Ipswich Antiques Roadshow

This week, the Roadshow's heading east -

or if you prefer it - to the starboard side of England.

To reach our destination, we've come by boat for a very good reason -

there's a lot of water around here.

This was one of the first, and one of the busiest ports in Britain.

Today, Ipswich takes good care of its pleasure boaters,

but the quay-side here has known frantic activity

in its ancient role as East Anglia's gateway to Europe and beyond.

And the profits that rolled in from a brisk trade in wool, textiles, grain and fish,

made this one of the wealthiest corners of the country.

Merchants with loads of money

wasted no time in getting onto the property ladder.

Even Chaucer's Canterbury Tales talked about the "rich merchants of Ipswich".

But, of course, not everyone was earning an honest penny.

In the 18th century,

Suffolk smugglers were as bold and as busy a bunch as you'd find anywhere.

There were reports of secret tunnels running underneath the town,

down to the port.

This part of Suffolk also boasts a long line of explorers.

They played their part in opening up the world, and along the way,

they brought home some fascinating souvenirs. Magic!

But one of the museum's most prized exhibits is this.

It's a fork,

and it was used by Fijian cannibals

to eat a missionary.

That was back in 1867.

Perhaps they could swap it for one of his old boots,

which is at the moment on display in a museum in Fiji.

So, a place of explorers, smugglers and maritime traders.

Perhaps these are clues to some of the treasures we may unearth in Ipswich today.

Let's find out, as we head for the Roadshow in the town's Corn Exchange.

My father, his hobby was firearms - antique firearms

and gun-dealing and what have you.

All sorts of bits and pieces used to come through the house.

One day these came through and he decided to hold on to them.

-He'd never seen anything quite like them before.

-No, no.

My understanding was that to try and get an idea of what this was about,

he gave them to the British Museum.

When they were returned, the British Museum asked for them to be donated.

But that never happened.

-He kept them?

-He kept them.

Well, I think I would keep them as well - they are beautiful.

The flint napping of that is absolutely beautiful.

The work, I mean carving out those little, tiny serrated edges...

These are just marvellous.

They're mind bending, aren't they?

And if you hold them,

they will actually fit your hand.

Fits the hand, yes.

I've seen a flint napper at work, you know, a modern one.

And to see them working on this edge of these things...

It's sharp as a razor, that, isn't it?

-It would cut you to...

-Yes. Phenomenal.

-Rally phenomenal.

These are, of course, in flint or chert and are not unusual.

I mean they're really quite common,

but this one here - it's obsidian, isn't it?

Yes, I understood it to be volcanic glass.

-Volcanic glass - obsidian.

-Yes.

Well, the most incredible obsidian work was done in Mexico.

They made some fantastic things in obsidian.

I was told that that was South American.

-Yes, South American or Central American.

-Yes.

I think I'd go along with that.

I mean, obsidian occurs naturally

in Central and South America.

I would imagine it hails from there.

But the work is beautiful.

-Can I take this out?

-Yes, you can.

This is gorgeous.

-Yes.

-We must be looking, I don't know...

It's certainly prehistoric, isn't it?

I mean, it must go back...

If this is Mexican or South American,

it will be certainly two or three thousand years old.

These flint ones...

These will be probably even earlier than that.

This could be for ceremonial purposes.

These flint pieces are often found in gravel beds,

-or in a domestic setting.

-Really?

Prehistoric time, of course.

But a piece of obsidian like this,

I should think is more likely to have come from a tomb.

Sort of Indiana Jones type of thing?

Yes...the Temple of Doom!

Yes, quite. Marvellous, isn't it?

They don't fetch a huge amount of money, flint.

I suppose one's looking...

I mean, it could be anywhere from £300, £400, £500 apiece,

something like that.

-They do crop up at auctions.

-Right.

But what doesn't crop up at auctions, is an obsidian piece.

I mean that is mind bending, I've never actually handled one before.

So, it's fantastic to be able to...

be able to handle it.

I don't know what it's worth.

Good.

Any guess will be almost possible.

Perhaps for insurance,

I think you should be looking at something like about £5,000.

-Right.

-It's not necessarily that if it came up at auction.

-Yes.

But for comfort and insurance,

in the hope of getting another one if that was to go...

-perhaps £5,000.

-Really?

What do you think this is?

-It's a sextant.

-No.

-No?

It's an octant.

I don't know what it is,

so I must agree.

It's the same instrument,

I'm just being pedantic.

It's a question of the area of a circle.

Basically, a sextant is a sixth and an octant is an eighth.

-So, technically, this is an eighth of a circle.

-Oh, right.

-It does exactly the same...

-Thing.

..thing. It's for navigation,

it's for the horizon, for telling...setting the time.

But it's actually an octant.

The octant was an earlier instrument than the sextant, originally.

This one, we can probably date quite accurately.

Now, it's made of ebony - it's got ivory scales -

but it's also got a signature.

The signature is "Spencer, Browning and Rust of London".

-Yes.

-Yes.

And they were in business, I think, from 1784 to 1840.

But the box... And this is actually rather rare.

The box has got this fantastic trade label

of "Mr T Jennings, carver and gilder of looking-glasses and picture-frame maker",

who appears - if you read through what he did - he did everything.

Yes.

But his dates, I think...

-end in 1830-1844.

-Yes.

So the only period when they coincide, is the years 1830-1840.

-Yes.

-So that means the date has got to be between 1830 and 1840.

-Yes.

-Now, can you tell me anything about where you came upon it?

-It's been in the family for years.

-Oh, it's been in the family?

-Yes.

-Oh, yes.

-My father's people were water people.

They used to sail to Australia,

and of course, they were on the water three or four months at a time, in them days.

Because we're going back to the 19th...

Well, I'm one of those people who has to admit that when...

-I don't think of Ipswich as being a port town.

-No, no.

When you look on the map,

it doesn't appear to be close to the sea. But of course, it is.

-Yes, yes.

-So, was it out of Ipswich that the family sailed?

They did sail from Ipswich

because I've checked some of those at the records office.

-So is this the man who...?

-That's right.

-This is your...?

-Grandfather.

-Grandfather.

-Yes.

-And these are the papers which...?

-Yes.

They're basically - as far as I can tell - they're discharge papers.

Presumably, when you came off a particular voyage,

-you were actually given a discharge from on board that ship.

-Yes, yes.

And this one, here is actually 14th June 1873,

and they appear to be of the 1870s.

Yes, and of course they used to go gold-panning on the Gold Coast.

Oh, really?

-That's one of those certificates to confirm that.

-Oh, this one?

Somewhere there.

"County of Westland, miner's right."

That's fantastic. So he wasn't just a sailor? When he got there he...

Well, he was shipwrecked at some stage.

We don't really know when he was shipwrecked.

Well, it's a fascinating story,

and I have to say the story makes the instrument.

They're not desperately rare.

This one is in very good condition,

the ivory's not cracked, the lacquer's good.

It's bent up the side there, but that's not a problem.

It has the original box...

and therefore I think I'd value the instrument on its own

at somewhere between £600 and £800.

But with the family history -

which is priceless -

it could be substantially more than that.

-Oh.

-Yes, yes.

Well, what starts off as a very, very ordinary scrap album -

on typically rather poor paper -

it's all breaking here, it's all become rigid.

It suddenly blossoms with these two,

which are absolutely fantastic.

I don't think I've ever seen those before.

Mind you, I'm not the greatest connoisseur of these...

This wonderful one of the Tower of London...

Then we've got Westminster Abbey...

..with St Paul's on the other side.

I assume that's the Bank of England or somewhere like that.

But as we go further into it,

there are some fantastic things.

-These were never stuck in?

-No.

You start off with scenes from Dickens,

which I think is absolutely tremendous.

Two, and then these ones here - three, four.

Those two - five, six...

Then this fabulous array,

now these are superb.

Where do these all come from?

It was a donation that was brought into the Salvation Army charity shop.

Yes.

So, what is the destination of them?

Well, to get the very best price we can, for the shop.

That is absolutely wonderful.

Occasionally one sees the odd clown. Very desirable, I should think.

I mean - those alone - I reckon would be worth...

I don't know, £100.

Really? I've actually had somebody that's interested in those,

he has said that he would offer £50.

But if you value them at more than that...

-I think he should go on a bit further than that.

-Right.

And after all, it is for charity, isn't it?

And this one, which is actually my favourite,

which is in commemoration

of the jubilee of Queen Victoria.

12 reliefs portraying the various deeds of daring valour -

the heroes of the Victoria Cross.

Here it is, this is just incredible, this is completely uncut.

It goes on and on and on.

These are just absolutely delicious.

The colours are beautiful.

Isn't the colour absolutely fantastic?

What was the purpose of doing something like this?

Well, these were done mostly late 19th century, for children to cut up

and put in their scrap-books to stick down.

All of these would have been cut?

They would have been cut out,

you would have gone to your stationers,

or newsagent, or whoever was selling these

and you would buy them and you would give them to your...

nephew or your niece or your son or your daughter.

They would spend a very quiet Saturday cutting them out,

and not going out playing games!

But they are incredible and it is so noticeable how bright they are.

It's because they haven't been stuck in -

there's been no nasty glue on the back of them,

which would have rotted them,

or in some cases rotted them, anyway.

Thank goodness they haven't been put into this particular album -

they are just too good.

I think you should do very well for your charity.

There is a society called The Ephemera Society

which actually has fairs

where people bring along scraps and sell them, or trade them.

That may well be a place where you could find people

to get the best price.

I would have thought you've got at least £500, if not more.

This is a lovely watercolour, or gouache I'd say, by Frank Henry Mason.

I know him really... Well, he is a marine painter

and he painted in both oils and watercolours

and he did poster work as well.

-He painted a lot for advertising.

-Oh.

And because it's been painted in gouache,

which is a form of watercolour - very chalky.

-Yes.

-Creamy - it doesn't fade, it's very strong.

It's like body colour...

This sort of thing with posters -

that's the technique and medium that poster artists use.

It's so strongly painted -

you get a fantastic composition of the sea, here, with the colours -

light blues and aquamarine blues

and the good stormy sky.

It's almost better than watercolour, being in gouache -

it's much more dramatic.

But this is an unusual example, it's of a torpedo boat in the Boer War.

So, was one of your family involved in this?

Yes, my grandfather was on board this torpedo boat as a warrant officer.

-Yes.

-They were sailing important dispatches down to Simonstown,

and the propeller broke.

He had, of course, been to sea under sail and, as I understand it,

he was instrumental in getting out all the ship's canvas

and rigging up sails so that she could be sailed into Saldanha Bay.

What happened to him? Did he get promoted? What happened after that?

Yes, he was mentioned in dispatches to the Admiralty

because of what he'd done.

In fact, he was the first rating in the navy, ever to be promoted to a commissioned rank.

-Fantastic.

-Yes.

And he carried on in the navy?

He did indeed, he retired in the late 1920s - in fact, as a rear admiral.

Really?

And was knighted in the King George V coronation honours.

That is a wonderful story.

It's such a personal thing because, when you're asked to value this,

-money's immaterial.

-Absolutely.

It's such a lovely picture, and a lovely story to go with it.

It almost belongs in the Greenwich Maritime Museum.

-Oh.

-Well, you should cover it for insurance.

I would suggest probably an insurance price of about £5,000.

-Thank you so much.

-But it's a lovely picture.

Good, thank you very much.

So, what can you tell me about this little box?

Well, I've known it all my life -

my mother used to have several little boxes around the house.

When she died, my brother, sister and myself decided to take a couple each.

That was one of the ones I chose.

-Do you love it to bits?

-I think it's sweet.

-So do I.

The first thing is that it's made of yew wood,

one of my favourite timbers.

It looks exactly like a tea caddy, doesn't it?

Yes, it does, indeed.

I mean it's got a hinge - two hinges on the back -

and this line, which runs around the middle -

it looks as if that's a hinged lid.

-But try as you might, you can't get it to open.

-That's right.

Because the hinge bit's all dummy.

You've got these strips of ebony which are inlaid.

Very high quality and beautiful ebony

and a lovely shield-shaped, brass escutcheon - great isn't it?

It's lovely, yes.

So then you think, "This is very frustrating,

"why won't this box open?"

-Yeah.

-Brilliant!

-Shall I give away the secret?

-Why not?

All your treasures are going to be at risk now.

You take that end ring handle,

you give it a quarter of a turn downwards,

you then try and slide it back

but before you can slide it back properly,

you have to release this catch,

which is the spigot in the middle of that lock,

slide that back, lift it up quarter of a turn

and remove the roof - and there it is.

The most beautifully made, oak-lined, little sarcophagus

with these lovely, late Georgian brass fittings,

for the secret devices.

Dare I ask what you keep inside it?

I don't think you'd better because we are the BBC after all, aren't we?

Oh, dear. I see, it's one of those sort of boxes, is it?

And what do you think it's worth?

I would have no idea at all.

Um, no, I don't, I'm hoping you'll be able to tell me.

I can give you a rough idea.

They're very difficult to value, these little novelty boxes.

But tea caddies - of which it's a type -

are very much sought after, and it's a delightful little box.

I can see this making between £600 and £800 on the market.

Gosh, no, I didn't think anything as much as that. That's amazing.

Are you sure?

Well, we've clocked up a few more miles in our nationwide search

for the top collector and this week's contender is David Cook.

As a stockbroker, one would imagine you would collect used fivers,

but you are a Dinky man.

What an array! How many have you got?

5,000.

-5,000?

-5,000, yes.

-And how many have you brought along today?

-About 500.

And how did this obsession start?

When I was 5, so I've been collecting for 55 years.

How did... Who put you onto them?

My grandfather, he just said,

"Christmas, David, and we'll pop down to the toy shop

"and I've got ten shillings - you can choose whatever Dinky toys..."

Because he knew I was fascinated by transport.

"..buy any Dinky toys you want for ten bob as long as you don't go..."

So I bought four,

four of those little ones down the front there -

which is my own collection.

Those are your first boyhood toys?

-Yes, they were half a crown each.

-That's a lot of money.

-It was.

I think it was probably his week's wage.

And do they remain your favourites?

In a way, at the time. But of course they became a lot more sophisticated.

Then I discovered there were older and rarer ones.

Which is the oldest one here, then?

The little red sports car.

-Ah.

-That one, yes.

That's the oldest one?

That's the oldest one here.

And is it one of the oldest ever made?

Yes, it is the first one that Dinky ever made - number 22A.

That was the number of it, and it was issued in 1934.

And this, I have to say, has a personal...

Rings a personal bell for me, because that's my local store.

-Yes.

-Is this a special one?

That is a reproduction,

because an original would set you back, Michael...

-£12,000.

-12,000?!

£12,000. There are only three known in the world,

and it's reckoned that they made about 100 of them,

just for Bentall's store in Kingston-on-Thames.

This Foden here,

in a different colour - in the maroon colour with that design -

that sold for £12,000 last year.

-12!

-A mint, boxed one and that is quite rare

because they only made it for nine months.

What is the greatest triumph you've had, as a collector?

The year my son was born, in 1972,

we went on holiday to Snowdonia - stayed in a cottage.

One day it was raining, we went to Conwy and found an old toy shop.

In the toy shop was that Bedford coal truck down there, the bright red one,

The toy shop was called Gilbert Emery.

I think it was 35 pence or something like that.

I filled the boot of my car with these Dinky toys

because they were all, at that stage, obsolete.

Sounds like a mirage.

It was wonderful! I was in heaven.

Well, when you started collecting,

could it just as well have been cigarette cards?

You didn't know these were going to be worth thousands of pounds.

I'm not only a collector, I'm a hoarder.

I collected cigarette cards too

and I've still got my cigarette card collection, but this is my passion.

You've mentioned some astonishing sums of money here today.

Which is the most valuable of all these you've got?

Well, I think it's this Weetabix van, here.

Why?

Because it's the factory prototype.

You may look on the other side -

you can see "Weetabix" on that side -

if you turn it round, it's blank.

It was prepared for the directors of Meccano,

to ask them if they thought it was a good model to make, to manufacture.

So what does that mean, if this is unique?

It is, absolutely. There's not another one in the world like it.

And what does that mean in terms of its value?

-Its value is priceless, Michael.

-Priceless?

-Priceless.

How interesting.

Michael, Michael...

When I saw them bringing this in... four men carried this in.

-It's obviously part of the whole suite.

-It is.

When we bought it, we moved it in ourselves,

and I've certainly still got the bad back from that!

-How long ago was that?

-Seven years ago.

I mean, four men carried it in - without the drawers -

but what they probably hadn't realised...

is this.

As you know - your secret wine cellar.

We couldn't find any wine to put in there...

And this idea of a lead-lined - or in this case zinc-lined...

Oh, OK, yes.

-For bottles, so you put the ice in there.

-Ice in there.

To keep the champagne, in your case, or cheap white wine in mine...

Water.

Water, yes...

That's what these were made for and what's interesting is,

-it's a 1920-1930 suite of furniture.

-OK.

But this is exactly how they made them in the 18th century

So the ideas carried on for 200 years.

But the sheer quality of this is amazing.

It's got a mixture of the Gothic -

because it's a sideboard for keeping the wine -

the vine and grapes there, the vine leaves

and then here the Elizabethan...

Rather a mixture, Elizabethan, Jacobean-type decoration,

it's very eclectic, very muddled in its style.

But my gosh, it's well made!

And, you know, it's obviously by a very good maker.

-Right.

-Do you know who it's by?

-Waring and Gillow I understand.

-Right, there's a label somewhere?

In the top drawer.

This one? Left-hand side.

-Lift up the...

-Oh, yeah.

So it's Waring and Gillow, Lancaster factory.

So, we know it was made in Lancaster.

Most of their furniture was made in Lancaster.

And shipped down to wherever, normally London -

where they had a big shop in Oxford Street.

OK.

And the whole thing is made of oak -

solid oak drawer linings, handmade dovetails.

That's just incredible workmanship.

When we do go round researching the furniture,

we do see suites like this quite commonly.

-Right.

-And people often say to us "Why don't you have a suite like this on the Antiques Roadshow?"

We see too many and they're often not of the very best quality.

There is a dividing line,

and here is the zenith,

the summit of the best quality of this type of dining room suite.

-It just fitted what we wanted.

-What's interesting about this...

I mean, when you bought this,

it was slightly sort of at the tail end of being old-fashioned.

I'm not being rude about your taste

but generally, it was very much Granny's old-fashioned furniture.

But it's now coming back into fashion -

slowly but surely, people appreciate this sort of craftsmanship.

And that's why, if you can afford it, always buy the best,

Granny always knew best, I think.

Knew what she was spending her money on, didn't have money to waste.

I think that this is 1930ish, part of the suite

and I think that the chairs are probably even later,

probably post Second World War, even as late as 1950.

And made to match?

Made to match or made by the same company, the same factory,

-in a similar style, so they may never have been together.

-Oh.

Till we bought them as...

Until you bought them, or possibly somebody had these in the 1930s.

After the war they wanted some more chairs for whatever reason.

-And they went back...

-Back to the shop.

-..to the same shop.

-How many of the chairs do you have?

-Four chairs, two carvers.

You bought it seven years ago,

obviously you're going to know what you paid.

-Do you remember?

-I paid £1,500 for it at the time.

-Well, I think in this country it's undervalued...

-Right.

-..today, at £5,000.

-Right.

When you go around the USA, North America,

this is always in a very popular style, very popular indeed.

I can see this in US dollars being up to 20,000, 25,000 US dollars.

So, certainly double the price it's worth here.

Oh, my God!

-You've got to ship it over there. It's not worth it...

-No.

It makes it difficult to know what to value it for

or what to insure it for.

But I would expect today, as I said, £5,000 in a shop and going up.

That is a surprise. A very big surprise.

It was my mother's -

my father gave it to my mother on the occasion of their wedding.

-Right, when about would that have been?

-That's 1948.

-Right.

But my father said it was old then.

-Yes.

-And quite valuable, but he didn't tell me how valuable.

-Yes, yes.

-He bought it in Ipswich, didn't he?

He bought it in Ipswich, yes. It's still in its original box.

The colour combination of white, green and purple

indicates that it was a suffragette piece.

-Oh.

-Oh, really? Oh.

And the story goes that it's

"Green, Violet and White" - "Give Votes to Women"

or "Green, White, Violet"- "Give Women Votes".

-Right.

-So this was produced during the suffragette period

and, of course, Emmeline Pankhurst was the great suffragette.

It was a brief and fairly violent period,

I think just up to, and during, the First World War.

It's really quite comparatively rare.

But it's something that you do see,

but people don't very often appreciate the significance of it,

and there's another interesting facet of this -

it could be a bit like the school tie.

Women would recognise other women

who were wearing this type of jewellery -

they'd all be members of the club.

-Right.

-Oh, right, yes.

There might have been some manipulation involved here -

women at this period didn't buy their own jewellery.

They'd have to tell their husbands that they really loved the colours

and they'd be ever so pleased if he would buy it for them.

It's very, very pretty Edwardian design.

Without the particular combination of stones,

I would date this anyway, to around 1910.

The suffragette thing adds some interest.

It doesn't really increase the value a lot,

it's just one of those curious little things that one likes to know about it.

Yes, yes.

So you've got peridots, which is a very pretty green stone,

amethyst as you say, and pearls - representing the white.

15 carat gold, quite delicately made on the back.

Yes, yes.

And value...

I would say a necklace like this today,

should be insured for about...

£3,500.

-Oh, gosh, as much as that? Really?

-Yeah, absolutely.

This is a nice photograph.

Is this elegant lady a member of your family?

No. She killed my mother's dog.

Oh, when was that?

Around about the 1920s, I believe.

My mother was taking her dog for a walk outside Buckingham Palace,

and she was riding past in her Rolls-Royce with her chauffeur

and she ran the dog over and then afterwards she sent my mother -

she was very sorry obviously -

and she sent my mother some money

and this picture of herself with her own dog.

Her own dog, who was well and alive.

-Yes.

-She meant well, but it kind of makes you think of...

Yes, it made... I think it's a funny thing to send a photograph of yourself with your own dog

-when you've killed somebody else's dog.

-To a bereaved owner!

The words "insult to injury" spring to mind, don't they?

It is, yes, yes.

It came from New York, and it was brought over by my great-grandmother

when she married her English husband,

to the horror of her family, because they were Dutch.

And they'd lived in New York for some time?

-Yes, it's an old Dutch family.

-Right.

Well, it's one of these great puzzles.

If you actually do investigation into the American Flag,

you come up with all sorts of fascinating rules and regulations.

Laws were passed in 1777,

which gave you 13 stripes and 13 stars.

-Yes.

-1794 it changed again, 1818 it changed again,

almost every President got his hands on the flag and changed it.

I'm pretty jolly certain,

looking at the silk and looking at the stitching,

that it's a piece of 18th century work.

-18th century?

-I think it dates from 1777,

we'll never know for sure without doing proper tests in a museum,

but I think it's a very old piece of hand-work.

Tiny stitches - they simply weren't done by a machine.

The most important thing is to conserve the silk,

It needs to go to a conservator.

Somebody needs to de-acidify it -

that's what's causing all these holes,

and the little discoloration there.

You could then reframe it on acid-free board,

put a proper frame round it, and it will give you pleasure for years.

Something like this, in an auction in America,

given the wild enthusiasm for American Folk Art that there is...

I think you're talking upwards of 5,000 dollars.

-Really?

-I think it is a major piece of American Folk Art history

and I think it could go through the roof if it came up for sale.

-Good heavens!

-It's a very exciting thing.

There are probably two which we've used in my time,

as minister at the Unitarian meeting house, which is these two.

The reason why it's difficult to use them a lot is because we can't keep them on the premises,

we have to keep them in a secure place.

It's a question of how easy the access is.

Right, this is fascinating,

because what we can see here is the secularisation of plate.

The fact that we've got what are essentially domestic drinking cups,

-being used for religious purposes.

-Yes, yes.

And particularly so, of course, within the Non-Conformist churches.

That's right. Well, of course the Dissenters

were the people who had been excluded from the Church of England.

So, as it were, they no longer had access

to their own historic church plate.

And so they had to come up with a new set, as it were.

And so for people to actually gift would have been...

I think it's lovely and we've got that here -

"the gift of Mary Beaumont January 13th 1786".

That's also interesting, because what we can see here is a cup

which, in fact, doesn't date from that period at all.

It's something that clearly, they've had in the household,

they've been using it as a domestic drinking cup

and then decided to gift it to the church.

Because this actually dates from the reign of Queen Anne.

It's a much, much earlier piece.

-Interesting.

-Which is your favourite?

Well, my favourite is this one.

The one with the...palm trees on it

and the rather strange little bird there with...like a crown.

Looks like a kingfisher, see?

-A bird with a crown, so it's a kingfisher.

-Absolutely.

It's very intriguing.

Is it something to do with Ipswich's maritime history?

There were people trading far and wide from Ipswich in those days.

It would be fascinating to find out whose coat of arms that is.

-Yes.

-And see whether that ties in with one of the early members of the congregation.

-It would be very interesting.

-I have to say it's my favourite.

These are very splendid but they're pretty standard cups of the period.

But this is the very special one.

The decoration here was highly fashionable in the 1680s.

It's actually known as chinoiserie.

The extraordinary thing about chinoiserie

is that very rarely is there anything much Chinese about it.

This is such a mishmash, really.

Everyone thinks of it as Chinese

-but you've got all these elements coming in from all sorts of places at this time.

-Exotica.

Well, you've got it, that's the very word.

In fact, from Turkey - that sort of area.

You would get elements...

There are Indian elements,

there are even Italian Renaissance elements.

The fountains are generally based on Italian Renaissance fountains.

It's wonderful because it's tying in with what we're seeing in Ipswich,

with the very international nature.

The maker's mark there - which you can see, just that one.

RC - now we know that he...

Known pieces by him date from the early 1680s to the early 1690s.

Of course one of the London makers,

as indeed they all are London pieces.

It's not surprising, because London would have been supplying this area.

But value-wise, I mean if we just sort of run through them...

This one's Queen Anne.

That, I would think today, you would have to insure for about £3,000.

Oh.

These two...

This one's by Francis Garthorne,

he was one of the royal goldsmiths.

Really?

It's not actually such a good cup as that one,

but again, a similar sort of figure.

This one's a little earlier,

this one's end of the 17th century.

Just that plainer form there,

but that, you would have to insure for about...

£4,000, £5,000.

This one - any thoughts?

Well, if that's £4,000, I suppose that one will be...

I suppose another thousand on top of that?

We're talking a wee bit more than that.

I would reckon at auction you'd be lucky to buy that under £50,000.

Really?!

Good heavens.

Is it Dr Who?

Well, he used to frighten me when I was younger.

-Do you think this is the cybermen, perhaps?

-Could be.

Looks quite like it.

Instrument of torture?

-Possibly.

-Neck manipulation?

-Could be.

-All of those.

Could be anything.

But where do you think we're going with a machine like this?

It's a very strange device. Give us a clue.

-It's a hair dryer.

-A hair dryer?

I wouldn't like to have mine...

Look what happened to me, that's when I used it!

So let's have a look.

-So, what you do is, you sit inside, do you?

-That's right.

Then the hot air comes through the tube.

That's right, and you have a towel placed over the top,

so that then it keeps the heat inside to dry your hair.

It's not for setting your hair, it's just a dryer.

No, just a dryer.

I used it even up to 1970

because I was born in '61.

I used it in 1970.

Sit down and show me what happens.

Sit underneath and then...

-Then bring it down.

-Bring it down.

Now, madam, what would you like today?

-Wash and set, please.

-Right.

I can't do the wash, but I can do the setting,

so I now turn the knobs, off we go, full heat.

And meanwhile you're sitting there. Now, how long did it take?

-Half an hour.

-Half an hour?

-Mm.

-Did you have lots of hair then?

-I did, I did.

And what does it take you now to dry your hair?

-Five minutes.

-Exactly, so technology has moved on.

-Has moved on.

-Now OK, you were using it in the '60s and '70s,

it's obviously much, much older than that.

-Mm.

-This sort of styling takes us back, certainly, to the 1930s.

At that point hair dryers were becoming the things they are now.

There are lots of early metal and Bakelite ones

which are the same sort of circular shape.

But they are, obviously, hand held.

This is obviously a commercial application of that.

At that point people did have very complicated hair arrangements -

Marcel waves and all those sort of things.

I can see you'd need a complicated machine.

What I like particularly about it is the design.

It's very aerodynamic and it looks like something, not out of space - it's pre-space.

It looks as though it should belong to an aeroplane or something -

this wonderful sort of round form...

You can see it as part of a piece of 1930s streamlined engineering.

And then this!

You know, I'm still overcome by this,

it's so sort of... It is outer space, isn't it?

-That's right.

-You're sitting under there...

-Are you actually having your brain re-joggled rather than your hair?

-That's right.

Well, value.

-Oh, God.

-I think, in the right market, we're looking at sort of £200, £300 to a collector.

-When are you going to see another one?

-Right.

So, where's the perch?

It never had a perch.

Where did it fly from?

It flew from the loft of an elderly relative.

When we were clearing out her house, we found it in the loft.

-So, it was just found?

-Yes, yes.

And now it lives with you?

Yes.

But it just lives on the sideboard, and we don't know what it is.

-Well...

-Apart from a whistle.

I was going to say you know that it's a whistle, of course you do.

HE MAKES BIRD CALLS

That tells you it's foreign - that isn't an English "cuckoo".

No, no, it's an "uck-coo".

Yes, well, it is a foreign bird and the material is porcelain.

It's a very grey porcelain.

if you look where the glaze meets the foot of the piece,

very grey, it's got lots of little specks in it.

Yes, very spotty.

It's quite crude, quite primitive porcelain.

Any idea where that's from?

Well, I should say China, but...

Well, we think of blue and white as being Chinese, principally.

But we shouldn't forget that other parts of Asia also followed suit eventually.

The Koreans eventually produced their own porcelain,

as did the Japanese in a much cruder lumpier form.

I think there's no doubt that this is actually Korean.

-Korean? That does surprise me.

-So, it's come an awfully long way.

It has, it has.

And it explains the Oriental accent.

Well, as far as I know, she never went to Korea.

No, but she went to auctions, presumably.

Well, her mother did.

-Do we know how much she might have paid?

-I haven't a clue, no.

If you saw that in an auction, what would you pay?

Perhaps £200, I don't know really.

-£200! Well you'd have a very good nose for a bargain.

-Oh.

I think it's a very rare object, it's almost certainly 18th century,

although Korean porcelain's quite difficult to date.

18th century? Korean.

It's crisp as the day it was made.

Yes, it is.

Shall we do a proper...?

HE MAKES CUCKOO NOISES

-That's better isn't it?

-Yes.

OK, and...

-Would it have just been a novelty in those days?

-Yes.

Or would it have been to attract another bird?

-I don't think it's a lure, no.

-No.

-I think that was a toy intended mainly for a young person.

-Oh.

And your £200 would be quite well spent

because I think in today's market

that would fetch between £3,000 and £5,000.

No! I don't believe this.

Honestly? I don't believe it.

It's a lovely Georgian leather-covered box.

It's Rundell, Bridge and Rundell,

the royal jewellers and silversmiths

and I thought these steel rimmed spectacles were particularly boring,

but you've got a bit of family history to tell me about them...

They've been handed down from three great-great-grandfathers.

We have a note saying they probably belonged to Napoleon.

Now looking through our family history,

we know that one of the Bunburys worked in the War Office

and certainly came into contact with Napoleon.

-Yes.

-In 1815.

-Well...

That is absolutely riveting because I've recently been to St Helena,

and I've been tracking down some of Napoleon's artefacts.

I also have discovered that Sir Henry Bunbury -

your ancestor -

was told by the War Office to go to Plymouth in 1815

and tell Napoleon that he was going to be incarcerated on St Helena.

He went in July 1815 and he told Napoleon that,

and Napoleon immediately protested!

He said, "I don't want to go to St Helena",

"if you send me to St Helena I shall be dead in three months".

And Sir Henry Bunbury -

your ancestor - resisted that plea.

On the 7th August 1815, Napoleon was shoved on HMS Northumberland

and was sent 4,500 miles to St Helena.

So if your family history says

that this boring pair of steel spectacles belonged to Napoleon...

that means these boring steel spectacles are rather important.

Well, I must say I have used them on occasions.

-Have you?

-They're far better...

than my specs which I normally wear.

What I suspect had happened, therefore,

was that your ancestor was on board Her Majesty's Ship

and Napoleon, for all we know,

could have flung these on the ground

and been hysterical about being sent to St Helena.

I suppose Sir Henry Bunbury

picked the steel spectacles up

and went off with them as a little trophy of his day out to Plymouth.

I hope people don't think too badly about the family, in that case.

Well, there we are.

Here we've got a pair of steel spectacles...

that, ordinarily, would be worth probably about £50. £30 to £50.

A few months ago I saw a shard of wallpaper

which was sold in an English auction house

that had been taken from the wall of the house he lived in, in St Helena.

-and that shard of wallpaper had sold for £1,500.

-Yes.

Just a little sliver of paper.

So, I have a funny feeling that this pair of spectacles,

ordinarily worth £30 to £40 -

but because they've been on Old Boney's hooter -

are probably worth somewhere in the region of £1,000.

Really?

-Really.

-Oh.

Well, I won't take them to the office in future.

Well, it's quietening down a bit here now

but it really has been the most amazingly busy day.

Someone worked out that 2,000 people came through the doors

and between them they brought more than 15,000 items for our experts to consider.

But for now, from the Corn Exchange in Ipswich, goodbye.