely right. It was made around the 1890s, I would think. Made in Europe, in Austria.
0:37:28 > 0:37:30It's a cold-painted bronze.
0:37:30 > 0:37:32What made you think it was a missionary?
0:37:32 > 0:37:37I thought the book was a bible and I thought it was German, perhaps.
0:37:37 > 0:37:40I thought it was a missionary's hat.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45Yes, yes. Well, in fact, there is a German name on the book but it's Baedeker. Right.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48Baedeker travel guides. Oh, really?
0:37:48 > 0:37:52No self-respecting person would leave Europe without a copy of Baedeker.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55In fact, nobody would travel without a copy of Baedeker. Right.
0:37:55 > 0:38:01Fantastic travel guides that were produced from the late 19th century onwards,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04so that ties in very nicely with the date that this was made.
0:38:04 > 0:38:10Right. I think it's really a crocodile eating a traveller of some kind.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14I love the angle of the feet here. It looks as if someone's dived into this crocodile
0:38:14 > 0:38:20and even the wind in the scarf on this great top hat, and I think the brolly as well,
0:38:20 > 0:38:24adds an additional feature to the whole thing,
0:38:24 > 0:38:28so the crocodile is totally dressed up with the man's clothes.
0:38:28 > 0:38:33And, at the top here, there is a purpose to this as well, isn't there?
0:38:33 > 0:38:37Because this has got a little vesta case in here and you could strike your matches there.
0:38:37 > 0:38:40It would have sat on somebody's desk. You obviously like it.
0:38:40 > 0:38:44Well, yes. He's both hideous and attractive, isn't he?
0:38:44 > 0:38:51And my mother thought he was appalling but my father must have enjoyed him, and I certainly do.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54If it was to come at auction it would fetch in the region of
0:38:54 > 0:38:57£800 to £1,000. Would it really?
0:38:57 > 0:38:59Good gracious.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Mother will be shattered.
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Well, obviously, it's a town plan, but which town?
0:39:10 > 0:39:16Now, I notice at the bottom here that it says "the Delaware River"
0:39:16 > 0:39:21and I notice, rather excitingly, "RM Penn, RM Penn"
0:39:21 > 0:39:24and various other Penns all over the place.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26Is this Philadelphia? Indeed, yes.
0:39:26 > 0:39:30I don't believe it. This is presumably to do with land transactions.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32That's correct, yes.
0:39:32 > 0:39:40As we're in Philadelphia, this has to do with Pennsylvania, which William Penn founded.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45Oh, that's quite correct. RM Penn is Richard Penn, who was one of his grandchildren. Right.
0:39:45 > 0:39:50And there are large areas of land in Philadelphia that were left into the Penn family
0:39:50 > 0:39:53and remained with the Penns until the time of the revolution.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56So where did you get it from?
0:39:56 > 0:39:58My grandfather was an auctioneer.
0:39:58 > 0:40:04Yes. And after he died and his house was being cleared, my father went through some five sacks of documents
0:40:04 > 0:40:07and pulled out the most interesting.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10What he thought was the most interesting. Yes.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13And this map is dated just before the revolution.
0:40:13 > 0:40:20Yes. 1775. And in the indenture, when you read this script, you find that, in William Penn's will,
0:40:20 > 0:40:24he is leaving 10,000 acres of Philadelphia to each of his four children of the second marriage,
0:40:24 > 0:40:26and that is just to begin with.
0:40:26 > 0:40:31Beyond that, he doesn't bother to detail the rest of the land.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34And, of course, all this is worth a fortune, I assume.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36I've no idea. Well, in 1775, I mean.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38Oh, yes, in those terms.
0:40:38 > 0:40:45I don't know if you've had a chance to notice. This piece of land alone is 124 acres of Philadelphia.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49That's extraordinary. So what it would be worth now is beyond imagining.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53Quite incredible, and it was lying in your... An attic.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56In an attic in your grandfather's... I think that's incredible.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59When I first received these documents they were folded so tight
0:40:59 > 0:41:03that they'd fit between my two hands. Good heavens.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06And I found somebody at a museum here in Cambridge
0:41:06 > 0:41:11who could put them in a humidity chamber to unwrap them. That is amazing.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13It might have fallen apart if I'd tried to open it.
0:41:13 > 0:41:18Did it cost you a lot of money to have that done? No. It was not a lot, less than £100.
0:41:18 > 0:41:22Oh, well, I think that you could certainly get somewhere in the region,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26for this little piece of history, somewhere in the region of £10,000.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Indeed? Well, I...
0:41:30 > 0:41:32It's been worth the trouble, then.
0:41:32 > 0:41:38At first sight, this is the world's most boring pot.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Just blue...
0:41:41 > 0:41:48but when you get round to the front, all is revealed and even taking the whole pot in one go,
0:41:48 > 0:41:50you don't get the real glory of it,
0:41:50 > 0:41:57you've got to see it up close because it is fantastic.
0:41:57 > 0:42:03We have these little birds, which are probably sparrows, flittering through the air
0:42:03 > 0:42:05on this midnight blue ground,
0:42:05 > 0:42:10very popular colour for Japanese cloisonne ware, which is, of course, what this is.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14The quality
0:42:14 > 0:42:19of the lines here in silver. This is silver.
0:42:19 > 0:42:23Right. But it is fantastic work.
0:42:23 > 0:42:27How on earth did they fix onto metal,
0:42:27 > 0:42:34a vertical piece of wire that thin and then infill it with colour?
0:42:34 > 0:42:37It is just mind-blowing quality.
0:42:37 > 0:42:43On the shoulders, we've got beautiful little kiku chrysanthemums
0:42:43 > 0:42:50and, unusually, we've got this decoration inside the mouth and on the bottom.
0:42:50 > 0:42:56Now, I've seen only three or four pots in my life with that feature.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58Where did you get it from?
0:42:58 > 0:43:01Here. In Cambridge? Cambridge, yes.
0:43:01 > 0:43:03And where... In an antique shop?
0:43:03 > 0:43:05Yes, in an antique shop. How long ago?
0:43:05 > 0:43:0920 years, 30 years. Really? Between 20 and 30 years ago.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11The moment I saw it...
0:43:11 > 0:43:13You had to have it. ..I just, yes, had to have it.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17What did you pay for it, may I ask? Um, £20... £30... I can't remember.
0:43:17 > 0:43:18Serious money, then.
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Oh, yes, well... You liked it a lot, didn't you?
0:43:21 > 0:43:25I liked it, yes. Yeah, quite a lot of money, £20... £30...
0:43:25 > 0:43:26Do you think it's worth a bit more now?
0:43:26 > 0:43:28I've no idea at all.
0:43:28 > 0:43:30Well, you can add a nought to it.
0:43:30 > 0:43:33Really? No, you can add two noughts to it.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37What? Certainly £3,000 to £4,000.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40Wow! Ooh. How awful. You've got very good taste.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43Thank you very much. Thank YOU very much.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Here endeth our second visit to King's College, Cambridge.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52But now to the Provost and Fellows of King's, many thanks.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd